Hey man, give the drummer some!

I have been obsessed with drums and perscussion for nearly as long as I have been breathing. Even before I could walk I would annoy my mother by crawling into kitchen cupboards and hauling out pots and pans to beat on. When I was about 4 years old one of my relatives bought me a toy drumkit to further that annoyance. At least I think it was a relative. What parent in their right mind would buy a drumkit for their child? Well maybe a deaf one. Another clue is that the kit seemed to disappear almost as quickly as it entered the house. I vaguely remember playing it, salivating all over it like some brute savage.

I bought my first real drum kit as soon as I left home – a 7-piece Tama Rockstar kit with a cowbell and everything. Oh the savagery! And the drool. Always keep a bucket by the drummer. I set-up this monstrosity in my basement and soon began hammering along to records by the Allman Brothers, The Doors, and a host of progressive-rock bands like King Crimson.

Like many rock and rollers, I paid little attention to jazz drummers. When I finally did get into Krupa, Rich, Blakey, Roach, Jones, etc., I realized I had overlooked the foundation of modern kit drumming (that started with Gene Krupa and Slingerland). I felt like the character Nick in the Freaks and Geeks TV show, when he is first introduced to Gene Krupa – i.e. – I realized that I didn’t know shit about drumming.

It isn’t quite as easy to sit down and play drums to a jazz record, but you can still learn a lot by listening carefully. This 1989 collection from the Verve vault (part of their Jazz-Club series) gives you a small taste of the wide spectrum of jazz drumming styles.

For more great jazz drumming, check out the Joe Morello Sextet and Orchestra and Louie Bellson with his Just Jazz All Stars in 1952, and also with the Oscar Peterson Big Six at Montreux Jazz Festival 1975

Review by Stephen Cook:

Back when the ’80s jazz renaissance was in full swing, Polygram got the think tank rolling and put out the neophyte-friendly yet respectable Jazz Club series — yes, imagine yourself smoking Gauloises in a basement club as the band hits its stride. Marketing illusions aside, the drum edition of the lot features a thorough mix that ranges from bebop and hard bop to free jazz and fusion. Culling the booty from the deep Verve and Mercury vaults, the producers have chosen wisely, from classics by Bird (Kenny Clarke), Sonny Stitt (Jo Jones), and Clifford Brown (Max Roach) to some latter-day funkiness plied by Billy Cobham and Alphonse Mouzon. And let’s not forget plenty of skin alchemy by the likes of Billy Higgins, Philly Joe Jones, and Shelly Manne. If rhythm is the thing in jazz, then this disc certainly makes for some essential listening.

Track Listing:

1) Blues March – Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers – 6:16
2) Norman’s Blues – Jo Jones, Sonny Stitt – 2:38
3) Si Si – Kenny Clarke & Charlie Parker – 2:38
4) Jordu – Clifford Brown – Max Roach Quintet – 7:46
5) Let’s Go Back to the Waltz – Bill Evans Trio with Shelly Manne – 4:29
6) Three and One – Elvin Jones with the Jones Brothers – 4:52
7) Gone With the Wind – Bill Evans Trio with Philly Joe Jones – 5:36
D.B. Blues – Billy Higgins with the Pentagon – 4:35
9) Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me / I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart – Dannie Richmond & Charles Mingus – 3:33
10) Billie’s Bounce – Billy Cobham & George Benson – 6:31
11) The Ram and the Scorpio – Alphonse Mouzon – 5:53
12) Drum Battle – Gene Krupa vs. Buddy Rich – 5:20
13) Big Nick – Tony Williams – 2:43
14) One Score and Four Drummers Ago – Shelly Manne, Louie Bellson, Paul Humphrey, Willie Bobo – 2:53