Music and Recording Features

Milford Graves made groundbreaking recordings with Albert Ayler, the New York Art Quartet, and Lowell Davidson. Originally a timbale player, Milford did his own thing on the drum set: When I last saw him, he wasn't using cymbals or a snare drum. He said, "I don't want to use a snare drum or cymbals because that's percussion derived from the military."—Drummond

Roy Haynes was described by Thelonious Monk as "an eight ball right in the side pocket." Haynes's inventive drumming can be traced back to New York's fabled Swing Street; he played with everyone, from Charlie Parker and Miles Davis to John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. Witty, startling, and revolutionary, Haynes's drumming commentary remains brilliant as he nears his 97th birthday.

Billy Higgins had the happiest cymbal beat ever. Higgins graced dozens of Blue Note albums and cut groundbreaking recordings with Ornette Coleman including Something Else!!!! and The Shape of Jazz to Come.

Elvin Jones's style evolved and became more refined as he worked with Coltrane, but he was always himself, just not quite as obviously. If you listen to Tommy Flanagan's Overseas (1957), Elvin had it all then. It's almost like Elvin and John Coltrane needed each other to launch Elvin's bolder style. That's when he began elongating the triplets and breaking up the time.—Drummond

"Philly Joe" Jones had a fantastic sense of pulse and a beautiful, flowing ride cymbal. Philly Joe's comping was geared toward making the rhythm section swing rather than intertwining with a soloist. His soloing was always grooving and moving forward, super-refined and superslick. Philly Joe had a largely fixed vocabulary, but he always presented it in surprising ways.—Riley

Mel Lewis supported each soloist to help them shine. With the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Thad wrote music knowing exactly who was going to play it. Perhaps that music is tailored to Mel's way of playing. Mel was very busy in the New York City studios in the '50s and '60s. In the '70s, he started working with the radio bands in Europe such as the WDR Big Band.—Riley

Shelly Manne is known for his At the Blackhawk and The Poll Winners records on Contemporary, but he was also a heavy studio drummer. He was always checking out the new guys, 'cause he had the Manne Hole club and all the cats would come through, including Trane and Miles. You hear Manne opening up on his later records, [and earlier recordings with Ornette Coleman]. A timeless drummer who could play in any style.—Drummond

Paul Motian rose to international fame with pianist Bill Evans's trio on Sunday at the Village Vanguard. He left the trio to play with pianist Paul Bley. He started leading his own influential bands on the ECM and JMT labels in the '70s. His records with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell, featuring his playful but hard swinging style, are jazz milestones, a unique trio language within itself.

Art Taylor had a great cymbal beat, really swinging and moving forward. Art's time-playing was unique.—Riley

Tony Williams's first two records, Life Time and Spring, swung, but it was open music. He could play exactly like Max Roach, "Philly Joe" Jones, or Art Blakey, but he had the maturity not to copy them. Tony was revolutionary, conceptually and technically. On the Miles Davis records, he played the hi-hat on all beats while feathering his bass drum. After transforming jazz drumming with Miles, Tony founded fusion with Lifetime, then changed drumming again with new tonal colors and bigger drums, as with [jazz supergroup] VSOP on Tempest in the Coliseum.—Drummond

Other important drummers from the '50s and '60s: Joe Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Humair, Pete La Roca, Dannie Richmond, Mickey Roker, and Grady Tate.

1970s–'80s
The great '70s jazz drummers include Peter Erskine, who came to wider attention with Weather Report, and Jon Christensen, practically the house drummer for ECM, who played a linear style that flowed while pointing the music in new directions.

Billy Cobham could read music, had great technique. Billy joined the Mahavishnu Orchestra and became the quintessential jazz-rock fusion drummer. But even when you see clips of him with Horace Silver, Billy's blazing.—Drummond

Jack DeJohnette said his ride cymbal [phrasing] is all Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles, which is Tony Williams. His style reflects "Philly Joe" Jones, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Milford Graves. Jack was one of the founding members of the AACM in Chicago. His first major exposure was with Charles Lloyd. Jack is on Bitches Brew and The Lost Quintet. His albums The DeJohnette Complex, Cosmic Chicken, and Sorcery are excellent. New Rags is a masterpiece.—Drummond

Al Foster grew up in Harlem and was friendly with Art Taylor, with whom he credits his ride cymbal beat that sits right in the middle of the time. Al has a unique way of building with and giving the soloist energy without forcing anything. His drumming is very sensitive and intricate.—Wells

Billy Hart is an inventive drummer who changed his style as jazz changed. Hart worked extensively with Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery, moved to New York, where he became part of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi, and continues to work with great contemporary jazz musicians. A sensitive, swinging drumming style marked by beautiful cymbal colors.

