Drummers have typically been the butt of jokes, lots of which give attention to their supposed lack of musicality and doubtful time-keeping abilities. However the reality is {that a} band is barely nearly as good as its drummer, and the perfect jazz drummers can miraculously rework a below-average combo right into a half-decent one.
In jazz, arguably essentially the most technically demanding type of in style music, a drummer’s function is usually extra exacting than these within the fields of rock and pop. In its infancy originally of the twentieth Century, it was the drummers who gave jazz its heartbeat with an intoxicating, eminently danceable groove. However because the music developed, its necessities modified. After the bebop period, when jazz grew to become extra cerebral, the perfect jazz drummers have been anticipated to match the opposite soloists within the band with their virtuosity. Now not was their function solely targeted on offering a continuing rhythmic pulse, they needed to contribute to the music in different methods: by supporting and lifting the soloists, constructing stress and drama, supplying percussive colour, and serving to to invoke a temper or environment.
One of the best jazz drummers, then, by the very advanced nature of the music, need to be completed technicians, and when you’ve seen the award-winning 2014 film Whiplash, you’ll know that they don’t have a simple journey. The requirements are exacting. Even so, jazz, in all its numerous manifestations and hues, has produced a large number of sensational “tub thumpers” over time – they usually have all helped to remodel jazz drumming right into a excessive artwork type.
Whilst you’re studying, browse our assortment of jazz vinyl and CDs right here.
50: Omar Hakim (born 1959)
Although his innumerable studio credit embrace taking part in on pop data by David Bowie, Sting, Kate Bush, and Céline Dion, this New York sticksman’s musical foundations are deeply rooted in jazz, as his 80s stints with Climate Report and Miles Davis show. Boasting a supreme versatility, Hakim is a distinctly fashionable breed of multi-disciplined drummer who can play something he turns his arms to consummately effectively.
49: Dave Weckl (born 1960)
This Missouri drummer has performed on pop classes for Madonna, Paul Simon, and Robert Palmer, however is greatest identified by jazz followers for his work as a part of Chick Corea’s Elektric Band throughout the years 1985-1991. Technically good in addition to in a position to conjure up a commanding visceral energy, Weckl is an completed bandleader in his personal proper who has written books and produced movies that give perception into what it takes to be one of many world’s greatest jazz drummers.
48: Tony Oxley (born 1938)
As a former home drummer at Ronnie Scott’s in London, Sheffield-born Oxley is likely one of the UK’s greatest jazz drummers, and has performed with a raft of bona fide jazz giants, together with Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson. He’s additionally considered one of many main exponents of free jazz, as his stellar avant-garde work with Peter Brötzmann, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and John Surman attests. Stylistically, Oxley by no means resorts to clichés, and, in musical phrases, at all times has one thing attention-grabbing and authentic to say.
47: Pete La Roca (1938-2012)
Harlem-born Pete Sims adopted the stage identify Pete La Roca when taking part in timbales in a number of Latin jazz bands throughout his youth. His first gig of notice was taking part in with the “Saxophone Colossus,” Sonny Rollins, in 1957 on the Village Vanguard, and after that he grew to become an indispensable sideman, recording with the likes of Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, and Charles Lloyd. Although he may swing with wild abandon, La Roca was additionally a sympathetic accompanist and may very well be deliciously low-key on ballads.
46: Manu Katché (born 1958)
One in every of – if not the – greatest jazz drummers to return from France, Katché doesn’t simply play jazz and could be heard on a raft of rock and pop data, together with ones by Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Dire Straits, Jeff Beck, and Tracy Chapman. Within the jazz world, he’s performed with Herbie Hancock and Jan Garbarek, and has additionally launched a number of albums below his personal identify on ECM. His signature fashion is a finely calibrated mix of precision, aptitude, and creativeness.
45: Jeff Ballard (born 1963)
An extended-time musical affiliate of famous modern jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, California-born Ballard has demonstrated his distinctive expertise in ensembles led by Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, and Chick Corea. His fashion is dramatically dynamic, outlined by an infectious sense of brio and fizzing power.
