Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, & Jo Jones: Superstar Drummers of the 1930s

The American 1930s is a decade of incomparable contradiction and complexity. Though much of this period remains defined by a climb out of the Great Depression, there was much progress and growth in a positive light. Architecture developed with the completed construction of New York City’s Empire State Building and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Films with synchronized sound, or “talkies,” pushed the film industry out of silence and to new possibilities. Though radio was still the primary form of mass media, the television was newly available to the American public. Baseball had become the country’s “national pastime” as the New York Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig dominated with eight World Series titles by 1939 (though the St. Louis Cardinals of Rogers Hornsby and Dizzy Dean were hot on their heels). Ruth Graves Wakefield unintentionally developed the chocolate chip cookie when she ran out of baker’s chocolate and had to use broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate that didn’t melt in the dough (http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html). In the world of music, swing and jazz were taking over, and three distinct and dynamic drummers were keeping the bands swinging and the people dancing. Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, and Jo Jones remain three of the most influential and inventive percussionists in any style of music. These three paved a new musical path with thunder and finesse.

In Burt Korall’s shining account of early jazz drummers called Drummin’ Men, Buddy Rich gives high praise to Chick Webb: “He represented true hipness. His playing was original, different, completely his own” (7). William Henry Webb had been tragically injured not long after his birth in 1907 (or 1905 or 1909, depending on the source) when he was dropped, damaging several vertebrae and preventing him from growing properly and putting him in extreme pain for the rest of his life (Korall, 11). Age brought him nothing but more frailty as his physical health was never good and his spine was never repaired. In 1939, after a major operation in Baltimore’s John Hopkins Hospital, he uttered “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go” and left this world (Chick Webb – drummerworld.com). But his long, healthy legacy out-dueled his short, sickly life. Reportedly, the appropriately nicknamed “Chick” Webb took up the drums out of interest but also as “…a means to build up his body” (Korall, 11). Born and raised in Baltimore, he proved his strong character and drive by working hard as a newspaper boy to save up $103 to purchase a used set of drums. The charismatic Webb started out by performing for passersby on street corners and soon graduated to playing with jazz groups on pleasure boats (Chick Webb – drummerworld.com). By 1924, he moved to New York and sat in on sessions with huge names like Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, and the one and only Duke Ellington. Webb formed his first band in 1926 – dubbed The Harlem Stompers – and performed at various clubs in the Big Apple, including Black Bottom, Roseland, the Cotton Club, and the Strand Room. By the end of the 1920s, The Harlem Stompers grew into an eleven piece big band and landed the house band job at the Savoy Ballroom. Now known as The Chick Webb Orchestra, the band took off on a historic four year stint at the renowned Harlem hotspot and taught the world what it meant to really swing. “Fellow big band leaders, including swing royals Benny Goodman (with Gene Krupa on drums) and Count Basie (with Jo Jones on drums), also brought their bands into the Savoy for friendly ‘Battle of the Bands’ competitions. But the power of The Chick Webb Orchestra could not be defeated, leaving the drummer to be forever acknowledged as ‘King of the Savoy’” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 2, 4). Dave Dexter writes in The Jazz Story, “Webb played a lot of commercial, non-jazz stuff in the early evening…but when the lights went down after midnight and another band set up on the opposite stand, the mighty little percussionist could kick his troupe into a frenzy and chase the competition out in Lenox Avenue” (107). Gene Krupa is quoted as saying of Webb, “The man could reach amazing heights. When he felt like it, he could cut down any of us” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 2, 5). Aside from his own legacy, Webb mentored a young orphan singer and took her into his band when instrumental jazz was gaining popularity. Many critiqued his choice to put a singer in his band, claiming it didn’t fit his style. Webb was undeterred in his plans, and chose to develop and incorporate Ella Fitzgerald into his orchestra.

Stylistically, Webb was truly one of a kind. Then and now, drummers often size one another up by their selection and arrangement of their set. The basic pieces of Webb’s set included a 28" bass drum, 6.5 x 14" snare drum, 9 x 13" tom, 16" floor tom, 12" hi hats, 12" crash, 13" crash, and a 15" Chinese cymbal. Additionally, he frequently used a woodblock, a cowbell, and four tuned temple blocks which sat over the bass drum. All of his drums and cymbals were attached to the Gretsch Wheeled Console, which Webb himself helped design. The cymbals were suspended on bent, "goose neck" style stands as opposed to being mounted atop straight cymbal stands. For the foot pedals, a special extension was built so he could reach them (Chick Webb – drummerworld.com). His diminished size did not diminish his playing, and his body had apparently become strong enough over the years to allow him to play quite well. Drummer Allen Paley recalls, “He had strong wrists, long arms, huge hands, long fingers and legs. Only his torso was short and relatively underdeveloped. Sitting up high, he’d lean over the set and hit…the drums, cymbals, and other accessories almost without moving. Sometimes he’d stand up and play….He was the best natural player I ever came across. Fast, clean, flawless, he played like a machine gun…but with enormous feeling and understanding of what the band was trying to do” (Korall, 15-16). Webb could obviously really move across and around his set, His inability to read music didn’t hinder his playing anymore than his physical shortcomings did. Webb had a remarkable awareness and discernment in his playing. He was very conscious of the sound of his drums and took great care to tune them to fit the music. While other drummers spent a lot of time of the toms, Webb used his cymbals, cowbells, and temple blocks to color the melody (Korall, 16-17). Gene Krupa recalls “He worked those cymbals with great facility and freedom and taste. The sound he got from his drums was marvelous. His playing, so clean and fast and technical, had the kind of drive that is impossible to describe if you weren’t there. The records don’t do him justice. Chick was the guy who made big band playing an art, a great craft” (Korall, 59). His rhythmic concepts were mind boggling, but he also played very melodically, blazing a trail for the likes of Max Roach and Roy Haynes.

