Edmund Leonard Thigpen was born in Chicago on December 28th, 1930 but moved to Los Angeles with his mother when his parents split up. His father Ben was a professional drummer and played in Kansas with a swing outfit called ‘Andy Kirks Clouds Of Joy’. These guys epitomised what became the Kansas City Sound
Jerry Ivan Allison was born on 31st August 1939, is known to his friends as JI and in my opinion Rock and Roll drummers owe a bigger debt to him than they probably know. Because of his involvement with Buddy Holly and The Crickets his was the voice of ‘pop’ drumming before we had
Photo by William P. Gottlieb, courtesy of, and thanks to, www.jazzphotos.com Dave Tough was born of Scottish parents in Oak Park, Illinois on the April 26th, 1907. At the time Oak Park was a town just outside of Chicago so unsurprisingly he was ideally placed to become a leading light in the Chicago
Joseph Albert Morello was born in Springfield, Mass. on July 17th 1928 and first came to the world’s attention in 1959 with Dave Brubeck on the album ‘Time Out’. However, he’d certainly paid his drumming dues long before he was thrust into the drumming spotlight at the end of the fifties and had already become
Maxwell Lemuel Roach was a pioneer of Bebop along with Kenny Clarke but he played all sorts of music. He was born in Newland, North Carolina but there is a discrepancy between the ‘official’ birth date and the one his people give out. The family Roach say he arrived on January 8th, 1925 but
The first time I heard the hambone rhythm (also known by its African name of Juma and 3/2 clave) was on a record called ‘Willie And The Hand Jive’ by the ’Johnny Otis Show’ . This band was somewhat unusual for the time being led by a drummer. This would have been in 1958 and
Foreststorne ‘Chico’ Hamilton was born in Los Angeles on September 20th 1921 and I have to admit he didn’t exactly introduce me to jazz; instead he introduced me to something which for me, as an embryonic rock ‘n’ roll drummer, proved to be very important. The possibilities offered by playing a regular drum kit
I’ve always had more than a passing interest in ‘Western Swing’ music, since in essence it was close to the ‘skiffle’ many of us ‘older’ Brits started our careers with. My curiosity was whetted further when I played with Don McLean who every now and then would throw in songs within the genre. And, over
Sonny Greer was born in New Jersey on December 13th 1895 (there are other possible dates, but this would seem to be the most consistent one). He studied the drums with a vaudeville drummer named J. Rosemond Johnson and said he learned his music theory from a chap called Eugene Holland who once played with
