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Bernard Purdie

Bernard Purdie was born June 11, 1939 in Elkton, Maryland as the eleventh of fifteen children. Purdie began already as a six-year-old to bang out rhythms on improvised equipment. At 14 years of age he purchased his first real drum set and became the most important provider for the family - earning his pay with country and carnival bands. This "schooling" enabled Purdie to "feel my way into nearly every kind of music, 'cause I had to know all styles and was never afraid to try something new."

Purdie moved to New York in 1960 after finishing high school and played with (among others), Lonnie Youngblood before landing his first hit with King Curtis. This led to his engagement with Aretha Franklin in 1970 - the beginning of an unparalleled career. Since then, Purdie has been a regular guest in the studios of the stars of Jazz, Soul, and Rock, working together with Paul Butterfield as well as Larry Coryell, Miles Davis, Hall & Oates, Al Kooper, Herbie Mann, Todd Rundgren and Cat Stevens, as well as regularly producing his own solo albums under his own name.

Liner Notes from Purdie "Soul To Jazz." 3-96. With Brecker Brothers, ACT Music & Vision GMBH.

Which musician did Aretha Franklin definitely NOT want missing from the line-up when she recorded her most inspired albums at the beginning of the seventies Who provided the back-beat for Steely Dan's "Aja", and for whom have Isaac Hayes, Donny Hathaway, B.B. King, "Sweet" Lou Donaldson, Joe Cocker and Hank Crawford reserved that stool behind the drum kit? The list is incomplete, it must be, because no other drummer in the last three decades has seen the interior of a recording studio as often as Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. The 57 year-old native of Elkton, Maryland has laid down the beat on over 3000 albums to date.

This short list does however, prove an idea of the unique qualities this man possesses. Colleagues describe the drummer's style as the "funkiest soul beat" in the business, and Purdie has decidedly never limited his talents to the realm of jazz but rather has consistently sought out new musical experiences beyond it's borders. He has anchored sessions with the Rolling Stones, James Brown and Tom Jones with equal ease and proven that - with all his attention to precision playing - terms such as "drive" and "GROOVE" are definitely not missing from his vocabulary. This is certainly why his rhythms have appeared as samples on nearly every "Acid Jazz" record released in the past few years - the new genre that has so successfully hosted the renaissance of Soul Jazz.

Hank Crawford: Help Me Make It Through The Night

by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
July 17, 2025

One of the first artists signed by Creed Taylor for CTI's subsidiary Kudu label, Hank Crawford suffered violent criticism during the period (1971-1978) he recorded for the label, being accused of making mellow and commercial albums. On the other hand, Hank achieved a new level of popularity during his CTI/Kudu years. Some of the eight albums he cut for the label sold over 100,000 copies with almost no promotion. And his Kudu debut, Help Me Make It Through The Night, ...

Liner Notes

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Wild Horses Rock Steady

by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
November 3, 2024

Born John Robert Smith on December 16, 1933 (in Louisville, KY), formerly known as Johnny Hammond Smith, and later as Johnnny Hammond, one of the all-time best jazz organists passed away on June 4, 1997, in Chicago, Illinois. For some of his early fans, some of the best albums he recorded were done for Prestige in the Sixties. A younger generation, who grew up listening to the hip-hop influenced jazz sounds of the 1990s, prefers Johnny's over-produced sessions for Milestone ...

Multiple Reviews

Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf: Bernard Purdie and David Axelrod

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 5, 2023

As part of Concord Music and Craft Recordings, the Jazz Dispensary line was developed in 2016 to mine some of the funkier and more soul-influenced music housed in the catalogs of Prestige, Milestone, and Fantasy. Their initial offerings were mix tape-style collections frequently tapping into the mystique of the '70s and often appearing on Record Store Day. Previous projects have included reissues from Azymuth, Charles Kynard, and Johnny Hammond Smith. The label's Top Shelf series gets underway in ...

Liner Notes

Larry Coryell: Improvisations: Best of the Vanguard Years

by Josef Woodard
February 6, 2023

There have been many smoother operators in the world of jazz guitar than Larry Coryell, the brainy rough rider who was a natural-born fusioneer, in the best sense. There have been cleaner technicians on the instrument, with a more lucid sense of identity and careers that have followed a logical, rolling landscape. But not many have quite attained Coryell's strange, madly eclectic state of grace: into music he came, he saw and heard things not yet articulated, he conquered on ...