Born just two years after Webb and in the Midwestern city of Chicago, Eugene Bertram Krupa emerged as one of the most popular and well-known drummers of all time. Before he and his drums became national celebrities on Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing,” young Gene was learning what it meant to have a strong work ethic. The youngest of nine and being pushed towards a life in the Priesthood, Gene was very drawn to music and wanted to play, so he bought a set of drums from his earnings working at a music store simply because they were the cheapest instrument in the store’s catalog (Gene Krupa – drummerworld.com). “Upon entering high school in 1923, Gene became buddies with the ‘Austin High Gang’, which included many musicians which would be on Gene's first recording session; Jimmy McPartland, Jimmy Lannigan, Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher. In 1925, Gene began his percussion studies with Roy Knapp, Al Silverman & Ed Straight” (Gene Krupa – drummerworld.com). He headed to New York in 1929 to record with Eddie Condon, Red McKenzie, and Bix Beiderbecke and is widely regarded as the first drummer to record with a full drumset, despite the initial hesitation of the engineer (Gene Krupa – drummerworld.com). By 1933, Krupa had worked with a fair share of bands in both Chicago and New York and landed the gig that would soon place him firmly in the limelight. Clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman assembled the first integrated jazz ensemble which would become the first integrated big band, and Gene Krupa became an icon in The Benny Goodman Orchestra. Throughout the rest of his prolific career, Krupa lead his own big bands and small orchestra. “In 1951 he became a star member of Norman Granz’s famed Jazz at The Philharmonic touring shows...In 1954, he partnered with Cozy Cole to open a drum school in New York City” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 10). After his health began to decline in 1960, Krupa mainly focused on his own small ensembles before retiring in 1967. He made a brief return to the stage in the 70s, and participated in a memorable reunion concert with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Lionel Hampton at Carnegie Hall in 1973. In October of that same year, he died of leukemia. “Gene Krupa was unquestionably the first drummer in history to attain a position of global renown. As such, he is still revered and respected by drummers the world over” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 10).

Krupa did not achieve his iconic status simply by luck or good looks; he brought many firsts and innovations to the drumming world. “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 was the first drummer to record with a bass drum. He was the first to popularize the extended drum solo (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 10). Scott Yanow explains in Swing that prior to 1927, it was feared that bass drums would be too loud in a recording session and earlier drummers like Baby Dodds were usually only permitted to use a snare drum, a cymbal, and maybe a woodblock and some small accessories (243). Krupa himself credits those drummers that preceded him as being hugely influential on his way of playing – Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton. But he also had much respect for Chick Webb. He discusses Webb’s influence on him in Drummin’ Men: “When I heard Chick for the first time at the Dunbar Palace uptown he gave me an entirely different picture of jazz drums. I had admired Baby and Zutty…but Chick taught me more than anyone. I learned practically everything from him” (Korall, 58). One of the marks of a truly great drummer is versatility. Buddy Rich praised Krupa’s versatility in Drummin’ Men: “Versatility is the key. One of the reasons Gene was so great was that he could do it all…He knew that if you played with three or four guys, you kept things down and used brushes. You didn’t step on the pedal; you played the pedal. You were subtle behind what was going on. Then after exercising great control, bringing into play restraint and delicacy, he could turn around and perform like a monster on ‘Sing, Sing, Sing.’ That’s a drummer!” (Korall, 65). Aside from his playing, Krupa brought much clarity and definition to the drumset as a real instrument. He worked closely with the Slingerland Drum Company and Zildjian cymbals to innovate new instruments for drummers. Tunable tom-toms were his greatest contribution, and his Slingerland “Radio Kings” drumset in white marine pearl finish featured a 9 x 13” tom and a 16 x 16” floor tom that could be tuned using a simple T shaped screw. Krupa’s famous drumset also had a 14 x 26” bass drum, a 6.5 x 14” singly ply mahogany snare drum, plus an assortment of cymbals which he helped Zildjian find names for – 11” hi hats, 13” crash, 8” splash, 14” crash, and a 16” crash (Gene Krupa – drummerworld.com). The snare drum on his set was innovative in its one ply construction as well as in the way Krupa tuned it and played it, primarily by pioneering the use of the rim shot. “Krupa’s snare drum sound was central to the character of his work. Crisp, clean, with a suggestion of echo, it enhanced the excitement of his performances. He would strike the drum head and rim in such a way that the stick carried the impact from the rim down to the tip of the stick and transmitted it to the head, which then acted like an amplifier” (Korall, 72). What Krupa could do with the toms is chronicled forever on “Sing, Sing, Sing,” as he became popularized the extended drum solo. Perhaps Krupa should also be credited with the stereotypes and making drummers an easy target for the jokes nowadays. Regardless, Gene Krupa defined modern drumming way back in the 1930s.

