Jazz drummers, a poll.

Right now it's probably a tossup between Joey Baron and Scott Amendola...OH WAIT THEY'RE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS POLL.

Great poll! I flipped a coin between DeJohnette and Tony Williams. If Buddy Rich wins I'm going to rip my ears off.

Mingus dork that I am, it is inevitably Dannie Richmond.

Susie Ibarra is totally robbed, tho.

Oh, wait, there she is! Never mind.

It's probably Richmond for me too, been listening a lot to Black Saint and he is amazing, loud as hell. Could give Tony Williams the vote only for his playing on Out To Lunch though...

man this is hard Ed Blackwell maybe?

There's an easy dozen that I could call my favorite on a given day.

Elvin Jones will win.

This is impossible, but I might vote for Art Blakey. Herlin Riley and "Tain" Watts would give me pause if they were options, though.

And Buddy Rich is great!

no milford graves, no credibility.

seriously, where is he? he was susie ibarra's teacher, fer chrissake!

if that's your logic, then where's alan dawson?

Torn between/among Blakey, Roach and my dark horse pick, Ronald Shannon Jackson. I predict Roach taking this in a walk, though.

I didn't mean to say that Buddy Rich isn't a good drummer, because obviously he is. But I do think that his showmanship that elevated him to "only drummer I know" status among most people also gets in the way of the music half of the time.

He was great on the Muppets, though

Yeah, Roach may well be my favorite drummer ever, so he obviously gets it. Runners-up--the usual suspects: Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Art Blakey, Art Taylor, etc.

Roach is more interesting to listen to, but then I remembered that Roach vs. Elvin vs. Blakey clip where Roach was doing his rudimental shit, and you're like "yeah wow he's really good", but then Blakey just walks out in a dashiki and hits a huge cymbal crash, and then goes into the Blakey trademark Afro-cuban beat and you're like "OK NOW IT IS ON!".

Link plzz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA5dt9QT4Ms

i guess he takes his time to build up to it, but still

if that's your logic, then where's alan dawson?

i'm not saying that's the only reason milford graves should be on the list...another reason would be that all of his free contemporaries are on there (cyrille, ali, murray). plus there's the fact that he's something of a towering innovator. it's like having a saxophonist poll with john coltrane, pharoah sanders, and frank wright, but no albert ayler.

I'm sorry for the omission, I had a huge list of drummers I needed to shorten for the poll, and I wasn't familiar with his work, so he was left out. Sorry.

No apologies needed, polls is hard work! (I assume.)

Gonna make it easy on myself and choose Rashied Ali, since he may be my favourite guy still living, not to mention the very first one listed. If not him, who knows? Tony, Elvin, Blakey...

I voted Max Roach. For his drumming and also those awesome concept albums he put out in the 60s with his wife.

I voted for Buddy Rich, tee hee.

This is about as tough as that jazz saxophone poll a few months ago. I went with Tony Williams for what I like, but it is hard to argue with over a dozen of those guys on that list.

I don't know the swing or big band drummers as much, but you have so many guys like Bellson, Jo Jones, and Klook that literally invented drum styles and techniques, it is hard to vote against them. Other guys like Blakey and Roach were not only totally badass drummers, but they were titan group leaders who worked with bunches of now legendary players.

Steve Gadd is best known for his work in other genres.

The most glaring contemporary omission, I think, is Brian Blade. I'd consider voting for him. Ari Hoenig probably deserves a mention even though I wouldn't vote for him.

Bill Bruford also best known for non-jazz.

I couldn't really not vote for Tony Williams, but there are so many great drummers on the list.

I wish I could also vote for Mike Clark. His drumming on Herbie Hancock's Thrust should not be spoken of with human lips.

Let's turn this into a jazz drummer solo youtube video thread.

Here's Max Roach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wnW2KLWE-g&feature=related

No fair! Dannie was all about the accompaniment, not about the solo.

