Art Blakey

Modern Drummer congratulates Terri Lyne Carrington on her 2023 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Record of the Year, for her recording Standards Vol. 1 featuring Kris Davis, Linda May Han Oh, Nicholas Payton, and Matthew Stevens.  This is actually the second time Ms. Carrington has won this prestigious award, making her the …

Tony Allen. Photo by Bernard Benant. Tony Allen, the longtime drummer with African music legend Fela Kuti, has died in France. As the drummer with Fela’s groundbreaking band Africa ’70, Allen was responsible for creating many of the beats that defined Afrobeat music, the mix of jazz, funk, and the …

Hey MD Readers! This is Steph Barker, drummer for the Los Angeles indie pop duo Coast Modern. I have been a huge fan of Modern Drummer since I started drumming back in sixth grade, so I am over the moon and absolutely honored to contribute to “On The Beat.”

Longtime New York City drummer Tony Leone is currently on the road with the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.

With Juniper, instrumental and percussion-heavy trio Square Peg Round Hole unleashes pondering melodies, brooding harmonic landscapes, and forward-thinking rhythms. Here, the group’s main drummer, Evan Chapman, discusses the concepts and influences behind the record’s broad sonic spectrum….

Allen is a revered figure in the field of forward-reaching, swinging jazz rooted in the tradition. When he first made waves in the jazz world, joining Freddie Hubbard’s band in 1982 at the tender age of nineteen, elder giants took note.

We asked the members of the Modern Drummer Education Team if they felt that it’s important for drummers to learn to play other instruments (piano, bass, guitar, etc.), or should they focus on honing their craft at the kit exclusively? Here’s what they had to say….

Hi, guys and girls! My name is Anaiah Lei, and I drum for a band called the Bots, from Los Angeles, California. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I’ve been drumming for about eleven years. I joined the Bots not too long after it started and have …

We asked the members of the Modern Drummer Education Team if they felt that it’s important for all drummers to study Latin music and other musical genres, even if they don’t intend to ever perform those styles. Here’s what they had to say….

I am an independent drummer dabbling in everything I can. I just finished a string of gigs with a project we call Gulf Blvd, and we had a blast performing at last year’s Rib Festival in St. Pete, Florida. We are a unique group, equal in talent and age (all …

I am an independent drummer dabbling in everything I can. I just finished a string of gigs with a project we call Gulf Blvd, and we had a blast performing at last year’s Rib Festival in St. Pete, Florida. We are a unique group, equal in talent and age (all …

Here, as a companion to our August 2014 Influences piece on Mason, we speak with the drummer about his new album, his early days, the drummers who inspired him, and more….

To celebrate the release of Ginger Baker’s new CD, Why?, Motéma Records has put together a prize package that all Ginger Baker fans will want to get their hands on….

Sam Ulano, a beloved yet controversial player and instructor who Modern Drummer readers will recognize from the many ads he ran in the magazine over the years, passed away last week, at the age of ninety-three. MD published an interview with Ulano in the September 2011 issue, which we’ve reprinted …

Click here to check out a video lesson to accompany the Jazz Drummer’s Workshop article on applying standard tunes to the drums from the February 2014 issue.

I’m living in Chicago, IL and playing in a few projects that range from a four-piece rock outfit, Carbon Tigers, to an improvisational jazz duo that goes by faug….

Jazz drummer Foreststorn “Chico??? Hamilton died this past Monday at the age of ninety-two. Hamilton was notable for his refined approach to the drumset, which leaned more heavily on creative orchestrations than on flash, an approach that in the 1950s inspired the movements of cool and chamber jazz. Notably, Hamilton …

Click here to check out part 4 of our In the Studio series, “Seeing Sounds,” which covers classic jazz drum tones.

October 2013 Issue of Modern Drummer featuring Mike Portnoy Contents

Modern Drummer is sad to announce that Steve Berrios died this past week at the age of sixty-eight at his home in Manhattan. The drummer was among the most innovative musicians to fuse Afro-Caribbean and jazz. Berrios had an impressive career, featuring work with influential Afro-Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaría, jazz …

Mark Guiliana may be best known for his work as a sideman with jazz musicians such as Avishai Cohen and Brad Mehldau, but the drummer has been increasingly involved with his own solo project, Beat Music….

Click here to check out what the MD Education Team members have to say about setting up your drumset for maximum results….

We asked the members of the MD Education Team if they think it’s important for their students to study jazz. Here’s what they had to say….

Is traditional grip a useful technique that drum students should learn? We asked the members of the MD Education Team if they think traditional grip is relevant in today’s teachings. Here’s what they had to say.

