“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
1920s Drums
Heroes #3: Tony Sbarbaro, 1897-1969
"The ‘trap drummer, who plays the big drum with his feet and a side drum, the cymbals, and heaven knows what besides, is 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 … Continue reading Heroes #3: Tony Sbarbaro, 1897-1969
Heroes #2: Arthur ‘Zutty’ Singleton, 1898-1975
"Zutty and I played together pretty nearly all our lives.” - Louis Armstrong KEY RECORDINGS: With FATE MARABLE’S SOCIETY SYNCOPATORS, 1924 With CHARLES CREATH’S JAZZ-O-MANIACS, 1924-7 With JELLY ROLL MORTON’S RED HOT PEPPERS and MORTON’S TRIO, 1927-8 With LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S [second] HOT FIVE, 1928-9 By popular consensus, Zutty (pronounced ‘Zooty’ - a Creole term meaning … Continue reading Heroes #2: Arthur ‘Zutty’ Singleton, 1898-1975
Heroes #1: Warren ‘Baby’ Dodds, 1898-1959
"In those days I used to love to drum all the numbers." - Baby Dodds KEY RECORDINGS: With KING OLIVER’S CREOLE JAZZ BAND, 1923 With JELLY ROLL MORTON’S RED HOT PEPPERS and MORTON’S TRIO, 1927 With LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S HOT SEVEN, 1927 With JOHNNY DODDS’ BLACK BOTTOM STOMPERS, 1927 ‘TALKING AND DRUM SOLOS’, 1946 If ever … Continue reading Heroes #1: Warren ‘Baby’ Dodds, 1898-1959
Drums In The Twenties 