1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

There were drummers before them, most notably Warren 'Baby' Dodds,younger brother of clarinettist Johnny Dodds, and Arthur James 'Zutty' Singleton; and alongside them legends such as Jo Jones and Art Blakey, and later Philly Jo Jones and Elvin Jones; and after them giants such as Tony Williams, and the amazing British drummers Allan Ganley, Tony Oxley, and John Marshall. But when push comes to shove there will only be two names, two men, two drummers who can claim to have changed the very concept of jazz drumming - Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa.

I could have, should have, written Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, because it was Gene who re-thought the philosophy, the ideology even, of what a drummer was there to do: was he there to simply add unpretentious backing, or was he there to add something special, to drive the ensemble along, to give it a distinctive sound, to give it an engine, a power source. Gene Krupa was never there to simply add unpretentious backing.

He was also there to add excitement - a lot of excitement!

And it was that excitement which turned an increasingly moribund musical form - early 1930s jazz - into something huge, and hugely popular - Swing.

Now, many may disagree, but for me Swing was still jazz, but brought up to date. It was now slick, stylish, hard hitting, loud, terrifyingly professional, and, by 1939-40, a social statement about how America saw itself. If only Hitler had gone to Benny Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert in 1938...?

If only.

When you listen to the early Benny Goodman Orchestra recordings from the mid 1930s the band has a wholly different sound to any other around ( listen to 'King Porter Stomp' and 'Bumble Bee Stomp' to hear what I mean), and that sound comes out of Krupa's grasp of dynamics, and his total command of the outfit: what he does - and in later years suddenly decides to do half way through a number - is what the band does, they have no choice but to follow, and to follow by listening, which is at the heart of jazz anyway - listening.

Both Gene and Buddy were hard hitters, but in different ways: Gene always seemed to use a very loose snare, whereas Buddy's was as taught as it could be, creating a much harder, more brittle sound compared to Gene's, whose hits are always seemingly softer and deeper. If we think in military hardware terms think of Buddy Rich as a German MG42 machine gun drilling out over 800 rounds a minute, while Gene Krupa's sound is much more that of triple anti-aircraft fire. Both

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The greatest jazz drummers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!