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.
Max Roach: Setting Standards And Raising Bars
If you were to ask any jazz historian to name who they feel is most responsible for setting the standards in bebop drumming, 99.9% of the time you’re going to get one name: Max Roach. Roach wasn’t the first drummer…
Elvin Jones: The Great Liberator
When Elvin Jones moved from his home town in Michigan to New York City in 1956, the jazz-listening world wasn’t quite ready for the drummer’s outer-space conception. His loping, circular sense of swing and abstract, barline-blurring breaks weren’t easy to…
Gene Krupa: The Man Who Made It All Happen
If anyone can be considered the founding father of modern drumset playing, it’s Gene Krupa. Krupa legitimized a collection of instruments known as the “traps” at a time when both the instrument and its players were barely tolerated. He led…
Age Of Evil’s Garrett Ziff
To all my fellow drummers out there, my name is Garrett Ziff, I’m twenty years old, and I play drums in the metal band Age Of Evil. First let me share a little of my history. I started playing drums…
Influencer: Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson was an outstanding jazz drummer and a legendary teacher. He was strongly influenced by Papa Jo Jones, and his first break came in the early ’50s with the Lionel Hampton band. By 1951 he was working with Sabby…
Yael: DrumAddict
Hello, modern drum addicts! First off, it’s an honor to be asked to do a piece for Modern Drummer online, and I hope to get to the point where I will finally have my mug in the mag next to…
Buddy Rich: The World's Greatest Drummer
Buddy Rich has been called the greatest jazz drummer of all time—a statement that few would argue with. Buddy was born on September 30, 1917, and his drumming career spanned seven decades, beginning when he was just eighteen months old…
Philly Joe Jones: One Of The Greatest Hard Boppers
Philly Joe Jones is one of the greatest of the hard boppers. His contributions to the art of jazz drumming are immeasurable. He was a virtuoso with a pair of brushes, and a genius at turning the rudiments into fluent…
James "The Rev" Sullivan
The supercharged Avenged Sevenfold timekeeper keeps old-school metal alive with brute force, machine-like precision, and a flair for the dramatic by Michael Parillo Avenged Sevenfold does nothing halfway. From their wacky aliases to their arm-covering tattoos to their breakneck…
Joshua Radin's Frederik Bokkenheuser
Hi, modern drummers! My name is Frederik Bokkenheuser. Greetings from Webster Hall in New York City. I am currently touring with Joshua Radin. We have been on the road for over two months now, in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and…
Ask A Pro: Jason Bittner
In this video we join Jason backstage at a recent Shadows Fall concert, where he shares some exclusive up-close demonstrations of his playing on the track "King Of Nothing," from the band's latest album, Retribution. Jason Bittner King Of Nothing Lesson…
Rashid Williams Discusses Drumsets
Rashid discusses his unique setup and how he uses it. Video by Sayre Berman.
Cirque Du Soleil’s Luke Notary
Hello, MD readers. Luke Notary here! I was recently hired by Cirque Du Soleil to be the percussionist on the tour of Varekai. Being an extremely versatile percussionist, I play djembes, riq, ocean drum, congas, tabla, kanjira, dumbek, angklung, and…
Yoko Ono Talks Drums With Modern Drummer
by Billy Amendola At the young age of seventy-six, there’s just no slowing down for artist, activist, and avant-garde queen Yoko Ono, widow of the late Beatle John Lennon. Her latest CD, Between My Head And The Sky, made with…
