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