44: Jeff “Tain” Watts (born 1960)
A real potentate amongst modern skin-beaters, Watts is a Pennsylvanian who has a powerful affiliation with each Wynton and Branford Marsalis. His muscular, vigorous mode of taking part in could be heard on an array of various recordings, starting from Kenny Garrett and Alice Coltrane to Harry Connick, Jr, and India.Arie.
43: Rashied Ali (1933-2009)
Recruited by John Coltrane in 1965, this Philly-born drummer featured on the saxophonist’s most outré albums, together with Interstellar House. He introduced a contemporary avant-garde sensibility to jazz drumming, jettisoning swing and a continuing pulse in favor of abstraction.
42: Norman Connors (born 1947)
At simply 16, the precociously-gifted Connors, then nonetheless at college, subbed for Elvin Jones at a Coltrane gig in Philly, and, for a time, it appeared as if non secular jazz could be his calling, particularly after a stint taking part in with Pharaoh Sanders within the early 70s. Although Connors moved into the realm of R&B music, and have become famend as a hit-making producer and procurer of up-and-coming expertise, he by no means forgot his jazz roots.
41: Brian Blade (born 1970)
An adept musical shape-shifter who can convincingly morph from taking part in rock (Joni Mitchell) and nation (Emmylou Harris) to pop (Norah Jones) and folks (Beth Orton), Blade has proven that there aren’t any musical boundaries that he can’t cross. Regardless of his myriad sideman appearances, it’s along with his personal jazz-oriented Fellowship Band that he’s impressed essentially the most.
40: Terri Lyne Carrington (born 1965)
The world of jazz drumming is usually an all-male protect, however the Grammy-winning Carrington – who can play each jazz and R&B with élan – provides a compelling exception to this rule, greater than incomes her place among the many greatest jazz drummers – feminine or male. Now a professor at Berklee School Of Music, Carrington was a baby prodigy on the drums and quickly rose to fame taking part in with the likes of Stan Getz and Herbie Hancock.
39: Billy Hart (born 1940)
Hart began out as an R&B drummer (backing Otis Redding and Sam & Dave) earlier than working within the jazz area with Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz, and Wayne Shorter. Hart’s eclecticism and skill to play in a number of completely different modes (starting from R&B and bop to extra summary modern jazz) marks him out as a versatile musician not inhibited by musical boundaries.
38: Eric Gravatt (born 1947)
A Philly native, Gravatt took over from Alphonse Mouzon in Climate Report’s drum chair in 1972 and performed on three of the band’s early LPs – his propulsive, polyrhythmic fashion undoubtedly imbued the group’s music with a primal, fiery power (particularly on their Reside In Tokyo LP). Within the late 70s, Gravatt, unable to assist his household as a musician, grew to become a jail guard for a number of years. Extra lately, he has performed with McCoy Tyner.
37: Mel Lewis (1929-1990)
A graduate of the Stan Kenton “cool school,” Lewis (actual identify Melvin Sokoloff) made his identify alongside trumpeter Thad Jones, co-leading the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra within the 60s and 70s. Regardless of being famous for his artistic use of cymbals and the nice and cozy tone of his drums, Lewis was distinctive as a drummer as a result of he most well-liked to mix in fairly than stand out when taking part in in an ensemble.
36: Albert “Tootie” Heath (born 1935)
The youthful sibling of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and Fashionable Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath, Tootie made his recording debut with John Coltrane in 1957, and, along with his mix of adroit time-keeping and creative colorization, shortly grew to become a first-call sticksman within the jazz world. One of many oldest surviving gamers on this greatest jazz drummers record, Heath remains to be performing at this time, aged 82, main an all-star percussion ensemble referred to as The Entire Drum Fact.
35: Sonny Payne (1926-1979)
Between 1954 and 1965, Payne held the much-coveted drum seat in Rely Basie’s large band and introduced a profound sense of rhythmic swagger, drama, and verve to the jazz aristocrat’s music (he appeared on Basie’s traditional 50s albums April In Paris and The Atomic Mr. Basie).
34: Sid Catlett (1910-1951)
Indiana-born Catlett first made his identify within the 30s, working with Benny Carter and Fletcher Henderson earlier than touchdown in Louis Armstrong’s group in 1938. Regardless of his affiliation with swing jazz, Catlett proved to be a flexible musician and efficiently made the transition to bebop by taking part in with Dizzy Gillespie’s groundbreaking band in 1945.
