"The Dixieland drummer[’s] success depends entirely on his own originality" – Chauncey Morehouse KEY RECORDINGS: With THE GEORGIANS, 1922-24 With JEAN GOLDKETTE & HIS ORCHESTRA, 1926-27 With FRANKIE TRUMBAUER & HIS ORCHESTRA, 1927 With BIX BEIDERBECKE & HIS GANG, 1927 In jazz, as in many art forms, certain historical figures occasionally acquire a mythical status, … Continue reading Heroes #9: Chauncey Morehouse, 1902-1980
Heroes
Drummers Of The Twenties
Heroes #8 : Paul Barbarin, 1899-1969
“The warmth, the feeling, the swing, the beat, the everything, were there.” – Louis Armstrong KEY RECORDINGS: With KING OLIVER’S DIXIE SYNCOPATORS / KING OLIVER’S ORCHESTRA, 1926-9 With LUIS RUSSELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA, 1928-9 With JELLY ROLL MORTON’S RED HOT PEPPERS, 1929 With LOUIS ARMSTRONG & HIS SAVOY BALLROOM FIVE / HIS ORCHESTRA, 1929 When … Continue reading Heroes #8 : Paul Barbarin, 1899-1969
Heroes #7: Ben Pollack, 1903-1971
“Now there was a drummer, one of the finest who ever lived.” – Jimmy McPartland KEY RECORDINGS: With THE NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS [NORK], 1923 With THE STOMP SIX, 1925 BEN POLLACK & HIS CALIFORNIANS/ HIS PARK CENTRAL ORCHESTRA, 1926-30 With BENNIE GOODMAN & HIS BOYS, 1928 With IRVING MILLS [small groups under many aliases], … Continue reading Heroes #7: Ben Pollack, 1903-1971
Heroes #6: William ‘Sonny’ Greer, 1895-1982
“We were a pretty wild bunch in those days, myself in particular” – Sonny Greer KEY RECORDINGS: With DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS KENTUCKY CLUB ORCH. / WASHINGTONIANS, 1924-30 Some of the great drummers of the ‘twenties gained their reputations as journeymen, able to slot seamlessly into a wide variety of musical ensembles and consequently to … Continue reading Heroes #6: William ‘Sonny’ Greer, 1895-1982
Heroes #5: Victor Berton, 1898-1951
“A true pioneer, for the timekeeping methods he introduced and for his role in determining the very equipment [...] subsequent drummers would play.” – Richard M. Sudhalter KEY RECORDINGS: With THE WOLVERINE ORCHESTRA, 1924 With RED NICHOLS & MIFF MOLE, 1925-30 (aka. The Red Heads / Red Nichols & His Five Pennies / Red & … Continue reading Heroes #5: Victor Berton, 1898-1951
Heroes #4: Jasper Taylor, 1894-1964
“Away down in Chicago / There is a name, that’s bound to gain fame / He is a brown, known over town / He’s Jasper Taylor, Jasper Taylor” – Julia Davis, ‘Jasper Taylor Blues’ KEY RECORDINGS: With [W.C.] HANDY’S ORCHESTRA OF MEMPHIS (1917) With JELLY ROLL MORTON & HIS ORCHESTRA (1923) With JIMMIE O’BRYANT / … Continue reading Heroes #4: Jasper Taylor, 1894-1964
Heroes #3: Tony Sbarbaro, 1897-1969
"The ‘trap drummer [...] the most important man of all” – London Daily News, 1919 KEY RECORDINGS: With THE ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JASS/JAZZ BAND (ODJB) 1917-24. When I first started making a list of ‘Twenties jazz drummers to write about, I inevitably first thought of my current favourites – lesser-known musicians whose work I’ve been researching … Continue reading Heroes #3: Tony Sbarbaro, 1897-1969
