JACK JONES

article by vanelis rivera | photo by tenzin dolkar

Probably one of the world’s oldest and pervasive musical instruments are drums, virtually unchanged since their earliest popular use. This ancient past may lend to modern sentiments of drums as primitive and unsophisticated. Even the most impressive piece of percussion can be treated as second tier next to a classic string instrument. Often overlooked are the nuances in drumming that are heavily influential to any music composition. From the outside looking in, a drummer is just hitting stuff, continuously striving to stay in time. So drums must be easy. Yet, there’s a subtlety to being an accomplished drummer. A deep understanding of music is usually the distinguishing marker between a good drummer and a great one. Jack Jones, Atlanta-based freelance drummer, can speak to this. Before enrolling in the music education program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM), he was an impressive play-by-ear musician who picked up the drums naturally at a young age. He soon learned that when structure and talent meet, the results can take you anywhere.

Jones’s earliest music education came from sitting in and watching his father’s band since he was ten. By the time he was nineteen, he was playing jazz, blues, and rock gigs in North Louisiana as a full-time professional musician. Both of his parents were what is known as “hobbyist” musicians. His dad played the drums in a country band, and on weekends his mom, a big fan of bluegrass, sang and played the banjo. The neighborhood where Jones grew up had a high percentage of musicians, and when his childhood friends asked him to jam with them, he set up his dad’s drums , sat behind the kit, and immediately just “knew what to do.” It’s difficult for him to pinpoint the origin of his love for the instrument. It was an energy thing, drawn to him from a young age. “It’s an intangible attraction and the fire’s still burning,” he says. Though his relationship to the drums has evolved, his need to play has always remained strong, “almost to an obsessive level.”

Jones grew up close to the paper mill in West Monroe, where his mom and grandmother still live. “The poor side of town on Walter street,” he says. His upbringing was typical for the area. He attended West Monroe High School, and graduated from Richardson High School in 2001. He enrolled in ULM’s music program, but admittedly wasn’t a responsible student, so he dropped out during the middle of the semester. Seeking a more hands-on approach to his education without the added prerequisites, he traveled to Georgia at the age of twenty-one to attend the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media, a vocational training program for musicians and sound engineers. At the time, he says, “There wasn’t anything like that anywhere else in the south.” He graduated in a year and decided to work on his music chops in the Atlanta area, doing so for about seven years.

Constantly jumping from one band to the next, Jones quickly reached a point of discontent. Not having anything to hold him down, he tagged along with his girlfriend at the time when she decided to move to New Orleans. The stay was brief and he gradually found himself at a crossroads. Inspired by being back in Louisiana, he sent professor Larry Anderson (Associate Professor of Music at ULM) a request to re-enter the program. Anderson remembered him, having taught Jones when he was “just a kid” and encouraged him to apply. “He’s a wonderful human being. And very positively influential on my life,” says Jones. With the prospect of a second chance and still having the good fortune to travel wherever good fortune took him, he decided to go back home.

At twenty-eight years old, he was now the “old guy” in the marching band and ensemble concerts. But age had brought along some perspective and this go around, he was able to have a more profound experience that ended up changing his relationship to music. Though classical-based classes like music theory were difficult for him at first, they did expand his overall music perspective. Before, his approach to drums was intuitive, but the ULM music experience filled the holes in his previous knowledge. “It’s had a profound impact on what I’ve done since, musically,” he says. Making the choice to return to ULM was not as much of a career decision as it was completing an unfinished chapter in his life. “When that was done I just kind of went back to what I had been doing: playing the drums,” Jones says. Encouraged by a friend that worked at Georgia State University, he received a graduate assistantship, completing a masters degree in jazz studies in two years. He’s been in Atlanta “ever since, playing music free-lance, and teaching some.”

Surrounded by a thriving music scene, composed of seasoned professionals, Jones has not had too much trouble maintaining steady gigs: “It’s solid. It’s a cool scene of all different styles and it’s quite interconnected. It’s a nice sense of community.” While most musicians in the area are “put in a box,” Jones has become an “all-around guy,” playing a little bit of everything. “I’m kind of like fringe in every scene.” As a hired gun, a majority of what he plays is more pop rock, but his gigs are constantly changing. “I play in a band with one of the premiere bands in the city,” he humours, called The Mike Veal Band. They’re known for playing covers of Steely Dan and the Allman Brothers. Recently, he went from a blues rock recording session to playing jazz at a restaurant.

He gravitates heavily toward jazz, which his quartet tends to focus on. “When you’re playing in an ensemble you’re essentially in a supportive role. You’re a small part of a big thing. And it’s a wonderful role to be in and embrace,” Jones says. However, jazz music gives everyone involved an opportunity to be a part of the center; whereas, in any other style of music, lyrics and melody are prioritized. As a jazz drummer, “it takes so long to even understand how the music works and how to play it well.” A highly improvisational genre, jazz requires a deep level of experiencing music and performing, but when you’ve reached an optimal skill-set, playing jazz is “very much on the level of a meditation,” he says, adding, “You have to be all in it.” Collectively playing off the cuff with fellow musicians is a larger than life feeling for Jones. It has taught him the significance of being in the present moment, tuning in to the performance of others versus attempting to create something.

The development of such a level of respect from his fellow musicians, as well as being in fortuitous circles, landed him some once in a lifetime gigs. “The most fun I ever had was with this blues artist named Chris Duarte,” says Jones, referring to a notable American guitarist who had some success in the 1990s. “He has a huge following of guitar nerds,” he adds. They come out to “nerd-out to his shrederness.” The pair bonded over their love of jazz, which Duarte incorporates in his Texas style blues-rock. A lot of improv “a la Jimi Hendrix psychedelic freak out” occured on stage. The trio went all over the country and to Japan for three weeks. It was a tour that has become a touchstone of Jones’ music career.

Also on his musical curriculum resumé is the time he backed Col. Bruce Hampton, the “grandfather of the jam band scene,” on tour for a “brief tenure.” “He was a crazy character. This guy could guess everyone’s birthday. He was kind of a wizard or something,” laughs Jones. In 2017, Hampton packed out Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse for his 70th birthday. In the final moments of the concert, he collapsed onstage and died, with all his friends playing his favorite song. “He kinda had magical powers,” Jones muses.

“I don’t really think of myself as just a drummer,” Jones states. He spends a lot of time routinely practicing other instruments like piano, guitar, and recently the clarinet. “The way music sounds after you’ve interacted in that way with other instruments, it changes your relationship with what you hear and want to convey.” This approach is essential for his plans of writing enough original material to release an album. Though his income is primarily from playing and teaching drums, he’s in a transitory period outside of that. “I still love playing drums, but I want to put more energy in composing.”

Jones is the type of musician and music teacher that believes the musical journey mirrors the journey through life. His experience and education has allowed him to not just sharpen his musical skills, but also hone significant life skills. From college drop-out to post-graduate, from freelance gigs to sharing the stage with some master musicians, Jack Jones has breathed life into his music journey, ultimately readying him to set ablaze whatever is yet to come.

Follow Jack Jones on Facebook or visit his website http://www.jackjonesdrums.com/ to learn more about this local drummer’s musical accolades.