Drummers
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Mountain's Corky Laing (VIDEO)
If there’s a man responsible for bringing the lowly cowbell the respect it deserves, it’s Mountain’s Corky Laing. Video by Sayre Berman
Cole Marcus: Blog
Hey, everyone, this is Cole Marcus. I recently turned eleven years old, and I’ve been playing drums professionally since the age of three. I actually started playing by myself when I was ten months old. Sounds weird, but it’s…
Jojo Mayer: Electro Shaman With Masterful Technique
For years, Jojo Mayer has been regarded as a drumming shaman, a man of mystery, a technical guru existing on the outer reaches of traditional drumming logic. Perhaps best known for his work with Screaming Headless Torsos and as a…
Thomas Pridgen: Buzz Inspiring
Thomas Pridgen has inspired more buzz among Modern Drummer readers than almost anyone else working today. Even diehard Mars Volta fans were unprepared for the frenetic wall of drumming Pridgen produced on the band’s 2008 album The Bedlam In Goliath.…
Mark Rhoades: Blog
Hey, everybody, this is Mark Rhoades from the Fold. So honored to be a part of MD! I’d like to take this opportunity to answer questions I get regarding the custom drumkit that I’ve built myself. At the time I…
Sonny Greer: Duke Ellington’s Crowd Pleaser
Sonny Greer was born in 1903 in Long Branch, New Jersey, and studied drums with vaudeville drummer J. Rosemond Johnson. His first professional job was as a youngster in a pit band in Red Bank, New Jersey. Within a few…
Jimmy Crawford: Kansas City’s Rock of Gibraltar
One of the most exciting and dynamic groups to come out of Kansas City during the swing era was the Jimmy Lunceford big band. Drummer Jimmy Crawford, a high-spirited, supportive player, was the driving force behind the Lunceford band for…
AM Taxi’s Chris Smith
Hello, MD readers! I don’t usually blog on the first date, but you seem special. It’s pretty cool to be asked to write a blog for moderndrummer.com. Allow me to introduce myself and let you know a little bit about…
George Wettling: The Ultimate "Chicago style" Accompanist
George Wettling was one of the leading proponents of the early “Chicago style” of jazz drumming. A tasteful, imaginative, unobtrusive player, Wettling quickly built a reputation as the ultimate band drummer. Wettling took the conceptual and stylistic elements of Baby…
Chick Webb: The First True Drumming Idol
Chick was born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 10, 1907. He suffered from tuberculosis of the spine, which left him badly crippled. It wasn’t until he underwent a painful operation as a child that he was able to use his…
Jaguar Club’s Jeremiah Joyce
Hello, Modern Drummer! I want to use this little time with you all to do two things: 1) to let you know about my band, the Jaguar Club, and our new record, And We Wake Up Slowly, and 2) to…
William "Cozy" Cole: The Father Of Coordinated Independence
Cozy Cole, an incredibly adept player, was strongly rooted in the rudimental style, but he contributed much to jazz drumming. One of the first players to develop his own brand of hand and foot coordination, he mastered the technique thoroughly,…
Sugar Hill’s Clarence Alonzo Oliver
Hello to all the modern drummers around the world! For those of you who don’t know of me, I got my first big break as the touring drummer for the famous vocal group the Moments, aka Ray, Goodman & Brown.…
The Greats: Art Blakey
The origins of Blakey’s hard-swinging style can be traced back to his early years as the drummer in Fletcher Henderson’s big band, as well as his three-year tenure in the mid-’40s with Billy Eckstine’s experimental large bop band (featuring future…
