Dizzy Gillespie
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Bronx/New York Session Drummer Tony Lewis
Talking About Gear, Records, and The Soundtrack To The Innermost Galaxy. Greetings MD people! My name is Tony Lewis and I am a drummer/songwriter from the Bronx, New York, and have been playing now for fifty years. I’ve been fortunate…
Carl Allen: Learning From the Giants
By Jeff Potter In the August print issue of Modern Drummer magazine, on sale now, topflight jazz drummer Carl Allen is spotlighted in our “Catching Up With…” series, where he talks about one of his many ensembles, the Art…
VIDEO! Jazz Drummer's Workshop: Syncopation Revisited: Part 5: Afro-Cuban Applications (From the October 2014 Issue)
October 2014 Jazz Drummer’s Workshop Syncopation Revisited Part 5: Afro-Cuban Applications by Steve Fidyk Welcome to part five in our continuing series on ways to interpret the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This…
Presentation on the Evolution of Cuban Music and the Development of Afro-Cuban Jazz
Presentation Evolution Of Cuban Music and the Development of Afro-Cuban Jazz & Concert by the Ignacio Berroa Trio Noted jazz drumming legend Ignacio Berroa, who performed with Dizzy Gillespie for ten years, will take the audience on a fascinating…
Roy Burns: Swing Star, Clinic Pioneer, Entrepreneur, And Beyond
Roy Burns has done it all—and done it well. He’s held the throne of numerous big bands. He’s established himself as an in-demand studio player, teacher, and clinician. He’s written numerous drum instructionals. And he’s one of the founding members…
Jimmy Cobb: Kind Of Blue And Beyond
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…
John Riley : Master Player/Master Teacher
John Riley, one of the most respected drummer/educators of the past thirty years, was born in 1954, and began playing drums at the age of eight. At twelve Riley began playing in rock bands and was first exposed to jazz…
Kenny "Klook" Clarke
Kenny Clarke emerged from the swing bands of the '30s, but was actually the first important drummer of the bop era. Born in Pittsburgh in 1914, Clarke began his career with Roy Eldridge and around the Midwest with the Jeter-Pillars…
Charli Persip Update
Charli Persip was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1929, and began playing on the fertile Newark, New Jersey, jazz scene after graduating high school. Following a number of rough tours on the infamous Chitlin’ Circuit with musicians like blues…
Sidney “Big Sid" Catlett: Busting Open Doors To The Modern Drumming Age
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. Catlett bridged the gap between the two genres, and his…
J.C. Heard: One Of The Busiest, Swingin’-est Drummers Of Classic Jazz
J.C. Heard was born in Detroit in 1917, and started out as a tap dancer. He taught himself drums at age eleven, and two years later he was working with local bands. Heard’s break into the big time came in…
Jojo Mayer: Electro Shaman With Masterful Technique
For years, Jojo Mayer has been regarded as a drumming shaman, a man of mystery, a technical guru existing on the outer reaches of traditional drumming logic. Perhaps best known for his work with Screaming Headless Torsos and as a…
Jimmy Crawford: Kansas City’s Rock of Gibraltar
One of the most exciting and dynamic groups to come out of Kansas City during the swing era was the Jimmy Lunceford big band. Drummer Jimmy Crawford, a high-spirited, supportive player, was the driving force behind the Lunceford band for…
William "Cozy" Cole: The Father Of Coordinated Independence
Cozy Cole, an incredibly adept player, was strongly rooted in the rudimental style, but he contributed much to jazz drumming. One of the first players to develop his own brand of hand and foot coordination, he mastered the technique thoroughly,…