Here's a Tony Williams clip I just found that I'd never seen before (1972 with lifetime bootleg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv4BCuJy-do

there's a lot on this thread: Drum geek sick chops youtube thread

Actually it's kind of hard to make out what he's doing in that one, so here's a good solo w/Stan Getz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06F7_ju97UY

Whoa, wait, where's Hamid Drake?

I voted Tony Williams, but like others have said... touch choice all around. Definitely missing Joey Barron here.

Steve Gadd is best known for his work in other genres.

Bill Bruford also best known for non-jazz.

Haha, I guess I should've read everyone's Wikipedia entries more thoroughly before putting them on the list. My knowledge of rock is limited, so I only know these two as jazz drummers. (Never heard anything by Bruford though, put I've often seen his records in the jazz shelf.)

torn between Tony Williams and Art Blakey

For me it's gonna be either Papa Jo or Klook.

max roach - for his drumming on 'saxophone colossus' alone

elvin v. rashied for me. i like billy higgins too though. ed blackwell, too, sonny murray, many others. lots of incredible drummers on this list.

I'd also like to add Mitch Mitchell from Jimi Hendrix band...

now that is just going too far

i went with harvey mason simply due to the number of great records i have with him on them, even though his drumming may not stand out it cant be coincidence that he was on so many good ones. his funk and soul shit is awesome, too.

Harvey Mason is one of those drummers who's never flashy or indulgent or out-of-this-world, but the stuff he does within the parameters of the groove is often incredible.

I've actually only heard one record with Paul Barbarin on it, and it was so old/badly recorded that you couldn't hear what he was playing anyway.

If Buddy Rich wins I'm going to rip my ears off.

Grady Tate - never one to whip out his hippest of chops - GT's trap-work is about as lyrical as it comes. And because, mine is likely the only vote he'll garner.

Grady Tate gets bonus points for his Schoolhouse Rock vocals.

Shortlist:
Susie Ibarra
Ed Blackwell
Gene Krupa
Max Roach
Bernard Purdie
Rashied Ali

Gene Krupa is great performing "Drum Boogie" in the movie Ball of Fire, both on a full kit and then with a box of matches. (Also keep an eye out for the co-writer of that song, Roy Eldridge)

I think somewhere in that Burt Korall book there is a quote from Buddy Rich saying that if he had to pick one guy, it'd be Jo Jones.

Idris Muhammad

Pheeroan AkLaff, Gene Lake, Steve McCall...

Agree with the above-mentioned adds of Hamid Drake and Steve McCall. Off the list, Elvin or Dannie Richmond.

LOUIS MOHOLO!

Where's Kenny Wollesen?

There should be another poll for "young" jazz drummers. Kenny Wolleson, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Gregory Hutchinson, Clarence Penn, Jim Black, Horacio Hernandez, Terreon Gully, Ari Hoenig, Billy Kilson, Lewis Nash, Matt Wilson...any one of these guys is AMAZING, but compared to the originators, are you really going to pick out one of them as the guy?

Well, to be honest, I probably have more recordings by Wollesen than any of the other names on this list. So yes, I'd be tempted to. In any case, he's certainly no "younger" than Susie Ibarra, who is on the list.

Another slightly "older" drummer who should be included: Gerry Hemingway.

i saw that dude once when i used to go see free jazz shows in art galleries (lol, college). i don't remember it very well but he did a little bit with electronics that was pretty cool.

His work with Anthony Braxton Quartet in the '80s is pretty essential.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Jones, Ibarra, Ali, Drake for me. I fear major robbery for Ibarra (though I have to say that her albums often feel like she gets weak performances from her sidemen).

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Whoa, I waited too long and both my guys got zero votes.

But I see most other guys got 1 vote.

I guess the results aren't surprising, except that I would've expected Roy Haynes to get at least one vote.

I ended up voting for Idris Muhammad, because he can both groove and do the more avant-garde free stuff very well. His version of "Soulful Drums" is one of my favourite displays of jazz drumming - no flashy tricks or super-speed playing, just an incredible, inventive swing.

Horacio Hernandez
El Negro is awesome.

Which calls to mind an older cat that nobody seems to know about, Ignacio Berroa.

