Drums 'n' Brass: 10 Video Clips

More swinging brass you say? Hey, why not. With the holidays upon us, what better way to usher in the season than with killer drummers driving powerful big bands. Here are 10 video clips of great big band drummers plus one of the finest drummers of the post-war years who also was a crackerjack arranger.

Here's Big Sid Catlett, the father of modern jazz drumming, in the late 1930s, with Charlie Shavers (tp), Buster Bailey (cl), Russell Procope (as), Billy Kyle (p), John Kirby (b) and Big Sid on drums...



Here's Gene Krupa in 1945 on Ed Finckel's arrangement of his Leave Us Leap...



Here's 27-year-old Shelly Manne with Stan Kenton in 1947...



Here's drummer Stan Levey with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in Berlin, Germany, in 1953 playing Gerry Mulligan's arrangement of Swing House...



Here's drummer Kenny Clarke playing Bebop in Italy in 1962...



Here's drummer Jake Hanna with Woody Herman in London in 1964...



Here's drummer Mel Lewis taking a solo on Once Around with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band in 1969...



Here's Buddy Rich and his big band in Copenhagen in 1970, a clip that just went up at YouTube a couple of weeks ago (click on the “watch on YouTube" link in the embed below)...



Here's drummer Sonny Payne with Harry James in 1970...



Here's drummer Louie Bellson with the Tonight Show band in December 1973...



Bonus: Here's 46 minutes of Tiny Kahn, one of the greatest big band drummers of all time and a sterling big-band bop arranger, with Chubby Jackson's big band at the Royal Roost in 1949. This band featured Norman Faye, Al Porcino and Charlie Walp (tp); Mario Daone and Rob Swope (tb); Frank Socolow (as); Ray Turner and Al Epstein (ts); Marty Flax (bar); Teddy Charles (vib); Gene Di Novi (p); Red Kelly (b); Tiny Kahn (d,arr,vcl); Joe Harris (bgo,cga); Chubby Jackson (cond,vcl) and Paula Castle (vcl). Listen to Tiny drive the band wild on his own arrangements...