IVAN "BOOGALOO JONES"

Sweetback is the best album by (in our opinion) the greatest funky soul jazz guitarist of all-time. Boogaloo Joe recorded several other albums for Prestige, but this is the one to have. You can find his best Prestige tracks on the Jazz Dance Classics compilations. Tracks from Sweetback can be found on several of our other comps. Don't miss this great musician!

Exerpt from a 1968 interview with Chris Albertson:

CA: Who is Joe Jones?

JJ: I don't know, yet; but I'm finding out.

CA: What have you found out so far?

JJ: Well, I was born in West Virginia, I'm not quite sure where, and two months later I moved with my family to either New Jersey or Ohio. I believe it was New Jersey. My stint with the Army took me to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama and Mexico—other than that, I've lived mostly in South Jersey.

CA: What made you become a musician?

JJ: I've got five uncles who play the guitar, and one of them was actually quite good at it. As long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a guitarist but it was kind of hard because I come from a large family, there are about ten or eleven of us, and money was scarce. One day I won a football contest and was given a five-dollar certificate—I took it downtown and bought a ukulele. A few days later, my father got the opportunity to buy a guitar from a guy who I guess just needed a few dollars for some wine. That was around 1956, the guitar only had three strings but it was a start.

CA: What about your first professional experience?

JJ: My cousin, "Fats" Witherspoon, who plays the bass on my album, had had private instruction on various reed instruments and he was playing in a band with my uncle. My uncle never took his music very seriously and consequently he sometimes neglected to show up. On one of those nights, my cousin asked me to replace him. That was also the first time I took a solo, the tenor man, who was pretty good, suddenly turned around to me and told me to take it. I guess he wanted to see where I was at, and I just did something.

CA: Have you received any formal instructions on your instrument?

JJ: No, I'm completely self-taught and I'm still learning. Right now I'm studying the alto sax at home, just to help my reading.

CA: Do you plan to switch to the alto?

JJ: No, but I've always liked the alto sax and I haven't heard any alto players I didn't like. I'm more choosy when it comes to the tenor sax.

CA: How's that?

JJ: Well, I'd say that I like Charles Lloyd better than I did John Coltrane, for instance. Another guy who impresses me, although I haven't heard nearly enough of him, is Lucky Thompson, and a guy who really is a groove on the tenor, is Stanley Turrentine. I guess I like the soulful jazz bag, I like to listen to just plain, unadulterated, straight ahead jazz. However, I myself have to play in different grooves because, If I stay in one particular bag for long, I find that I stagnate very quickly. I have to do a little bit of everything, including rock—I'll never put rock down, I find it's a universal thing.

CA: But how about . . .

JJ: My main problem is finding other individuals who can get into all these different bags and half-way like it. I find a lot who can do it but they get drugged too quick with it.

CA: What, to you, is the ideal instrumental combination?

JJ: I prefer guitar, bass and drums. I really like the organ but the problem I find with it is that I have a rather strong personality and, when you have an organ in a group, it's so overpowering, as a rule, that you find yourself catering to the style of the organist.

CA: How about other guitarists?

JJ: I like Wes Montgomery immensely, although he, to me, is not the complete guitarist. I might say that he is the most complete guitarist and this is some thing which other musicians always give me an argument on. They always bring up the name of Jim Hall, whom I also admire. He has terrific technique and background on his instrument but it's all something which you've heard maybe 25 or 30 other guitarists do. Wes actually has something of his own—he comes along with things I haven't heard anybody else do. He plays the hip bag the way the hip bag should be played, and not like he's playing to be hip. I'm also very much impressed with little George Benson and Pat Martino. I actually didn't know what technique was until I heard Pat maneuver on his instrument.

CA: How do you feel about having your own album?

JJ: I have wanted to record for a very long time but now that I'm on a couple of albums, Billy Hawks/The New Genius of the Blues (Prestige 7501) and Richard "Groove" Holmes/Spicy! (Prestige 7493) I find that I just throw them back on the record rack and leave them there. I don't like to listen to myself—I get disappointed and feel that I can do it better the next time.

CA: What is the next step?

JJ: I hope to make it to New York City soon. I have lived there before and it seems to be the place where one ought to be although I personally don't care for it—it wears you out, just a bunch of people living on top of each other. Musically, however, it's the place to be.