Joe Farnsworth, disciple of swing

A new profile of the indispensable NYC jazz drummer is out now

I invite you to check out my New York Times profile of Joe Farnsworth, published today in advance of his new album, The Big Room, out tomorrow on Smoke Sessions Records. Farnsworth is one of those hidden-in-plain-sight heroes of straight-ahead jazz, who has steadfastly pursued his path for decades, without ever really intersecting with the critical and/or commercial zeitgeist. And yet, those who know, know. (Just ask Brad Mehldau or Wynton Marsalis, both of whom kindly contributed their thoughts to the piece.)

I can’t remember exactly when I first heard Joe Farnsworth, but I’m almost certain that I didn’t properly register his greatness at the time. The story of my consumption of and self-education about jazz has largely been one of starting at the margins (free jazz or other more esoteric strains) and gradually moving inward, while still maintaining a strong interest in what brought me into the fold. So yes, if I caught Joe in my early days as a New Yorker, in the late ’90s and early ’2000s, I think I may have undervalued him as a “mere” preservationist or acolyte of “The Tradition.”

During the past 15 years or so, my thinking has spun around almost completely on such matters. Greatness is greatness, especially in the live setting, and it is not easy to come by. Even harder to come by is wisdom gained at the feet of the masters. The best of today’s mid-career jazz musicians know that it is (and has been) absolutely essential to witness and absorb every possible moment in the presence of the golden-age greats, of which there are fewer and fewer left every year. Ethan Iverson’s work with Billy Hart, Tootie Heath and others has been exemplary in this regard, but it could be said that no jazz musician of his generation has taken this historical imperative more seriously than Joe Farnsworth. In short, he has played (or studied) with everybody, and now stands as a repository of priceless knowledge.

More importantly, he simply makes the music feel good, night after night. Every time I’ve seen him play in and around NYC in recent years, from Smoke and Vanguard gigs alongside Mehldau, with the drummer and pianist as respective leaders, to magical hits at Smalls (backing George Coleman) and the Falcon, in Marlboro, NY (leading a group featuring rising saxophone star Sarah Hanahan), I’ve left exhilarated and delighted.

There is an oft-repeated cliché of jazz writing that praises various drummers, usually ’60s innovators, for “liberating the instrument from a timekeeping role,” as though minding the beat and swinging with panache and authority were somehow a lowly pursuit that the average drummer would be glad to be rid of. To see Joe Farnsworth swing — inevitably sporting a striking suit and leading-man smile — is to witness the absurdity of this implication: This is an artist for whom swinging is a life’s work — the most noble and, I think he would not feel it’s a stretch to say, holy pursuit one could imagine. Though many of his elder collaborators may be gone, we are lucky to have such a devoted disciple in our midst, keeping the flame while also passing the torch. See him anytime you get the chance*.

*****

PS 1: *Farnsworth will be leading the stellar quintet from the new record, featuring Hanahan, Joel Ross, Emmet Cohen and Yasushi Nakamura, at Smoke from September 3rd through the 7th.

PS 2: I want to shout out this excellent 2023 interview conducted by my friend and fellow Farnsworth fanatic Morgan Enos, which was a valuable resource for my piece.