Results for "Drums"

Frank Capp

Born: August 20, 1931

Frank Capp, a flexible and consistently swinging drummer, loves to drive a big band. As leader of the Juggernaut (a group he co-led with Nat Pierce starting in 1975, until the pianist's death in 1992), he got to push and inspire some of Los Angeles' best. Capp found his initial fame playing with Stan Kenton's Orchestra (1951). Two years later, he settled in Los Angeles; became a busy studio musician; and played with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald, Harry James, and Charlie Barnet to Stan Getz, Art Pepper, and Dave Pell. He recorded often with Andre Previn's Trio (1957-1964), and also made records with Benny Goodman (1958), Terry Gibbs, and Turk Murphy

Larry Bunker

Born: November 4, 1928

Jazz drummer Larry Bunker, was an in demand jazz percussionist. He played with many of the jazz greats of the past century.American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra. Born in Long Beach, California, Bunker was a central figure on the West Coast jazz scene, one of a relative few who actually were from the region. In the 1950s and 1960s he appeared at Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, and performed with Shorty Rogers and His Giants and others. At first he played primarily drums, but increasingly he focused on vibraphone and was later highly regarded for his playing of timpani and various percussion instruments. A dependable and in-demand studio drummer and vibist, Bunker achieved particular distinction by recording with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and many other jazz greats

Cecil Brooks III

Born: August 16, 1959

A contemporary drummer and aggressive, polyrhythmic stylist, Cecil Brooks, III has worked in the New York area with such musicians as Greg Osby, Geri Allen and Lonnie Plaxico. He recorded his debut album as a leader for Muse in 1989, subsequently releasing efforts including 1990's Hangin' with Smooth, 1993's Neck Peckin' Jammie and 2000's Our Mister Brooks in addition to session work in both a hard bop and bebop setting. The intimate setting of Live at Sweet Basil (2001). His father was a drummer and a grandfather a concert pianist, Brooks recalls that "music just flourished through the house

Art Blakey

Born: October 11, 1919

Born in 1919, Art Blakey began his musical career, as did many jazz musicians, in the church. The foster son of a devout Seventh Day Adventist Family, Art learned the piano as he learned the Bible, mastering both at an early age. But as Art himself told it so many times, his career on the piano ended at the wrong end of a pistol when the owner of the Democratic Club—the Pittsburgh nightclub where he was gigging—ordered him off the piano and onto the drums. Art, then in his early teens and a budding pianist, was usurped by an equally young, Erroll Garner who, as it turned out, was as skilled at the piano as Blakey later was at the drums

Brian Blade

Born: July 25, 1970

"I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing journey through thirteen songs about family, loved ones, travels and a sense that these things that shape and inspire us have to be shared with others to complete a circle

Cindy Blackman Santana

Born: November 18, 1959

Cindy Blackman Santana is a virtuoso drummer whose artistry spans the realms of jazz and rock. As a bandleader and as a musician, Cindy is a sound innovator with a passion for pushing creative boundaries and exploring movement and change. She is as known for the nuances and colors she brings to her beats and fills as she is for the sheer power of her soulful playing. “Some drummers act, some react. Some keep time, others create it. Cindy Blackman Santana is among the few who can,” writes Mike Zwerin of the International Herald Tribune.
 
Cindy has been creating magnificent musical time and space since the beginning of her career as a busking street performer in New York City in the ’80s through the present day, touring the globe and making albums at the top of her game—including the critically acclaimed Another Lifetime (2010). In addition to collaborating onstage and in-studio with her own group—also known as Another Lifetime—she has toured and recorded with artists including Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell, Joss Stone, Joe Henderson, Buckethead, Don Pullen, Hugh Masakela, and Angela Bofill. From 1992 to 2007 and again in 2014 & 2015 she was the drummer in Lenny Kravitz’s band, performing through multiple world tours and hit albums. In 2010, she was part of the all-star line-up performing “Bitches Brew,” a tribute to Miles Davis’ seminal album staged at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and NYC Winter JazzFest.
 
