A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to have a really interesting, fun and in-depth conversation with Bart van der Zee, the host and creator of the fantastic Drum History Podcast. Bart’s been producing high-quality interviews with experts on a huge range of drum history-related subjects since 2018; episodes I’ve particularly enjoyed over the years (and would recommend for readers of these pages) have included Rob Cook talking about Leedy drums, William F. Ludwig III on Ludwig, Nick White on trap sound effect instruments and Jim Messina on painted bass drum heads.

The discussion Bart and I recorded covered jazz drumming during the 1920s, telling the story of the art form’s evolution through landmark innovations in instrument design. I also dug out some of my 78rpm records to illustrate some of the most interesting and telling musical moments from our Heroes: featured extracts included Baby, Zutty, Gene, Vic and many others. You can hear episode 90 now – and indeed all the others! – below, at the Drum History Podcast website (worth checking out) or indeed anywhere else you get your pods.

Be sure to give Bart a nice review if you can, because he’s a kindred spirit doing great work, and he deserves every success. I’d like to thank him once again for inviting me on the show, and also ask his forgiveness for over-egged archaeology TV-programme analogies, saying ‘y’know’ far too frequently, and referring to ‘Your mate Gene Krupa’.