Victor Lewis is about as heavy as it gets in terms of being able to cover all the bases. He's one of the few jazz drummers that can authentically play Brazilian. One of the truly great drummers and musicians.—Drummond

Many people think Lenny White is just a fusion guy, but his biggest albums are Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay and Miles Davis's Bitches Brew. Andrew Hill's Passing Ships was released last year. Lenny made many jazz records.—Drummond

Jeff "Tain" Watts paved the way for a certain kind of drumming: burnout jazz. Very intense, very much post–Miles Davis '60s quintet, but more extroverted and explosive. His records with Wynton Marsalis and his solo records helped spark an interest in jazz for young African American musicians. Jeff was a classical percussion major before he went to Berklee.—Drummond

Other important drummers of the '70s and '80s: Barry Altschul, Eric Gravatt, Bob Moses, Alphonse Mouzon, and Woody "Sonship" Theus.

The 1990s and beyond
Marvin "Smitty" Smith is a virtuosic, versatile drummer who can play in any style. He has a Buddy Rich level of technique. He played with Benny Golson, Dave Holland's band, and the Tonight Show band, and on Steve Coleman's early M-Base records.—Wells

Ralph Peterson Jr. emerged in the wake of "Tain" and Marvin "Smitty" Smith. He was all fire and brashness, a brilliant musician. He played piano, he played trumpet, and he was a composer.—Drummond

Lewis Nash and Carl Allen: They're like Grady Tate and Shelly Manne were in the '50s and '60s. You can call them to do anything, and they can do it. Lewis is one of the great brush players, along with Kenny Washington. Nash, Allen, and Washington came up with Betty Carter, where you had to be an incredible brush player to play tempos in both extremes.

Adam Nussbaum is from the same era, super well-rounded, sounded great with Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, and James Moody.—Drummond

During the 1970s, many major jazz musicians moved to Europe. American jazz experienced a rebirth of sorts with the 1980s' "Young Lions" movement and evolved in the '90s via such creative and swinging drummers as Brian Blade and Bill Stewart. A drummer from the well of Elvin Jones, Blade led his own band, Fellowship, and recorded with Joni Mitchell before his current tenure with Wayne Shorter. Stewart's style, influenced by Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, made its mark on several groundbreaking recordings by guitarist John Scofield, including Meant to Be, What We Do, Hand Jive, and also recordings with Pat Metheny, Larry Goldings, and Peter Bernstein.

The regal and inventive Terri Lyne Carrington; the experimental, Filipino music–exploring Susie Ibarra; Tony Williams devotee Cindy Blackman; hard bop–enthused Kenny Washington. These drummers brought jazz to greater heights beginning in the 1990s.

Such contemporary jazz drummers as Eric Harland, Antonio Sanchez, Gregory Hutchinson, Karriem Riggins, Clarence Penn, Nasheet Waits, Matt Wilson, Paal Nilssen-Love, and Gerald Cleaver reflect the tremendous diversity of jazz styles, from Riggins's classicism (as he creates hip-hop beats on the side), to Paal Nilssen-Love's thunderous free jazz provocations, and beyond to Gerald Cleaver's dense improvisations and electronic forays.

Jazz drumming's future appears healthy in the young limbs of Kush Abadey, Jonathan Barber, Johnathan Blake, Jason and Justin Brown, Obed Calvaire, Joe Dyson, Jeremy Dutton, Justin Faulkner, Tomas Fujiwara, Alvester Garnett, Katherine Gentile, Marcus Gilmore (Roy Haynes's grandson), Kenny Grohowski, Mark Guiliana, Ari Hoenig, Aaron Kimmel, Jimmy Macbride, Ulysses Owens, Dafnis Prieto, Reggie Quinerly, Rudy Royston, Kendrick Scott, Tyshawn Sorey, Kweku Sumbry, Shirazette Tinnin, and Dan Weiss.