Hey, all, Russell Simins from the one and only Blues Explosion here. I play drums and write music with bandmates Jon Spencer and Judah Bauer, two of the greatest guitarists I know, and I know a lot of them.

We asked the members of the MD Education Team if they think that reading skills are crucial. Here’s what they had to say….

Photo by Robert Lewis. He showed us new ways to think about jazz drumming. There will never be another like him. by Michael Parillo On a dark night at the Village Vanguard, the audience snakes slowly down the long staircase and settles in at tiny tables, squeezed together nice and …

Hey guys, this is Matt Covey of Shai Hulud, the Suicide Dolls, and the Flaming Tsunamis. And the Hempsteadys. And the Franklin Brothers…and Young Pandas. About three and a half years ago, I was shocked to find myself on the road playing drums for a truly pioneering band….

I’m Tim Walsh of the Stepkids, and I’m excited to be on here and hope to add to the wealth of knowledge that is MD’s awesome thirty-five-year history…

Despite the prevalence of educational books, DVDs, and online lessons, most drumming information is still passed down the old-fashioned way: from one player to another, while shooting the breeze at the drum shop. A lot of what we hear, we take at face value, and we repeat these drumming “absolutes??? …

Ben Riley commands respect from the moment he hits the bandstand. While he is best known (and beloved) for his years spent in Thelonious Monk’s quartet at the peak of that master’s powers, Riley has also recorded and performed with many other jazz greats.This article orginally ran in the February …

Billy Higgins, who would come to play on more than five hundred albums, including three of the biggest jazz crossover hits of the 1960s (Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man,??? Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,??? and Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance???), was born in 1936 and grew up in Los Angeles. He began …

Learn the drums by copping beats that are part of the everyday musical landscape.

My name is LaMel Randolph; I play drums in the band Lionize, based out of Silver Spring, Maryland. This year we released our latest album, Destruction Manuel, we played the Warped tour and Bonnaroo Festival, and we’re already writing and recording a new batch of songs.

Hello! Ahh…drums! How else can you smash heads with a stick and not go to jail? I started playing at about fourteen years old, when my dad got me my first drumkit. It was a Groove Percussion kit, and I really beat the thing to a pulp…

MD recently spoke with the prog-drumming giant Carl Palmer while he was on tour with Asia. Palmer, whose career spans four decades, says he has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

Welcome once again to the MD Readers Poll, where the greatest drummers on the planet are honored by the most educated drum fans around. Let’s get right to it: the envelope, please….

June 14 would have been the seventy-seventh birthday of Motown great Uriel Jones, who died on March 24, 2009. MD spoke with Uriel shortly before his passing. We’re reprinting his interview here. (read more)

Jimmy Cobb was one of the most popular drummers of the late 1950s. He began playing at an early age and found his influences among the bop pioneers. “Max Roach was the hippest music going,??? remembers Cobb. “I also listened to Kenny Clarke, Shadow Wilson, and Sid Catlett. Then a …

Jimmy Bralower was born to make records. The drummer started playing at a very young age, and by the time he was in his early teens, his first band, the Young Ones, had signed a deal with a major label. In the ensuing years Bralower worked his way from clubs …

Interview by Robyn FlansRead the Little Feat drummer’s cover feature from October 1995. MD: You have a unique playing style with Little Feat. Can you describe that style and where it came from? Richie: My style has grown with the band. It started out heavily influenced by blues, rock ’n’ …

Photo by Aaron Pepelis I am Umar Fahim of the Binary Code, based out of New Jersey, USA. I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on the right way and the wrong way to play the drums. First off, thank you to MD for giving me, for …

Aye, MD faithful readers! My name is Tosin Aribisala. It is an honor for me to write a blog for this awesome drummers’ magazine. I have been an ardent reader and subscriber to Modern Drummer for over eleven of my twenty-three years playing the drumset….

by Billy Amendola More—way more—with the fusion and pop maestro. In a continuation of our interview with Narada Michael Walden from the November 2010 issue of Modern Drummer, the fusion and pop drumming/producing maestro reflects on his early days, teaching, spirituality, playing in odd time signatures, and coming full circle …

I don’t care so much about difficulty or technicality. I like style, passion, creativity, and all that kind of stuff. Here are some videos that always challenge and inspire me no matter how many times I watch them….

Greetings, Modern Drummers! My New York City band the Art Of Shooting has recently released our first full-length album, Traveling Show, and we’re excited about hitting the road to play for a bunch of new faces. I’d like to tell you a little about myself, our album, and a few …

I have played with a wide range of musicians from Lenny Kravitz to Cab Calloway and I have worked in many different genres…

Though Big Sid Catlett came out of the swing era, he is best remembered for a drumming style that had a marked influence on the bop drummers of the ’40s.

