Biography by Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Not to be confused with Philly Joe Jones, guitarist Ivan Joseph "Boogaloo Joe" Jones recorded several albums in a soul-jazz vein for Prestige in the late '60s and early '70s. In addition to leading his own group for recording purposes, Jones also played with Wild Bill Davis, Houston Person, and Willis Jackson. His own dates are solid, if unexceptional groove jazz, leaving plenty of space for the saxes and organ, as well as his own bop/R&B hybrid style. Rusty Bryant, Charles Earland, and ace soul and jazz session drummer Bernard Purdie are among the sidemen also featured on Boogaloo's albums.
Review by Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
By 1975, soul-jazz was well into its decline, supplanted by both fusion and disco as the instrumental groove musics of the moment, and a lot of '60s soul-jazz players had made the stylistic switch. Joe "Boogaloo" Jones, on the other hand, hadn't, and this obscure 1975 release (reissued in 1996 by Luv 'n' Haight, the rare grooves subsidiary of Ubiquity Records) largely sounds as if it could have come out in 1966. The one concession to the times was in Jones' choice in covers on side two, with extended takes on Stevie Wonder's "You've Got It Bad, Girl" (really rather good, with some terse, George Benson-like solos) and Olivia Newton-John's "Have You Never Been Mellow" (which isn't a good song no matter who does it), separated by a bizarre, almost disco-tinged version of the Harry Belafonte standard "Jamaica Farewell." The three originals on side one are a much better use of Jones' undeniable talents, with the funky strut of the title track a particular highlight, but overall, Sweetback sounds like Jones is running out of ideas; unsurprisingly, it was his last album.
Jones recorded 8 albums in a Soul-Jazz vein for Prestige in the period from 1968 to 1973, but his most furious, frenetic, funky and in-demand record has to be “Sweetback,” recorded in Upper Darby, PA in 1975, and originally released on the Joka label.
Ivan Joseph Jones, also known as "Boogaloo Joe", (born 1 November 1940) made his solo soul jazz debut as "Joe Jones" on Prestige Records in 1967, but earned the name "Boogaloo Joe" following a 1969 record of that title. The nickname was meant to distinguish him from the other people with similar names in the music business, such as R&B singer Joe Jones, jazz drummers "Papa Jo" Jones and Philly Joe Jones, etc. Later, he'd turn to billing himself as Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones.
While his sound and style clearly derived from the blues, it was a solid understanding of rock and soul that Jones brought to his style of jazz and set him apart from the crowd.
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