Album Review

Benjamin Koppel: The Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue

Read "The Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
April 21, 2021

Listen to music long enough, and it's almost bound to happen: You're not sure exactly what you want to listen to, but you know that whatever you listen to needs must bump and groove. The Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue, an anthology of American jazz, soul and R&B recorded live at a Copenhagen music festival by Danish saxophonist Benjamin Koppel and his big band, is some first-rate scratch for that itch. Ultimate Soul & Jazz neatly packages Koppel's ...

Album Review

Purdie Fabian Oswanski: Move On!

Read "Move On!" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 19, 2021

In a 1977 magazine interview, New York Yankees Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (in)famously referred to himself as “the straw that stirs the drink" for his team. On this trio set with organ player and composer Ron Oswanski and bassist-composer Christian Fabian (who also shaped the arrangements), the one and only original funky drummer Bernard Purdie keeps stirring his drum pots to help this trio's funky and rhythmic grooves to Move On!. The leadoff “The Red Plaza" and ...

Album Review

Purdie / Fabian / Oswanski: Move On!

by Jack Bowers
July 15, 2020

No one receives top billing in this tight-knit trio, which embodies organist Ron Oswanski, bassist Christian Fabian and drummer Bernard “Pretty" Purdie. And that is as it should be, as each of them is indispensable to its success. That success is further predicated on how well the three amigos enhance an agenda that is heavily laden with funk and soul including five greasy compositions by Fabian and others by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and even Julia Ward Howe (a gritty ...

Performance / Tour

David Haney And Bernard Purdie Bring New York Jazz Stories To Joe’s Pub On April 6

Source: GoMedia PR
March 8, 2018

On April 6, pianist and composer David Haney and legendary drummer Bernard Purdie will bring another performance of New York Jazz Stories to Joe’s Pub. New York Jazz Stories combines swinging, electrifying music, featuring Bernard Purdie and company along with some highly entertaining stories retold by David Haney. These are real stories told directly to Haney, transcribed and brought to life with a sound track by “Pretty” Purdie, bassist Adam Lane, Steve Swell on trombone; violinist Jason Kao Hwang, Melanie ...
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Education

Music Education Monday: The Purdie Shuffle

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
July 6, 2015

Sometimes StLJN's weekly “Music Education Monday" feature deals with broad topics, and sometimes, things get very specific - like today's video lesson from famed session drummer Bernard Purdie, which is all about how to play the beat known as the “Purdie Shuffle." Produced by Drumeo.com, the video shows Purdie himself explaining and demonstrating the distinctive half-time funk feel he played on Steely Dan's “Home at Last" and “Babylon Sisters," which since has been approximated or imitated on recordings by Toto, ...
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Performance / Tour

Bernard Purdie & Friends Hit The Stage At The Philadelphia Clef Club Of Jazz & Performing Arts

Source: Vena Jefferson
June 10, 2014

The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz on the Avenue of the Arts is back and bigger and better than ever for Spring/Summer 2014 with Two Amazing Summer Concert Performances with Bernard Purdie and Joey DeFrancesco. Philadelphia, PA: PCC of Jazz is revving up for the 2014 Spring/Summer Season with two incredible concert performances featuring First, Bernard Purdie,world-renown drummer and one of the most influential musicians and bandleaders of our time will play a special two-night engagement and a one-day drum ...
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Performance / Tour

Bernard Purdie Signature Shuffle Enjoys a New Life

Source: Michael Ricci
March 31, 2009

For bowlers the ultimate test is the 7-10 split. For card sharks its the hot shot cut. For drummers its the funky little miracle of syncopation known as the Purdie Shuffle.

Youve heard Bernard Purdie better known as Pretty Purdie perform his creation on Steely Dans Home at Last, from the 1977 album Aja. And youve heard variations on songs by Led Zeppelin (Fool in the Rain), Toto (Rosanna) and Death Cab for Cutie (Grapevine Fires).

Created with six bass, ...
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