1983 · Album
Look, Stop, and Listen
Recorded 1983 · Uptown · Grammy Nomination: Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards
Dameronia in the Studio, 1983
A tight, swinging session that earned Grammy recognition and proved the ensemble's staying power.
In 1983, Philly Joe Jones brought Dameronia into the studio for what would become Look, Stop, Listen. The ensemble had been working together long enough by then to move with real purpose—no wasted motion, no filler decisions. What ended up on tape was a group that knew how to lock in, how to leave space where it mattered, and how to play with the kind of understated confidence that doesn't announce itself. The recording came out on Uptown, a label that understood how to capture working ensembles without over-producing them.
The album caught ears beyond the usual circuit. Scott Yanow's review in AllMusic called it "Highly recommended," which matters coming from someone who hears a lot of records. More significantly, the Recording Academy nominated it for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards—real recognition from the institution, the kind that doesn't come from hype or marketing but from people in the room knowing they heard something worth acknowledging.
By 1983, Jones was already a known quantity in jazz—a drummer with real history and credibility. This wasn't a debut or a reinvention. It was a record by a working band at a point where they had something to say and said it cleanly. That's not nothing.
Who's playing
Larry Ridleybass
Walter Davis Jr.piano
Johnny Griffintenor saxophone
Cecil Paynebaritone saxophone
Virgil Jonestrumpet
Don Sicklertrumpet
Benny Powelltrombone
Philly Joe Jonesdrums
Charles Daviswoodwind
Frank Wesswoodwind
Where next?
More by Philly Joe Jones
All 17 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
