jazz
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.
Arthur "Zutty" Singleton: True Jazz Drumming Pioneer
“We just kept the rhythm going and hardly ever took a solo.” —Zutty Singleton Zutty Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana in 1898, and was basically a self-taught drummer. During his illustrious career he worked with Steve Louis, The Tuxedo…
Warren “Baby??? Dodds: The World's First Great Jazz Drummer
“Dodds was swingin’ so much, I was late an entire set. But I couldn’t leave. I sat down and just stayed.” —Philly Joe Jones “Baby taught me more than all the others. He was the first great soloist.” —Gene Krupa…
Max Roach: Setting Standards And Raising Bars
If you were to ask any jazz historian to name who they feel is most responsible for setting the standards in bebop drumming, 99.9% of the time you’re going to get one name: Max Roach. Roach wasn’t the first drummer…
Elvin Jones: The Great Liberator
When Elvin Jones moved from his home town in Michigan to New York City in 1956, the jazz-listening world wasn’t quite ready for the drummer’s outer-space conception. His loping, circular sense of swing and abstract, barline-blurring breaks weren’t easy to…
Gene Krupa: The Man Who Made It All Happen
If anyone can be considered the founding father of modern drumset playing, it’s Gene Krupa. Krupa legitimized a collection of instruments known as the “traps” at a time when both the instrument and its players were barely tolerated. He led…
Jason Zerbin’s Peter Mol
Hey, Modern Drummer! My name is Peter Mol. I’m from a little town outside of Edmonton Alberta, Canada, and I’ve been playing with Jason Zerbin for a little under a year. Music for me started as early as I can…
Pat Petrillo — Learn To Read Rhythms...Better!
Hey, MD fam! Hope you’re all having a blast this summer and getting time to chill a bit–or gig a lot! Either way, hope you’re having fun. Things have been mad busy with me, so here’s a bit of an…
Dave Douglas/Steve Coleman Performance Clip
Dave Douglas/Steve Coleman regular Tyshawn Sorey is one deep young man. Watch this clip as they perform 'Surrender' live at Small's from February 3, 2009.
Mitch Mitchell: Drummers Weigh In
by Mark Griffith Mitch Mitchell was not alone in blending jazz and rock drumming styles, but he may have pushed the combo further than anyone who came before him. Whether you call it fusion, jazz-rock, or rock-jazz, Mitch’s playing–most notably…
Terry Silverlight
Hello, MD readers! I'm happy to tell you about some of my recent activities, beginning with an overview of my background. I was born into a musical household. My brother, Barry Miles, ten years older than me, was a child…
Kevin Zubek
The year 2008 has proven to be quite a productive and exciting one for me. I'm playing drums in three new projects, all quite different from one another. Yoshie Fruchter's Pitom is a Jewish avant/hard rock band with a CD…
The Yellowjackets' Marcus Baylor: Total Awareness
by Paul Wells “I don’t hear music in categories; I hear music as a sound.” The Yellowjackets are a bit of a mystery in a jazz world that likes to conveniently categorize its various styles. You can’t describe them as…
John Maloney of People in Planes
Well, as the old joke goes, "What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?" Yes, the answer is "a drummer." Well, I'm certainly one person who does not get offended by such humor. I never classify myself as…
Robert Castelli
Hello out there in the Modern Drummer universe! My name is Robert Castelli, and I’ve recently released a new CD, Robert Castelli/Boom Quartet, which is my first as a leader. I’ve been a fan of the mag since I was a…