“If Max Roach and Kenny Clarke are considered the fathers of modern drumming, then Jonathan ‘Jo’ Jones has to be the godfather” (Papa Jo Jones, drummerworld.com). Born just a couple years after Mr. Krupa in the same city was Jonathan David Samuel Jones, better known as Papa Jo Jones. He moved south to Alabama and worked with regional bands where he learned to play several instruments, including saxophone, piano, and drums. Considering his childhood Jones’ seemingly mature approach to music and drumming was no surprise. “His father was killed before he reached his eleventh birthday. Before that…Jones seriously burned himself playing with fire. The accident shut him away from the outside world for a period of time. Living in a world of adults, he put aside childish interested. He read a great deal and became unusually thoughtful and philosophical for a youngster” (Korall, 127). This caused him to become greatly infatuated with drums. He recalls in Drummin’ Men, “I didn’t think I was going to end up a drummer. I was trying all these instruments. But somehow I played drums on all of them” (Korall 128). He worked as a drummer and tap-dancer at carnival shows until joining the Walter Page led Blue Devils in Oklahoma City in the late 20s. He recorded with trumpeter Lloyd Hunter in1931, and then headed to Kansas City to joined pianist Count Basie's band in 1933. Jones, Basie, guitarist Freddie Green and bassist Walter Page were sometimes billed as an 'all-American Rhythm section'. Jones took a brief break for two years when he was in the military, but he remained with Basie until 1948. In later years, he gigged regularly at the West End jazz club at 116th and Broadway in New York City where drummers such as Max Roach and Roy Haynes were able to get a glimpse of him (Papa Jo Jones, drummerworld.com). “In addition to his historic achievements with the Basie band, Papa Jo Jones worked with Jazz at The Philharmonic, Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Ray Bryant, Milt Buckner, Coleman Hawkins, and his own trio and sextet. In August of 1985, he was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri. He died two weeks later on September 3” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 4).

Jones was the first drummer to move the timekeeping from the heavy bass drum to the versatile cymbals. “Prior to Jo Jones, most drummers used the bass drum at least part of the time to keep the rhythm steady. However, Jones, as part of the innovative Count Basie rhythm section, had a much lighter touch, utilizing the hi-hat cymbal to keep time the bass drum just for occasional accents. The result was that there was much more space for the string bass to be heard. His playing would have a strong influence on bebop drummers and beyond, quietly revolutionizing the way the drums are played” (Yanow, 247). “He was one of the first drummers to promote the use of brushes on drums and shifting the role of timekeeping from the bass drum to the hi-hat cymbal. Jones had a major influence on later drummers such as Buddy Rich, Kenny Clarke, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Louie Bellson” (Papa Jo Jones, drummerworld.com). He also invented an interesting bass drum technique that many drummers still use today. Jones would tap the heel of his right foot on the back of the bass drum pedal, as opposed to stomping down on the pedal. The result was a light, feathered bass drum sound and simply emphasized the string bass (Korall 414). Other than using slightly larger cymbals and usual and an extra floor tom on his left side, there wasn’t anything else particularly impressive about Jones’ drumset (except possibly for the fact that he would mix and match drums from different manufacturers). “They were far from anything special – a twenty-eight inch Leedy bass drum, a snare drum made by Ludwig, Gretsch-Gladstone tom-toms, large hi hats, and a few cymbals. It was what he did on the rag-tag set…the sounds he created” (Korall, 125). Much more than any other drummer of his time, Jones pushed the development of the hi-hat to new rhythmic and tonal heights. “His hi-hat style has been characterized as swinging and driving, but never obtrusive. Early recordings with the Base band clearly reveal a smooth, uplifting hi-hat that emphasized a longer, more open sound. The result was a feeling of great forward momentum that lent itself perfectly to the band’s character and rhythmic flow” (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 4). Like Webb and Krupa, Jones brought a musical way of approaching the drumset that earlier drummers had not had the freedom to opportunity to pioneer. His contributions in pointing drummers toward a more musically intellectual way of thinking about the instrument garner him much respect from drummers of every style and genre.

Papa Jo said “First of all you are a human being. Then you try to become a man. And then you work on becoming a drummer (Modern Drummer: Drum Gods 1, 5). This is the kind of humility and understanding that contributed to the exceptional output and lasting legacies of Little Chick, Gene, and Papa Jo. Though swing and jazz don’t have the influence and popularity today that they had in the 1930s, the influence of these three grandfathers of drumming lives on.

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