| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
The Drums |
129 |
||
|
|
|||
|
no such reservation about his role: he preferred to be heard, and was eventually to develop a fantastically showmanlike style in which visual effects tended to take precedence over a sense of rhythmic responsibility.)
All these drummers were adaptable enough to blend into a setting of any size, shape or style. The theory that there are a two-beat and a four-beat school of drumming is largely a fantasy dreamed up by writers; even men closely associated with the so-called "Dixieland" two-beat school, such as Ray Bauduc with the Bob Crosby band and Ray McKinley, the popular vocalist-drummer heard in many Dixieland arrangements with the Dorsey Brothers in the mid-30s, never limited themselves to any specific beat but preferred to adjust each performance to the particular requirements of the arrangement.
Modern drumming may be said to have made its first long step toward maturity when Jo Jones, arriving in New York with the Count Basie band in 1936, became the new musicians* idol. Jones' top-cymbal beat outswung that of every predecessor; more important, he was able, through rhythmic effects on the bass drum and snares, to underline and punctuate the various accents in each arrangement to an extent never heard before in swing music. Jones soon took his place alongside Krupa as a reigning favorite among jazzmen; today his smoothly swinging style is in demand by adherents of every school. Even Dixielanders, many of whom used to have a tendency toward what might be called the "clickery-clack" or non-integrated drum style, have learned to appreciate the value of Jones* more legato rhythms and have used them frequently on recording sessions.
The next major step forward took place with the development of bop. As early as 1939-40, in the Teddy Hill band, Kenny Clarke began to experiment with the idea of transferring the essence of the rhythmic beat from the bass drum to the top cymbal, in an effort to escape from the heavy pounding of an obviously stated four-to-the-bar rhythm. Clarke was the major influence on Max Roach, who brought this style to a high degree of finesse—and to an eager national audience—when he began to record with Hawkins, Gillespie and other combo leaders in 1944-5. By this time several other drummers, tired of limping heavily on the |
|||