SKF NOTE: Words of Papa Jo Jones wisdom I highlighted in my copy of Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones. Timeless. In my experience it’s easy to lose track of the spiritual piece of drumming/music, while lost among licks and the search for the Holy Grail of snare drums and ride cymbals.

Papa Jo Jones: “To become a good jazz musician, you must try to hear and see things that are beautiful. Be like a sponge; absorb experience and play it. Music is therapy for people, and the most stimulating music there is is jazz. It is also the most spiritual of all the musics-a delicate thing. You can’t play it unless you have found yourself and it takes time to find ourselves.”

Source: Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones, by Papa Jo Jones, Paul Devlin, Phil Schaap, Albert Murray