33: Connie Kay (1927-1994)
A lynchpin of The Fashionable Jazz Quartet from 1955 till 1974, Kay’s elegant “less is more” aesthetic and stylish sense of swing resulted in him an being in-demand drummer exterior the band. His versatility (he performed on Joe Turner’s 1954 R&B traditional, “Shake, Rattle And Roll,” in addition to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks album) ensured that he was by no means out of labor.
32: Al Foster (born 1943)
Initially from Shreveport, Louisiana, Foster performed on quite a few Miles Davis albums within the 70s and 80s, in addition to contributing to classes by McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, and Dexter Gordon. The cornerstone of his fashion is his means to take care of a gentle however fluid groove that permits rhythmic subtleties whereas encouraging different musicians to flourish and feed off it.
31: Billy Higgins (1936-2001)
This LA skin-beater first made his mark with the free jazz iconoclast Ornette Coleman within the late 50s, however shortly developed right into a reliable musician who may comfortably change from laborious bop to cutting-edge avant-garde music with out lacking a beat. His 700 studio credit vary from Hank Mobley and Dexter Gordon to Solar Ra and Pat Metheny, making him some of the in-demand sticksmen among the many greatest jazz drummers of all time.
30: Joe Chambers (born 1942)
A composer, vibraphonist, and pianist, in addition to a drummer, Chambers was in-demand within the 60s and performed with everybody from Miles Davis (who, amongst all of the bandleaders talked about right here, notched up classes with essentially the most jazz drummers on this record of the perfect) and Freddie Hubbard to Bobby Hutcherson and Chick Corea. Although he was fluent in laborious bop, his means to play extra summary, exploratory music gave him a fascinating versatility.
29: Chick Webb (1905-1939)
These days remembered because the bandleader who launched Ella Fitzgerald’s singing profession, Webb was additionally an modern and influential drummer earlier than his premature dying, on the age of 34, in 1939. He was a significant proponent of the swing fashion that grew to become vastly in style and dominated jazz within the 30s and early 40s.
28: Harvey Mason (born 1947)
A prolific session drummer, Atlantic Metropolis-born Mason has additionally made a plethora of albums below his personal identify, in addition to being a founder member of the long-running easy jazz supergroup, Fourplay. Whereas being tight, meticulous, and exact, his drum tracks additionally present Mason’s instinctive sense of oneness with the groove.
27: Louie Bellson (1924-2009)
From Rock Falls, Illinois, Bellson minimize his enamel within the large band period, taking part in behind Benny Goodman, Harry James, and Duke Ellington. He matured right into a noteworthy composer and creator in addition to a virtuoso sticksman whose dynamic, super-swinging, swashbuckling fashion was indebted to the pathfinding work of Jo Jones.
26: Artwork Taylor (1929-1995)
A local New Yorker, the largely unheralded Artwork Taylor was one of many founding fathers of laborious bop drumming within the 50s. He carried out with lots of jazz’s main horn gamers (together with Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, and John Coltrane) and patented a drumming fashion that was rather more than mere time-keeping, functioning as a significant musical accompaniment.
25: Alphonse Mouzon (1948-2016)
The primary drummer to play in fusion supergroup Climate Report, and an important member of Larry Coryell’s jazz-rockers, Eleventh Home, North Carolina-born Mouzon boasted an brisk fashion the place components assimilated from jazz, funk, rock, and R&B coalesced in a vibrant, polyrhythmic amalgam. He was a grasp of breezy, in-the-pocket grooves.
24: Sonny Greer (1895-1982)
The one entry in the perfect jazz drummers record to be born within the nineteenth Century, this New Jersey sticks-meister had the excellence of being Duke Ellington’s first-ever drummer. He joined in 1924 and stayed with the jazz aristocrat till 1951. What set him aside from different drummers on the time was his penchant for creating tonal colour through the use of gongs, chimes, and different unique percussion devices.
23: Idris Muhammad (1939-2014)
Born Leo Morris previous to his conversion to Islam, Muhammad was an in-demand session drummer who performed with the likes of Ahmad Jamal and Pharoah Sanders earlier than efficiently effecting the transition to solo artist (his 1974 album, Energy Of Soul, is deemed a soul-jazz traditional). His eloquent fashion drew from R&B in addition to straight-ahead jazz.
