Willie Jones III

Impressive footage here of drummer Willie Jones III playing a brilliant solo (sans a high tom!) with guitarist Peter Bernstein:



I first heard Jones play with the Roy Hargrove band about ten years ago when I was making regular trips to New York to hear the likes of Elvin Jones and Roy Haynes play. Hargroves band was playing a lot around NYC at the time or at least it certainly seemed so as they were always playing at the Village Vanguard or the Bluenote whenever I was there (!) In fact I clearly remember eating a slice a pizza at the joint directly above the Village Vanguard while Willie was taking a solo. I know I missed a good one (while eating my slice of course!) as the ground was literally shaking underneath me. I asked the older Italian gentleman working across the counter how he liked all the Jazz music coming from underneath him. "Well, it's alright I guess..." he replied !

Here's a few other shots of Jones playing great:







And here he is playing THE gig of a lifetime with Roy Hargrove, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and Dave Holland: