Roy Haynes
February 1986: Roy Haynes Joins Louis Armstrong’s Big Band
When your grandfather is one of the most revered jazz drummers of all time, the notion “better get it in your soul” is something that happens naturally, like drinking water.
Over time, transcribing can become a hobby for serious jazz musicians. Jazz students in conservatories often hang together and share their latest transcribed licks. And part of the fun of writing out others’ parts is listening for hours and scouring obscure records to find material that speaks to you. With …
Armand Zildjian starts a lot of his sentences the same way: “I’ve got a cymbal that . . . ,” after which he describes the attributes of a particular cymbal in his private collection. His enthusiasm is evident as he expounds on whatever it is that makes the cymbal special …
It was a jazz drumming summit of epic proportions. Roy Haynes, the last of the great drummers of the bebop era; Jack DeJohnette, the most recognizably artful and exploratory drummer of modern times; and Terri Lyne Carrington,
Whose playing endures through the decades? Whose music do we reach for when we want new ideas? When we want to practice? When we want to laugh? Who inspires and delights us most?
In the early ’50s, Tony Scott hired a young drummer from Philadelphia named Joe Jones. To avoid confusion with Count Basie’s famous drummer (Jo Jones), Scott would introduce his drummer by saying, “This is the Joe Jones from Philly.”
Roy Haynes is one of the leading exponents of modern jazz drumming. His influence in the development of the progressive styles of the late forties and fifties was equal to that of Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Art Blakey.
Lenny White was born in Queens, N. Y. and travelled to Forever. Excuse the forced pun, but it was with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, that Lenny made the reputation that engendered his foray as a solo act.”I got a call from a different guitar player every day for about …
A ‘natural’ drummer, Roy Haynes has played with an array of jazz artists throughout his career, including Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan and John Coltrane. Haynes reminisces about the artists he has played with and explains how he approaches each new musical challenge that faces him.
I lead a lab at Temple University, and at our first meeting of each semester I ask my students what music they have an interest in learning more about. Some want to gain a deeper understanding of a particular style of playing, while others want to explore specific drummers like …
Abe Laboriel Jr., Matt Chamberlain, Jack DeJohnette, Don Alias, Nir Zidkyahu, Jeremy Taggart, Brendan Hill, Ben Perowsky, Pat McGann, Denny Weston Jr., Ken Tondre, Eric Singer, Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes, Lewis Nash, Ted Parsons, Gene Lake, Jay Schellen, Steve Gorman, Eddie Hedges, Chris McCann, Biff Adam, Jeff Hamilton, Matt Cameron
In this Issue: Lars Ulrich, Billy Higgins, William Kennedy, Deen Castronovo, Billy Cobham, Roy Haynes, Casey Scheuerell, David Garibaldi, Tommy Aldridge, Chuck Morris
In this Issue: Roy Haynes, Matt Chamberlain, Greg D’Angelo
Posted: September 1, 2020
Modern Drummer Festival 2020
Modern Drummer is rebooting its world-famous Drum Festival on September 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with a live-streaming event honoring the late, great Rush drummer Neil Peart. Proceeds of ticket sales will benefit brain tumor research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The event, which will be produced and distributed …
Posted: July 7, 2020
Famed Jazz Drummer Billy Hart to Conduct Free “Evolution of Contemporary Jazz Drumming” Zoom Presentation
On Sunday, July 19, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time, world-renowned drummer and educator Billy Hart will conduct a free Zoom presentation, “The Evolution of Contemporary Jazz Drummers.” Hart has recorded over six hundred albums, including seminal dates with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, Joe Zawinul, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, …
Posted: September 29, 2016
On Tour: Tony Leone With the Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Longtime New York City drummer Tony Leone is currently on the road with the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.
Posted: August 30, 2016
October 2016 Issue of Modern Drummer magazine featuring Toto’s Shannon Forrest
See what’s in the October 2016 Issue of Modern Drummermagazine featuring Toto’s Shannon Forrest!
Posted: June 30, 2016
Carl Allen: Learning From the Giants
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.
Posted: August 19, 2014
Influences: Harvey Mason
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….
Posted: June 8, 2014
Sarah Hagan to Head Zildjian Artist Relations Worldwide
The Zildjian Company is proud to announce that Sarah Hagan has been promoted to director of artist relations–worldwide effective immediately. Sarah assumes responsibility for planning and executing Zildjian’s global artist relations program based out of its headquarters in Norwell, MA….
Posted: March 28, 2014
Tom Page of RocketNumberNine and Neneh Cherry
I met Neneh Cherry back in December 2012 around a campfire on a rooftop in East London. By the end of the meeting it was fairly evident that there was potential in us working together.
Posted: January 2, 2014
VIDEO! Jazz Drummer’s Workshop: Approaching Standards, Part 3: Language and Vernacular (February 2014 Issue)
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.
Posted: November 8, 2013
Legendary Drummer/Percussionist Walfredo Reyes Sr.
It’s been eight years since the 2005 Modern Drummer Festival where I was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a great event with many incredible drummers….
Posted: June 4, 2013
Jazz Drummer’s Workshop: The Stick Shot
Click here to check out a new Jazz Drummer’s Workshop article on the stick shot.
Posted: May 16, 2013
Web Exclusive!
Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music
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….
Posted: January 10, 2013
MD Education Team Weighs In On: Learning Jazz
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….
Posted: December 9, 2011
National Music Workshop’s 2012 Pat Metheny Summer Music Workshop
For intermediate and advanced jazz musicians, all instruments (limited enrollment) — Event to be held August 20-24, 2012, The Spa at Norwich Inn, Norwich, CT– The National Music Workshop is proud to announce the 2012 Pat Metheny Summer Music Workshop. World-renowned guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny will return to …
Posted: November 30, 2011
Ben Riley: Power of the Lion, Patience of the Ages
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 …
Posted: November 3, 2011
Billy Higgins: The Shape of Jazz
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 …
Posted: August 1, 2011
Guitar Center’s Drum-Off, World’s Largest Drumming Competition, Kicks-Off
Guitar Center has announced the launch of the 23rd annual Guitar Center’s Drum-Off the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer.
Posted: July 1, 2011
MD Readers Poll 2011 Results
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….
Posted: November 12, 2010
Toph-E & the Pussycats’ Chris Parker
Hi, MD readers! The making of Toph-E & the Pussycats’ new CD, No Ordinary Day, featuring Clifford Carter on piano, Will Lee on bass, Ralph MacDonald on percussion, David Mann on tenor and soprano saxes, and me on drums, was a long project, stretching over a year and a half. …
Posted: November 12, 2010
Toph-E & the Pussycats’ Chris Parker
Hi, MD readers! The making of Toph-E & the Pussycats’ new CD, No Ordinary Day, featuring Clifford Carter on piano, Will Lee on bass, Ralph MacDonald on percussion, David Mann on tenor and soprano saxes, and me on drums, was a long project, stretching over a year and a half. …
Posted: December 22, 2009
Steve Tyrell’s Kevin Winard
I have toured with Doc Severinsen, Sergio Mendes, the Captain & Tennille, Christine Ebersole, Gloria Loring, and many others…
Posted: December 17, 2009
Roy Haynes: The Hippest Of The Hip
It’s taken the jazz community nearly half a century to catch up with the inventive and super-hip stylings of Roy Haynes—the oft-proclaimed “father of modern drumming.???
Posted: December 9, 2009
Elvin Jones: The Great Liberator
His loping, circular sense of swing and abstract, barline-blurring breaks weren’t easy to listen to or easy to follow, which often left him searching for work…
Posted: December 3, 2009
Philly Joe Jones: One Of The Greatest Hard Boppers
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 …
Posted: October 20, 2009
Drumming On TV
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…
Posted: March 25, 2009
Lewis Nash: Jazz’s Most Valuable Player
Nash is all about the tradition of jazz–if by “tradition??? you mean making the most sublime rhythmic statements possible.
Posted: April 25, 2008
Marcus Baylor of The Yellowjackets
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.
Posted: April 15, 2008
Daniel Freedman
I’ve had a couple of experiences recently that you might find interesting. I’ve been co-leading a band called Third World Love with trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Omer Avital, and pianist Yonatan Avishai….
Posted: January 16, 2008
Best Of ’07
I’m convinced that, ten years from now, we’re going to look back at 2007 as an unusually fertile time in music and in drumming.
Posted: December 15, 2007
Allison Miller: Freedom Jazz-Folk-Pop-Rock Dance
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….
Posted: September 25, 2006
Joe Morello: Revisiting A Master
The Dave Brubeck Quartet was the most popular jazz group of that time. “Take Five,” featuring a drum solo by Joe Morello, was a million-seller. This group toured the world playing concerts instead of location club gigs. I can’t think of one jazz group today that approaches the level of …
Posted: July 15, 2006
Ignacio Berroa – Havana Hot Head
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….
Posted: May 12, 2004
Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes is without question one of the most important jazz drummers in history. His impressive, sixty-year career has included work with such greats as Charlie Parker, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, and Pat Metheny, among many others. Haynes continues to be very active as …
Posted: May 12, 2004
Adam Deitch with John Scofield
“He’s a bad boy, that’s for sure,” says guitar star John Scofield of his talented young sideman Adam Deitch. On the Sco gig, Deitch comes across like a composite of two great drummers that the guitarist has worked with before’the original funky drummer himself, Clyde Stubblefield, and highly regarded jazz …
Posted: May 12, 2004
The Artistry of Joe La Barbera
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 …
Posted: May 12, 2004
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette has remained one of the world’s premier drummers by always looking forward, and never losing the passion. Oh, and by playing some of the most uniquely beautiful drums ever.
Posted: May 12, 2004
Steve Fidyk
An impressive feature of Steve Fidyk’s drumming on the new CD A Perfect Match by The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band is the wide range of styles covered….
Posted: May 12, 2004
Ian Froman
Ferocious! That’s Ian Froman live with Dave Liebman, Rick Margitza, and his own band, Metalwood. If Froman kept a proper scrapbook, instead of envelopes strewn about his Greenwich Village co-op, it would be bulging with clippings exclaiming much the same thing….