22: Lenny White (born 1949)
After making his recording debut as a 19-year-old on Miles Davis’ jazz-rock game-changer, Bitches Brew, in 1970, the New York-born White grew to become the drummer with Chick Corea’s band, Return To Eternally. With a vigorous, energetic fashion that drew on the vocabularies of each jazz and rock, White was a key architect within the basis of jazz fusion drumming, and stands as probably the greatest jazz drummers to emerge within the 70s.
21: Danny Richmond (1931-1988)
New York-reared Richmond began taking part in music as a tenor saxophonist earlier than gravitating to the drums in his 20s. He had an extended and fruitful affiliation (21 years in all) working in Charles Mingus’ band, taking part in on over thirty of the bassist/composer’s albums, together with the traditional Mingus Ah Um. Because of his good grounding on the saxophone, Richmond proved an overtly musical drummer who knew the right way to improve melodic traces with refined shading and deft touches.
20: Peter Erskine (born 1954)
A toddler drum prodigy who started taking part in on the age of 4, Erskine’s early begin helped earn his place among the many greatest jazz drummers in historical past. He minimize his enamel with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson earlier than becoming a member of Climate Report in 1978, the place he stayed till 1982. Properly versed within the lexicons of jazz in all its completely different hues, in addition to funk music, Erskine patented a particular fashion that’s each technically completed and emotionally delicate.
19: Joe Morello (1928-2011)
As a long-time sideman with Dave Brubeck, who had a predilection for experimenting with odd and uneven meters, Morello grew to become well-versed in taking part in uncommon time signatures. His drum solo on Brubeck’s signature monitor, “Take Five,” is a masterclass in taking part in in 5/4 time.
18: Jimmy Cobb (born 1929)
This Washington, DC, drummer’s lengthy and spectacular CV reads like a Who’s Who of jazz. Alongside stints taking part in with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery, and Joe Henderson, Cobb additionally famously drummed for Miles Davis, showing on the trumpeter’s iconic 1959 LP, Form Of Blue. In a position to mix energy with sensitivity, Cobb additionally knew the right way to swing with aplomb.
17: Jack DeJohnette (born 1942)
Apprenticed first to Charles Lloyd, then Invoice Evans and Miles Davis, Boston-born DeJohnette is an eclectic drummer who can adapt to, and appears snug with, any stylistic setting in jazz. His fashion, which seamlessly combines components from free jazz, bop, world music, R&B, and rock, is singular and supremely eloquent.
16: Steve Gadd (born 1945)
A flexible drummer who can play something from straight-ahead jazz to fusion, rock, R&B, and pop, Rochester-born Gadd is perceived because the drummer’s drummer. Combining technical brilliance with an innate groove consciousness and an intuitive really feel for what a track requires in rhythmic phrases, Gadd prefers to play the function of consummate group participant fairly than spotlighted soloist.
15: Paul Motian (1931-2011)
Philly-born Motian got here on the radar of jazz aficionados as a consequence of his presence within the Invoice Evans Trio within the 60s, and later performed with one other influential pianist, Keith Jarrett. An completed grasp of subtlety, restraint, and delicate colorization, Motian may etch vivid footage along with his rhythm tracks.
14: Billy Cobham (born 1944)
Panama-born Cobham performed with Horace Silver and Miles Davis earlier than discovering notoriety within the early 70s because the Herculean drummer in jazz-rock behemoth Mahavishnu Orchestra. Along with his mountainous drum package – which featured double bass drums and a large gong – Cobham’s thunderous, overtly bodily fashion was fusion’s reply to Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham.
13: Louis Hayes (born 1937)
This Detroit drummer’s profession started within the late 50s when he recorded with Horace Silver, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley. Hayes’ specialty is his means to supply a hard-swinging, free-flowing rhythm monitor that’s delicate to the wants of the soloists.
12: Shelly Manne (1920-1984)
Versatility was Shelly Manne’s center identify. In a position to change from swing, bebop, and even Dixieland, to extra exploratory jazz types on the drop of a drumstick, it’s not shocking that his flexibility led him to play on numerous Hollywood film scores and TV soundtracks. His sui generis fashion mirrored his a number of influences, and he used his drum package to expertly convey a panoply of moods and feelings with sound.