“I think of playing as controlled freedom, and in jazz, especially, that’s exactly what you have. I love it,” says Cindy. “You know the forms of the songs, but you have the freedom to stretch over them. You want the music to grow and breathe, and you want to invite creativity from all the musicians. As you’re going along, you can change the color, the feel, the mood in different ways, or go off the chart and open it up to something new. Controlled freedom is an incredible discipline requiring a lot of focus. Improvisation like that is art in its highest form.”
 
More recently, Cindy has become the regular touring drummer for Santana. Having met several years earlier at a festival in Europe while she was touring with Kravitz, Cindy first played with Santana in spring 2010, when drummer Dennis Chambers had a previous commitment. "They have a great band vibe. It's nice to play with people who have grown together, built a sound together, and stayed together," she says. "When that happens, you can create so many different levels of communication. That's what they've done, and I love interacting with it."
 
Electricity onstage generated chemistry offstage—Carlos proposed to Cindy during a July 2010 concert, and they married in December. Looking ahead, they will collaborate artistically as well, on projects that will no doubt reflect their shared passion for improvisation, and belief in the transcendent nature of music. “To me, music is completely spiritual, it’s the way you connect with your higher self, with the universe,” says Cindy. “It’s also a way to share light with millions of people. They don’t need to speak your language, have your beliefs, or be in the same place you are. The music speaks, it channels good energy, and makes a difference in people’s lives. Carlos and I are both conscious of doing that.”

Ed Blackwell

Born: October 10, 1929

Edward Blackwell and his drumming skills were a prime influence on New Orleans drummers in the 1950s. He was a member of the original American Jazz Quintet, which also included Alvin Battiste, and Ellis Marsalis. Blackwell toured extensively with Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Randy Weston and other jazz luminaries. Ed Blackwell was one of the greatest pioneers of free drumming whose main body of work remains within the group context in Ornette Coleman's Quartet and Don Cherry's units. Born in New Orleans, his drum concept fitted perfectly the needs of the new collective music-indeed, traditional New Orleans march rhythms combined with an African and Afro-Cuban influence in his work

Jim Black

Jim Black (born 1967 in Seattle, Washington) is a jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others. He attended Berklee College of Music. His own group, AlasNoAxis, includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, and Skúli Sverrisson on electric bass. The music is in some ways closer to post-rock than jazz, concentrating on rhythmic shifts and ensemble texture rather than featured solos. Since 2000, the group has released several records on Winter & Winter. The group Pachora, also including Black, Speed, and Sverrisson, and with Brad Shepik on tambura and electric saz, plays music that is similarly rhythmically diverse, but inspired by Balkan rhythms.

Dick Berk

Born: May 22, 1939

Richard Alan "Dick" Berk was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Berk was born in San Francisco, California. He studied at the Berklee College of Music and played in the Boston area early in the 1960s. In 1962 he moved to New York City and played there with Ted Curson and Bill Barron in a quintet from 1962 to 1964. Following this he played with Charles Mingus, Mose Allison, Freddie Hubbard, and Walter Bishop, Jr., among others. He moved to Los Angeles late in the 1960s, where he played with Milt Jackson, George Duke, Cal Tjader, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Blue Mitchell. He founded the Jazz Adoption Agency in the early 1980s, playing into the 2000s; among this group's alumni are Andy Martin, Mike Fahn, Nick Brignola, John Nagorney, Keith Saunders, Tad Weed, and John Patitucci.

Ed Thigpen

Born: December 28, 1930

Receipient of the 2002 IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) HUMANITARIAN AWARD, the IFPI (International Federation of Phonagraph Industry) 2002 Danish Jazz Awards and also Inducted into The PAS (Percussive Arts Society) HALL OF FAME. World-renown for his exemplary musicianship, his artistry with wire brushes, and his highly effective teaching methods, Ed Thigpen is admired by musicians and critics alike as one of the finest performer/educators in jazz. Born in Chicago December 28, 1930, Edmund Thigpen grew up in Los Angeles where he atteneded Thomas Jefferson High School, whose alumni include artists such as Dexter Gorden, Chico Hamilton and Art Farmer, There he got his practical experience in the schools swing band under the guidance of the revered teacher Samuel Browne