# Jazz drummers who were band leaders **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621 "2020-01-18T16:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/1 "2020-01-18T16:31:33Z")
I’ve been listening to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers all week, absolutely amazing music. I’m familiar with Buddy Rich as well, I do need to dive more deeply into his music. Who else should I seek out? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/2 "2020-01-18T16:35:46Z")
Shelly Manne had quite a few bands over time. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/3 "2020-01-18T17:08:26Z")
Also, the Max Roach band M’Boom. here is an interview with Roach from NPR > **[Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Drummer And Composer Max Roach](https://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547305328/celebrating-30-years-of-fresh-air-drummer-and-composer-max-roach)** > > Considered one of the inventors of modern jazz drumming, Roach helped formulate the language of bebop, along with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Originally broadcast in 1988. Here is an old article and interview with Art Blakey. He was the man. > **[Art Blakey, Messenger Of the Beat](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/07/11/art-blakey-messenger-of-the-beat/a894292d-2ace-4329-922e-c4784c9343fb/)** ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/4 "2020-01-18T18:03:23Z")
Gene Krupa and his Orchestra ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/5 "2020-01-18T18:07:55Z")
Chick Webb, stompin at the savoy. Tony Williams ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/6 "2020-01-18T18:27:26Z")
Animal (who _did_ lead that band) Louie Bellson Bill Bruford’s band [Bruford](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrlMFHX7NU) wasn’t mainstream jazz, but recognized enough jazz sensibilities to be included here. (love the sax/mini-tuba(?) melody there, despite the composition, itself, _kinda_ flirting dangerously into Adult Contemporary Land). Unfortunate that the performance got cut-off at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/7 "2020-01-18T18:28:59Z")
Billy Cobham > **[Billy Cobham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Cobham)** > > William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. > He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013. AllMusic biographer Steve Huey said, "Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/8 "2020-01-18T19:14:29Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Animal (who _did_ lead that band) > > Louie Bellson > > Bill Bruford’s band [Bruford](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrlMFHX7NU) wasn’t mainstream jazz, but recognized enough jazz sensibilities to be included here. (love the sax/mini-tuba(?) melody there, despite the composition, itself, _kinda_ flirting dangerously into Adult Contemporary Land). Unfortunate that the performance got cut-off at the end. Bellson was the best jazz drummer ever, IMO. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBQWaCLlK9Y) his “Skin Deep” solo. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/9 "2020-01-18T21:17:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Bellson was the best jazz drummer ever, IMO. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBQWaCLlK9Y) his “Skin Deep” solo. Heh and [his next one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faAiClzObwY) on the YT carosel ain’t too bad either. (dang-it Doc sure hits some dog-whistle-y Maynard Ferguson-y high notes, there!) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/10 "2020-01-19T21:25:36Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Bill Bruford’s band [Bruford](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrlMFHX7NU) wasn’t mainstream jazz, but recognized enough jazz sensibilities to be included here. (love the sax/mini-tuba(?) melody there, despite the composition, itself, _kinda_ flirting dangerously into Adult Contemporary Land). Unfortunate that the performance got cut-off at the end. Brutal screw-up: that was Bruford’s band Earthworks (which he assembled and still basically led), not the Bruford band, which was more prog-leaning. Nothing like mixing up one of your heros’ achievements. :o ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/11 "2020-01-19T23:13:14Z")
Don’t forget Gene Krupa. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/12 "2020-01-19T23:14:17Z")
Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/13 "2020-01-19T23:25:39Z")
Oddly enough, Spike Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/14 "2020-01-20T02:31:11Z")
The great Philly Joe Jones recorded quite a few albums as leader over a twenty-something-year period from maybe 1960 to the early eighties. He was best known as a member of Miles Davis’s quintet in the mid to late fifties, with Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland and Paul Chambers. My own favorite jazz drummer, Elvin Jones, recorded many albums as leader from around 1960 well into the nineties. He might be best known for his work with John Coltrane, including on _A Love Supreme_ and _John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman_. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/15 "2020-01-20T17:28:38Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions. For some reason, I always associate winter with jazz so I’ve been listening to it a lot. My OP was prompted by an article I read a year or two ago that made the case that drummers, rather than horn players made the best band leaders and kept a tight beat. Anyone know where I may have read this article? I’m thinking it was in a magazine such as the New Yorker or the Atlantic, but it could have easily been in the Washington Post or New York Times. ---
**Author:** ![Hickory\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hickory\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hickory_Joe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/16 "2020-01-22T06:57:18Z")
Roy Haynes One of his albums “Out of the Afternoon” with Roland Kirk on sax and Tommy Flanagan on piano is one of my favorites (mostly because of Kirk and Flanagan) but still, Haynes is amazing in the way he works the beat around the melodies, making his own rhythmic statements. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/17 "2020-01-22T07:21:03Z")
I nominate Ginger Baker with Cream. Arguably there was no leader, but since he came up with the idea for the band (Thank You Ginger!), I give him props for that. Also, as all three have said, any one of the three could take the musical lead at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/18 "2020-01-22T15:07:44Z")
[Ringo Starr and his All Star Band](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr_%26_His_All-Starr_Band) come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/19 "2020-01-22T15:10:33Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I nominate Ginger Baker with Cream. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [Ringo Starr and his All Star Band](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr_%26_His_All-Starr_Band) come to mind. I’m not sure either of these would qualify as jazz drummers. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621/20 "2020-01-22T16:01:18Z")
> [@Hickory\_Joe](#): > > Roy Haynes > One of his albums “Out of the Afternoon” with Roland Kirk on sax and Tommy Flanagan on piano is one of my favorites (mostly because of Kirk and Flanagan) but still, Haynes is amazing in the way he works the beat around the melodies, making his own rhythmic statements. I thought of him, but decided leading a session wasn’t the same as being a bandleader. Anyway, great album. I once sat next to Roy Haynes and his family at a Jon Hendricks show. It was very instructive, listening to him explain to his grandson the various things the band was doing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-drummers-who-were-band-leaders/846621.md?page=2)