11: Philly Joe Jones (1923-1985)
To not be confused with the massive band swing drummer Jo Jones, this Pennsylvania tub-thumper was a prolific sideman who was famend for hammering on his drum package extraordinarily loudly. He’s largely remembered because the drummer who injected a dynamic swing really feel and effervescent power into the Miles Davis Quintet throughout the late 50s.
10: Chico Hamilton (1921-2013)
This prolific one-man drum orchestra from LA was a pioneer of the cool, West Coast sound. Like Artwork Blakey, he led from the again and proved to be an astute expertise spotter. In a position to mix energy with finesse and a nuanced sensitivity, he used drums like a painter, coloring his music with completely different tonal shades.
9: Jo Jones (1911-1985)
An important member of Rely Basie’s band between 1934 and 1948, this modern Windy Metropolis drummer (typically often called “Papa” Jo Jones) drew up the blueprint for big-band jazz drumming along with his distinguished use of the hi-hat to maintain time (earlier than that, the bass drum had been used for that function). He additionally pioneered using brushes on slower, softer songs. A vastly influential drummer.
8: Gene Krupa (1909-1973)
Purportedly the primary sticksman to make use of a bass drum on a recording session, big-band swing meister Gene Krupa can declare to have influenced the format of the trendy drum package. He was additionally instrumental in establishing the recognition of cymbals and tom-toms. Famend for his explosive “drum battles” with Buddy Wealthy.
7: Buddy Wealthy (1917-1987)
Bernard “Buddy” Wealthy was some of the flamboyant drummers in jazz. Famend for his pace, energy, and primal sense of swing, he would exhibit his prodigious method by indulging in prolonged drum solos, which have been the precursor of these present in rock music.
6: Roy Haynes (born 1925)
Roy Haynes – whose nickname, Snap Crackle, was purportedly an onomatopoeic approximation of his distinctive snare drum sound – started as a tough bop drummer within the early 50s earlier than demonstrating that he may play any type of jazz, even avant-garde, with panache. A grasp of musical magic.
5: Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
Jones rose to fame with John Coltrane’s groundbreaking quartet within the early 60s and instantly distinguished himself by the kinetic forcefulness of his drumming. In addition to brute energy, he possessed subtlety and knew the right way to assemble a nuanced rhythm monitor that flowed and was acutely attuned to the wants of a track.
4: Kenny Clarke (1914-1985)
Nicknamed Klook, the Pittsburgh-born Clarke (who was a constitution member of The Fashionable Jazz Quartet) was current at bebop’s beginning within the mid-40s and was probably the greatest jazz drummers within the style’s early growth. His hallmark was introducing syncopated accents on the bass drum (which the hepcats referred to as “bombs”) whereas beating out a propulsive journey cymbal determine to take care of a swing groove. His fashion etched the template for all fashionable jazz drumming.
3: Tony Williams (1945-1997)
Although small in stature, Tony Williams was undoubtedly one of many true giants of jazz drumming. At 17, he was taking part in with Miles Davis and shortly grew to become considered a trailblazer along with his intricate patterns and deft rhythmic displacements. He was supremely versatile too – in addition to straight-ahead jazz he may play fusion and rock with consummate ease.
2: Max Roach (1924-2007)
Roach emerged within the late 40s as considered one of bebop’s first vital drummers. One in every of his chief calling playing cards was utilizing the journey cymbal to emphasise the rhythmic pulse, which was an innovation that introduced fluidity and a extra refined kind of swing to jazz. He grew to grow to be an expressive sticksman – probably the greatest jazz drummers in historical past – who would use his drum set to create contrasting tonalities to underline completely different components of a track throughout a efficiency.
1: Artwork Blakey (1919-1990)
A polyrhythmic percussion powerhouse, Artwork Blakey was a one-man engine room who powered his long-running band, The Jazz Messengers, with a superior sense of swing and syncopation. Sitting atop this record of the perfect jazz drummers of all time, he was a charismatic bandleader in addition to drummer; his trademark was the swelling press roll, which he used to inject a turbo-charged depth into his driving laborious bop grooves.
Searching for extra? Browse our assortment of jazz vinyl and CDs right here.
