Yet another new kind of article today for Drums In The Twenties - a travelogue of sorts. In the last week of April of 2022, I and my colleagues in Alex Mendham's Orchestra were lucky enough to undertake the gig of a lifetime – a week-long residency playing in the grand ballroom of the Queen … Continue reading Library #9: Vintage Drum Adventures In The Land Of Jazz, May 2022
Library #8: Drums In The Twenties On The Map: Chicago
Today, another first from DITT: we're going to take a break from listening for once, and go all cartological instead. In the course of writing about our Heroes, an important question I've tried always to bear in mind is the dissemination of musical ideas from drummer to drummer. It's vital to consider, when discussing a … Continue reading Library #8: Drums In The Twenties On The Map: Chicago
Heroes #19: Johnny Wells, 1899-1965
“There were a lot of terrific drummers in Chicago in those days, [like] Johnny Wells…” - Sid Catlett KEY RECORDINGS:With JIMMIE NOONE's APEX CLUB ORCHESTRA, 1928-9With ALEX HILL, 1929 The 1920s drumming Hero we'll be meeting today is yet another musician who rarely seems to merit a mention in what we might call the 'mainstream' … Continue reading Heroes #19: Johnny Wells, 1899-1965
Jazz FM: The Definitive History Of Jazz In Britain
Late last year, I was surprised and very flattered to be contacted by a producer from Manchester-based radio station Jazz FM, who invited me to contribute a spoken interview to a new documentary series, ambitiously titled 'The Definitive History Of Jazz In Britain'. It transpired that I'd been recommended for this gig by Dr. Catherine … Continue reading Jazz FM: The Definitive History Of Jazz In Britain
Library #7: Drums And Acoustic Recording Technology – An Experiment
Today's Library article represents a slight departure into new and unfamiliar territory for DITT, and some of the information I'm going to present below is some way outside my traditional comfort zone. Luckily, I've got a very knowledgeable person with a wealth of practical experience in this field to help me out, since this is … Continue reading Library #7: Drums And Acoustic Recording Technology – An Experiment
The Drum History Podcast #90: A Look At 1920s Jazz Drummers with NDB
Bart van der Zee of the DHP. Highly recommended listening for the dedicated enthusiast. 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 … Continue reading The Drum History Podcast #90: A Look At 1920s Jazz Drummers with NDB
Heroes #18: Carleton Coon (1893-32)
“Coon smiled behind the drums, twirling the sticks like a magician” - Joe Popper KEY RECORDINGS:With COON-SANDERS ORIGINAL NIGHTHAWKS ORCHESTRA, 1921-29 Some would contend that today's Hero, Carleton Coon, cannot honestly be called a jazz titan: like several other members of our Pantheon including Tony Sbarbaro and Sonny Greer, he performed and recorded exclusively with … Continue reading Heroes #18: Carleton Coon (1893-32)
Library #6: Tips For Aspiring Heroes
Over the years I've been writing these pages I've been lucky enough to have had a healthy amount of correspondence with many regular readers (have you said hello yet, via the contact page? Why not? Go and do it now!) Quite a few of the emails I regularly get are from keen drummers. Some are … Continue reading Library #6: Tips For Aspiring Heroes
Heroes #17: Jimmy Bertrand, 1900-1960
“The leading black show drummer in 1920s Chicago” – James Lincoln Collier KEY RECORDINGS:With ERSKINE TATE'S VENDOME ORCHESTRA, 1923-26JIMMY BERTRAND'S WASHBOARD WIZARDS, 1926-28With PICKETT-PARHAM APOLLO SYNCOPATORS, 1926With JUNIE C.COBB (E.C. Cobb & His Corn Eaters / State St. Stompers / Kansas City Stompers etc.) The overwhelming majority of the Heroes we’ve met so far in … Continue reading Heroes #17: Jimmy Bertrand, 1900-1960
Instruments #8: The Chinese Cymbal, c.1920s
Today's article is the third and last of a three-part series examining cymbals and cymbal-playing in 1920s jazz. In Instruments #6 and Instruments #7, we've already had a look at two period examples of Turkish-style cymbals from my small collection, learned a bit about their manufacture and development, and heard how some of our 'Twenties … Continue reading Instruments #8: The Chinese Cymbal, c.1920s
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