Jazz drummers, so who do you rate?

[francisco]

Saw this? Spang a lang and more: http://www.marlbank.net/4169-20-jazz-drum-greats.html

[Stanfordian]

Saw this? Spang a lang and more: http://www.marlbank.net/4169-20-jazz-drum-greats.html

Art Blakey, Buddy Rich, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins, Elvin Jones, Pete La Roca. I must add Gene Krupa to the list!

[Serial_Apologist]

Welcome to the forum, as this part of it especially, francisco.

Good drummers? There are - and have always been - so many to choose favourites from! Of that lot you'll get favourable support for Roy Haynes from many on here, I'd imagine.

I see there aren't any British names, so I'll fire off by nominating my three favourites - (the latter) two of whom are sadly, no more:

Tony Oxley
Tony Levin
Tony Marsh

The fact that all three have Tony as their christian names is purely coincidental, I'm sure!

Good to have you on board!

[Beef Oven!]

Tony Williams
Peter Erskine
Ginger Baker
Omar Hakim

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyrIVwLbpYA

[Serial_Apologist]

Tony Williams
Peter Erskine
Ginger Baker
Omar Hakim

The one time I saw Omar Hakim was with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, or one of its offshoots. I'm not these days so much into drum solos, but on that occasion we saw him perform accelerandi and rallentandi against a steadily maintained pulse. As I've said on here before, the man appeared to have two brains operating in simultaneous perfect synchronicity. All that was missing was the joss sticks manufacturers from the programme pamphlet.

[Beef Oven!]

The one time I saw Omar Hakim was with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, or one of its offshoots. I'm not these days so much into drum solos, but on that occasion we saw him perform accelerandi and rallentandi against a steadily maintained pulse. As I've said on here before, the man appeared to have two brains operating in simultaneous perfect synchronicity. All that was missing was the joss sticks manufacturers from the programme pamphlet.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

The one time I saw Omar Hakim was with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, or one of its offshoots. I'm not these days so much into drum solos, but on that occasion we saw him perform accelerandi and rallentandi against a steadily maintained pulse. As I've said on here before, the man appeared to have two brains operating in simultaneous perfect synchronicity. All that was missing was the joss sticks manufacturers from the programme pamphlet.

All of the earlier named (and especially Roy Haynes who is phenomenal) but a plug for Louis Hayes who I saw in McCoy Tyner's trio back in the early 1980s and he was just breathtaking. As powerful as Elvin and as detailed and tasteful as Roy or Billy Higgins. A jazz drummer friend of mine who was there said on the way out, "God, 'm giving it all up!". He went on to join Eddie and the Hotrods!

[Serial_Apologist]

All of the earlier named (and especially Roy Haynes who is phenomenal) but a plug for Louis Hayes who I saw in McCoy Tyner's trio back in the early 1980s and he was just breathtaking. As powerful as Elvin and as detailed and tasteful as Roy or Billy Higgins. A jazz drummer friend of mine who was there said on the way out, "God, 'm giving it all up!". He went on to join Eddie and the Hotrods!

Louis Hayes was evidently the sort of person not given to over-blowing his pedigree when it came to playing associations in his later years: we say him on a guesting visit a few years later than Bluesnik's abovementioned concert, backing local musciians in a Sunday night pub gig in Bristol. A very friendly, totally unhaughty man, as we all discovered when chatting to him at the end of that gig - as, indeed, one found with most of that generation of leading Americans. Peter Erskine, too - very complimentary about our top musicians such as John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Hayes was extraordinary with Tyner, up there with Elvin. One of the best I've seen. Billy Higgins also was a lot "heavier" in person, a lovely "thick" drum sound rather like 50s Frank Butler. And always with that huge smile when someone, in this case Harold Land, played something he really liked! A big loss.

[Serial_Apologist]

Hayes was extraordinary with Tyner, up there with Elvin. One of the best I've seen. Billy Higgins also was a lot "heavier" in person, a lovely "thick" drum sound rather like 50s Frank Butler. And always with that huge smile when someone, in this case Harold Land, played something he really liked! A big loss.

I've always thought Bill Higgins and Ed Blackwell provided equally empathetic support to the Ornette/Cherry/Haden quartets, doing it in quite different ways - Higgins more in the tradition of Max Roach, emphasising snare and side drums; Blackwell with an African feel centred more around the tom-toms - very noticeably in their respective solos on "Free Jazz". From what I remember, John Stevens thought highly of both. I once had the considerable nerve to approach Tony Oxley at the Bracknell festival, and asked him how he remembered and saw his and John Stevens's respective roles in the way jazz had been going in this country in the sixties. Stevens was on the other side of the quite large table, which was surrounded by musicians of all nations, and I don't know if he was listening or not when Oxley replied in his usual lugubrious Yorkshire manner: "That Stevens - he's a quite good drummer who's done some useful things". That's as much as one expected to get out of Mr Oxley!

[Alyn_Shipton]

Agree about both Higgins and Hayes - was lucky to hear Billy live towards the end of his life in Grant Park Chicago with Charles Lloyd. And Louis, if I'm not mistaken was on a gig I presented for Radio 3 some years back from Cheltenham with Jackie McLean. I'd like to throw some other names into the mix. I've become more and more enamoured with Sam Woodyard over the years. Technically not a patch on Sonny Payne, but so much feeling and nuance in his playing. Art Taylor deserves a mention, as do Philly Joe and Jimmy Cobb. The nicest drummers I've ever interviewed were Ed Thigpen and Louie Bellson, both of whom were pretty amazing players. And, S-A, surprised not to see Phil Seaman in your list, or Bryan Spring, and what about the doyen of Scandinavian drummers Jon Christensen?

[Joseph K]

Tony Williams
Elvin Jones
Rashied Ali
Roy Haynes
Jack DeJohnette
Lenny White
Alex Acuna
Peter Erskine
Dennis Chambers
Gary Novak
Vinnie Colaiuta
Brian Blade

[Alyn_Shipton]

And thinking of Tony Oxley, boards might be amused by this: http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/moxkit.html

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Alyn, the drummer (excellent) on the Jackie Mclean Cheltenham gig in 1997? was Victor Lewis. I misremembered it as Billy Higgins once and you then corrected me. I still have ze C90 tapes!