NOT ONE VOTE FOR PURDIE????

not really jazz?

"drumms" vs "jazz drummers"

still shocking to me. WHERE ARE THE SOUL JAZZ BREAK HEADSZ?Z?

oh, they're on soulstrut. carry on.

oops, "drumms" = "drummers"

Cobham got screwed

NOT ONE VOTE FOR PURDIE????

-- ian
not really jazz?

-- Jordan
When DJ Small Change interviewed Galt McDermott he said something like "You've worked with such great jazz drummers as Idris Muhammad and Bernard Purdie" and Galt got angry and said "Purdie? Purdie's not a jazz drummer!"

Purdie was great on "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Hard Days Night"

Haha. I've made that same joke several times myself.

it's a poll about jazz drummers! it's not like one is better than the other, and purdie is amazing, but i would not want to hear him in a situation that requires something other than a groove.

Jordan OTM.

Poor Chick Webb. ILM is prejudiced against hunchbacks.

Purdie was great on "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Hard Days Night"

And his interplay with saxophonist Clarence Walker on "Love Me Do" is pretty amazing.

Dogdammit. Should've voted, dammit. If only to give the the fantastic Paul Motian his only vote. Dammitdammit.
:(

Cats who got zero votes in this poll:
Paul Motian
Shelly Manne
Ray McKinley
Alphonze Mouzon
Airto Moreira
Sunny Murray
Charlie Persip
Lenny White
Chick Webb
Edward Vesala
Art Taylor
Bill Stewart
Ronnie Stephenson
Phil Seamen
Ben Riley
Bernard Purdie
Sonny Payne
Connie Kay
Philly Joe Jones
Cozy Cole
Billy Cobham
Jimmy Cobb
Kenny Clarke
Mike Clark
Sid Catlett
Teri Lyne Carrington
Larry Bunker
Cindy Blackman
Han Bennink
Louie Bellson
Andrew Cyrille
Baby Dodds
Peter Erskine
Jo Jones
Clifford Jarvis
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Susie Ibarra
Albert Heath
Roy Haynes
Billy Hart
Sonny Greer
Eric Gravatt
Danny Gottlieb
Steve Gadd
Paul Barbarin

Paul Motian, Sunny Murray, Andrew Cyrille, Susie Ybarra and Han Bennink were all on my short list. I wish I could have voted for them all!

Seeing Sonny Murray and Sonny Simmons duet in the back of an overcrowded, overheated record store across the street from a mental hospital is one of my best live show memories, period.

Er,do you have,like, anyone else to back up yer,mm, memory? The doctor? The nurse?
;)

Haha. Once I enjoyed seeing Jonathan Richman and Tommy perform for a bunch of handicapped kids in Austin, TX. He did some classical JR asides. For this I have witnesses.

Heh.

It was the old 33 Degrees store on Guadalupe. Most of those guys are at End of an Ear now. The whole Epistrophy Arts crowd that turns up for all the shows PG Moreno books. So yeah, a couple hundred others.

poor Denardo... Case of too much too young?

Going to try to see zero-vote-getter Albert "Tootie" Heath again tonight since I can't see him tomorrow and I think he is going back to California again after that.

Saw Sunny Murray a month or so back - incredible

People who should have been in this poll but weren't:

Paal Nilssen-Love
Paul Lytton
Raymond Strid

Dudes that are not on the poll that go way back with some of these cats that nobody seems to know about except maybe Hurting:
Leroy Williams
and especially
Jackie Williams

paal nilssen-love is amazingly industrious on the original silence albums.

also sunny murray was totally robbed here.

yeah PNL is like the most exciting drummer in the world for me right now

Saw Paal Nilssen-Love playing last night (with The Thing), geezer is out-bloody-rageously good

Agreed, fantastic drummer. Power, invention, swing and great sensitivity too. Saw him on Friday night with the Thing and he didn't disappoint.

Man, I've been listening to that Sonny Clark Trio record a lot lately. I always come back to the rhythm section of Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones -- it was the first jazz rhythm section I fell in love with and still maybe my favorite.