Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones began as a child tap dancer on Philadelphia radio before becoming the drummer that both Miles Davis and Bill Evans called their favorite. This deep dive follows him from U.S. Army service in World War II to his 1947 arrival in New York as house drummer at Cafe Society, where the nightly pressure of playing with whoever walked in during the birth of bebop turned him into a musical chameleon. It also explains why he added "Philly" to his name to avoid confusion with swing-era drummer Papa Jo Jones of the Count Basie Orchestra.

The episode digs into his years anchoring Miles Davis's first great quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, and Paul Chambers, including the marathon Prestige sessions that produced Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin', and his sideman work on Coltrane's Blue Train and Sonny Rollin ...