Al Foster was born in Richmond, VA, but was raised in New York. He taught himself drums at about the age of 13, and by the age of 16 he was recording with Blue Mitchell (as "Aloysius Foster" on the Blue Note album The Thing to Do). In 1969, at the Cellar Club on 95th St. in Manhattan, Foster got his big break; as he was backing up bassist Earl... [+] Read More

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Several different drummers helped put jazz fusion on the map in the '70s. The one who seems to get most of the credit is Billy Cobham, but others, such as Alphonse Mouzon, contributed quite a bit to the cause as well. Born on November 21, 1948, in Charleston, SC, Mouzon got serious with his drumming in high school, where he studied with both a... [+] Read More

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Andrew Cyrille is perhaps the preeminent free-jazz percussionist of the 1980s and '90s. Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety. Cyrille is at his best in an utterly free context, as on his encounters with the... [+] Read More

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Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings -- including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. At his best, Cobham harnessed his amazing dexterity into... [+] Read More

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As a member of the groundbreaking Ornette Coleman-led quartet that launched the free jazz renaissance, Billy Higgins remains one of the most important and controversial drummers in music history. An uncommonly versatile and intuitive player, his nimble rhythmic patterns achieved a perfect balance between function and form, inspiring the great... [+] Read More

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A solid drummer in either free or hard bop settings, Clifford Jarvis was featured on several '60s and '70s albums. He proved both a consistently engaging, rhythmically diverse and sound drummer and a good percussionist, adding textures and colors on African and Latin instruments. Jarvis studied at Berklee with Alan Dawson in the mid and late... [+] Read More

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Ed Blackwell made his reputation as a member of Ornette Coleman's band in the early '60s; without that association, one wonders whether he would be considered one of the great jazz percussionists. That's to take nothing away from his considerable ability, but Blackwell's unfashionably arcane and somewhat unpolished approach to playing time was... [+] Read More

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Jeff "Tain" Watts came to fame as drummer with the early Wynton Marsalis band. He has been greatly in demand ever since, playing and recording with such musicians as Geri Allen, Ricky Ford, Robin Eubanks, Betty Carter, McCoy Tyner, Gary Thomas, and Branford Marsalis, among others. He made his debut as a leader for the Sunnyside label in 1991 and... [+] Read More

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Tony Williams' death in 1997 of a heart attack after routine gall bladder surgery was a major shock to the jazz world. Just 51, Williams (who could be a very loud drummer) seemed so youthful, healthy, and ageless even though he had been a major drummer for nearly 35 years. The open style that he created while with the Miles Davis Quintet in the... [+] Read More

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