Chick Webb simultaneously defined drumming during the swing era, while also paving the way for the “modern??? jazz movement of the 1940s…

It’s safe to say that nobody swung harder than Art Blakey. Just check out any recording with the hard-bop pioneer at the throne, and you’re bound to find the drummer’s primal groove at work…

Philly Joe Jones is one of the greatest of the hard boppers. His contributions to the art of jazz drumming are immeasurable. He was a virtuoso with a pair of brushes, and a genius at turning the rudiments into fluent musical ideas. More than any of his peers, it was …

In celebration of the great, sometimes groundbreaking drumming performances of TV’s golden age, we present to you highlights along the illustrious Drumming On TV timeline…

My name is Dave Watts and I’m writing to you from the road with my current project, the Kyle Hollingsworth Band.

When it comes to recording, sometimes less is more. And sometimes, less results in an out-of-body experience…

I am currently drumming for the band Nova, out of San Francisco. I'm gonna have to admit that I have an obsession with drums; all I do is think about drumming.

As a Web-only bonus, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer pontificates on listening, sounding how you want to sound, and working with a click….

Hudson Music has recently released Steve Smith’s DVD Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, which Smith describes as “a detailed look at the drumming of some of the jazz giants who have helped create the vocabulary and concepts of drumming in general.???

For the past five years, Michigan native Derico Watson has held one of the most coveted chairs a drummer could imagine, touring regularly with pioneering bassist Victor Wooten.

Hello, MD readers, this is Denny Seiwell letting you in on some info about me that is not too widely known….

Hello, MD family! 2008 has been a blessed and busy year, with more great things to come! My name is Marcus Baylor, and I am the drummer with The Yellowjackets.

Last year, drumming dynamo Cindy Blackman left behind her big-ticket rock gig with Lenny Kravitz to unleash the jazz devil inside…

Since moving to New York in 1996, Allison Miller has thrived by refusing to acknowledge musical borders. Alli, as she likes to be called, has allowed her sincere love of pop and rock music to ground her jazz playing–and her passion for jazz to elevate her pop prowess….

Since leaving the groundbreaking British psychedelic band Soft Machine in 1971, Robert Wyatt has released a succession of remarkable solo albums filled with artfulness and surprise….

Soon after moving to the New York area in the early ’80s, Carl Allen landed a dream gig with post bop trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. That gig established the then nineteen-year-old drummer as a leading light among a select group of eager young musicians who were looking to breath new life …

As the most important drummer in African music, Tony Allen provided the Afrobeat pulse for Fela Kuti’s Africa ’70s band and recorded a clutch of solo albums. Currently Allen works for UK supergroup The Good, The Bad, And The Queen, which features Blur’s Damon Albarn and The Clash’s Paul Simonen….

Imagine growing up in a country where playing music is illegal, where practicing religion can get you yanked out of your home in the middle of the night, and where the only available drum instructor is some moldy Russian guy with enough ear hair to start a small forest….

Steve Jordan has accomplished more in his drumming career than he ever could have imagined. Of the big names he played with, a short list would include Ashford & Simpson, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, David Sanborn, Tom Scott, …

The drumming legend gives his most revealing interview.

When twenty-five-year-old Eric Harland was a teenager, he weighed an astonishing 380 pounds, making him a target of cruel children, mean-spirited teachers, and sometimes, his own family. “I would walk into a clothing store and the employees would just laugh,” recalls the Texas native. “Man,” they would say, “we don’t …

The Savant label has recently released Winard Harper’s Come Into The Light. The CD was recorded live at Cecil’s, a jazz nightclub owned by drummer/producer Cecil Brooks III in New Jersey….

John Blackwell always listened to his dad’s advice, and it’s paid off, big time. “Growing up, my dad used to tell me, ‘If you want to make any money in this business, play in the pocket.'”…

Chico has released nearly fifty albums as a leader, including his newest release, Foreststorn, on the Koch Jazz label. The title of the album is Chico’s own given first name, as well as that of his son, who died shortly before the album was completed.

Do those canary-yellow drums look familiar? That’s because they belonged to the late Tony Williams, who gave them to trumpeter Wallace Roney….

You have to be careful who you show off in front of, as Joe La Barbera learned early in his career. “I was working with a singer named Frankie Randall,” Joe recalls. “He had an offer to open for Buddy Rich in Las Vegas for a month. So I was …

The scene: a cold night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at North On Sixth, a multi-level hole in the wall jook joint where the bathroom graffiti is more political than obscene. Attracting a crowd of Manhattan intellectuals and Brooklyn deadheads, North On Sixth is tonight showcasing Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra. A collection …