The Art of Bop Drumming

The group is call Billy Cobham’s Art of 5 and features Donald Harrison, Guy Barker, Julian Joseph, and Robert Hurst. I could tell from the line-up not to expect any Mahavishnu covers or “out there” fusion excursions, and what I got was what I expected: well-rendered post-bop with tasteful flourishes courtesy of Cobham. He really is a superb technician, and he follows soloists in ways I had yet to hear other drummers even attempt. He also seems to have incorporated the vocabulary of his “fusion” drumming into that of his “jazz” drumming, as evidenced by his fiery, unexpected press rolls and his rapid, quick-as-lightning kick drum hits.

Norman Simmons - The Art of Norman Simmons (2000) {Savant ‎SCD 2029}
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© 2000 Savant ‎Records | SCD 2029
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

As the accompanist for singers Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, and Joe Williams, as well as a member of bands led by Johnny Griffin, Roy Eldridge and others, pianist Norman Simmons has spent little of his fifty-plus years as a musician in the spotlight. On the appropriately titled The Art of Norman Simmons, he successfully strikes a balance between putting his own talents front and center and melding them with musicians he respects and admires. The members of his quintet share the common goal of swinging in a relaxed, unhurried manner and no one ever feels compelled to shout to make a point.

Part One (1920-1950) traces the history of jazz drumming in America from its earliest, pre-1920 roots to the advent of the be-bop revolution in the mid-1940s and beyond. It features archival film clips and photographs of the greats of jazz drumming, including Baby Dodds, Paul Barbarin, Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Dave Tough, Sid Catlett, Kenny Clarke, and Max Roach. Part Two (1950-1970) features clips and photos of Philly Joe Jones, Shelly Manne, Art Blakey, Joe Morello, Roy Haynes, Ed Thigpen, Paul Motian, Tony Williams, Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, and others. This program illuminates a turbulent and very significant time in the history of jazz drumming.

Kenny Clarke - Klook's The Man (2007) {4CD Box Set Properbox 120 rec 1938-1956}
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© 1938-56, 2007 Proper Records | P1577–P1580 / Properbox 120
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Cool / Drums

Kenny Clarke was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the BeBop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of modern jazz. He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the snare drum ("digging coal", Clarke called it) with heavy support from the bass drum. With Clarke time was played on the cymbal and the bass and snare were used more for punctuation. For this, "every drummer" Ed Thigpen said, "owes him a debt of gratitude." Clarke was nicknamed "Klook" or "Klook-mop" for the style he innovated.

The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Complete Modern Jazz Quartet Prestige & Pablo Recordings (2003) {4CD Set}
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© 50s, 80s, 2003 Fantasy / Prestige / Pablo | 4PRCD 4438-2
Jazz / Third Stream / Bop / Cool

In typical Fantasy Records aplomb, this four-CD set collects the eight albums which the Modern Jazz Quartet either mentored or collaborated on during their tenure at the commencement and nadir of their reign as jazz's premier chamber ensemble. Beginning with the 1952 issue of Modern Jazz Quartet/Milt Jackson Quintet recording (the earlier Milt Jackson Quartet sides are not here for obvious reasons, as the band did not commence its fully developed form on them) featuring original drummer Kenny Clarke before Connie Kay replaced him, and ending with This One's For Basie in 1985; the association the MJQ had with Prestige was a monumental one.

With 2004's Art of Five, the fusion drums pioneer Billy Cobham indicated that his mid-life return to his bebop roots was a hot ticket. And this album proves to be another, with a fizzing Cobham driving a pedigree postbop band featuring alto saxist Donald Harrison, short-lived pianist James Williams (on one of his last recordings) and the bass legend Ron Carter. Most of the material here is original, and the improvisation is often scorching - Williams' jubilant sweep across bop, modalism and Cecil Taylorish abstraction in particular. Good for the Soul and Cissy Strut have a heated Art Blakey atmosphere. Harrison and Williams play solos of such fresh phrasing that they almost seem to reinvent the postbop language, and a fast The Song Is You has Harrison in biting Jackie McLean mode over fiery drumming.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Hard Bop (2006)
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Mosaic Records | Mosaic MCD-1005
Jazz / Hard Bop

After the dissolution of the original Jazz Messengers, Art Blakey formed a new edition with Jackie McLean, Bill Hardman, Sam Dockery and Spanky De Brest. It's fitting that their first album would carry the title Hard Bop because that is what they and every subsequent line-up of the Jazz Messengers came to typify.

Beyond Blakey's always magnificent and contoured drumming, this quintet's strongest asset was the beautiful, tart blend of Jackie McLean's alto sax and Bill Hardman's trumpet. They phrased together with a forward thrust and their brash, peppery tones created a distinctive front-line sound.