Billy Cobham (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian-American jazz-rock drummer who played in the bands Dreams, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Atmospheres during the early 1970s. Starting with his 1973 solo debut Spectrum, Cobham released eight albums on Atlantic and four on Columbia through 1979, including a live release in partnership with George Duke. He […]
Lenny White is an American jazz-rock drummer who emerged behind Miles Davis (Bitches Brew) and Freddie Hubbard (Red Clay). After guesting on Santana‘s Caravanserai, he cut two albums with Latin-rockers Azteca. White joined bassist Stanley Clarke in keyboardist Chick Corea‘s Return to Forever for the 1973 release Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. With guitarist Al […]
Alphonse Mouzon (Nov. 21, 1948 — Dec. 25, 2016) was an American jazz-rock drummer who started his career with credits on albums by Roy Ayers, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Eugene McDaniels, Bobbi Humphrey, Les McCann, Norman Connors, Doug Carn, and Teruo Nakamura. In 1971, he co-founded the jazz-funk supergroup Weather Report and played on their […]
Tony Williams (1945–1997) was an American jazz drummer who emerged in the second Miles Davis Quintet. As Anthony Williams, he cut the 1965/66 Blue Note albums Life Time and Spring. After Miles, Williams formed Lifetime, a pioneering jazz-rock band that cut the 1969–72 Polydor albums Emergency!, Turn It Over, Ego, and The Old Bum’s Rush. […]
Buddy Miles (Sept. 5, 1947 — Feb. 26, 2008) was an American drummer, singer, producer, and songwriter from Omaha. He co-founded the Electric Flag before he led the Buddy Miles Express, which cut the 1968/69 albums Expressway to Your Skull and Electric Church. Miles sang “Changes” on the 1970 Hendrix live album Band of Gypsys, […]
Idris Muhammad (1939–2014) was an American jazz-funk drummer. He played on Fifties hits by The Hawketts and Fats Domino and earned Sixties credits behind Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, and Pharoah Sanders. As a solo artist, he made two 1971 Prestige albums, followed by multiple titles on Kudo, including the 1974 jazz-funk classic Power of Soul. […]
Airto Moreira (born Aug. 5, 1941) is a Brazilian vocalist and percussionist, married to vocalist Flora Purim since 1967. The couple featured in the original lineup of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, appearing on the 1972 album that launched the name and its 1973 followup Light as a Feather. As a solo artist, Moreira released […]
Steve Reid (Jan. 29, 1944 — April 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader who made the 1976 albums Rhythmatism and Nova. Background Steve Reid was born on Jan. 29, 1944, in the South Bronx, New York City. His father played piano and organ and had performed with Chick Webb before marriage. Reid’s […]
Les DeMerle is an American jazz drummer who made the 1968 album Spectrum on United Artists. After time behind bandleader Harry James, DeMerle released the 1978 jazz-rock album Transfusion on Dobre Records. The title inspired the name of his backing act for the ensuing Transcendental Watusi, issued in 1979 on U.A. His final album, On […]
Roy Haynes (March 13, 1925 — November 12, 2024) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader from Roxbury, Mass. He established his national profile through work with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane, followed by major 1960s sessions with Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy, and Chick Corea. Haynes maintained a parallel bandleader […]
Al Foster (Jan. 18, 1943 — May 28, 2025) was an American jazz-funk drummer who first recorded in 1964 with Blue Mitchell and spent 1972–85 with Miles Davis, from the electric groups of the early Seventies through the Eighties comeback period. Foster also worked extensively with Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, and Herbie Hancock […]
Klaus Weiss (Feb. 17, 1942 — Dec. 10, 2008) was a German drummer and bandleader who first emerged in the Klaus Doldinger Quartet and recorded with Austrian pianist Friedrich Gulda. As Krautrock took hold, he formed the jazz-rock Sunbirds and the percussive-jam ensemble Niagara. In 1975, Weiss issued the MPS jazz-funk albums Drum Box and […]
Serge Bringolf is a French drummer and composer who led the Zeuhl ensemble Strave across the 1981 Oméga Studio albums Strave and Vision, then collaborated with pianist Siegfried Kessler on the 1983 disc Agboville. Background Serge Bringolf was born on December 27, 1957, in Strasbourg, France. He sang in a local choir and performed with […]
Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami — 村上秀一 (Jan. 1, 1951) — is a Japanese drummer who has played on more than 250 albums since the early 1970s. In 1976, he released the album Introducing “Ponta” Murakami on Toshiba. Background Ponta Murakami was born Shuichi Murakami on January 1, 1951, in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. He played French horn […]
Motohiko Hino — 日野元彦 (Jan. 3, 1946 — May 13, 1999) — was a Japanese drummer who played on more than 150 albums over a 30-year career, starting in the late 1960s. During the 1970s, he released a string of free-jazz albums in solo, combo, and collaborative settings on Philips, Trio, and Columbia’s Takt Jazz […]
Masahiko Togashi — 富樫雅彦 (March 22, 1940 — Aug. 22, 2007) — was a Japanese jazz-drummer who played backup for saxophonist Sadao Watanabe during the late 1960s, graduating to the post-bop quartet Four Units with pianist Masahiko Sato for a 1969 album on Union Records. During the 1970s and ’80s, Togashi released numerous free/improve albums […]
Charly Antolini is a Swiss drummer and bandleader who emerged with the Tremble Kids in the late 1950s and joined Erwin Lehn’s Südfunk-Tanzorchester. He accompanied pianist Eugen Cicero and accordionist Art Van Damme amid a solo career that yielded the 1966–72 SABA/MPS albums Drum Beat, Soul Beat, and In the Groove. Antolini joined the jazz-rock […]
Cozy Powell (Dec. 29, 1947 — April 5, 1998) was an English rock drummer who emerged in the early 1970s second iteration of the Jeff Beck Group. He headed the 1973 one-off Bedlam, then scored a UK solo hit with “Dance with the Devil,” followed with “Na Na Na” under the name Hammer. After a […]
Brian Bennett (born Feb. 9, 1940) is an English musican, composer, and producer who served as the longtime drummer for Cliff Richard‘s backing band The Shadows. Apart from the band, Bennett released a series of instrumental/library albums on Bruton Music during the 1970s and 1980s. His 1976 fanfare “Capital City” became the theme for the […]
Horacee Arnold (born Sept. 25, 1937) is an American jazz-funk drummer, composer, and bandleader from Wayland, Ky. He worked with Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bud Powell, Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba, then joined Chick Corea’s original Return to Forever lineup and the Stan Getz Quartet. Arnold led the 1973/74 Columbia albums Tribe and Tales […]
Jack DeJohnette (Aug. 9, 1942 – Oct. 26, 2025) was an American jazz drummer, pianist, composer, and bandleader from Chicago. He rose through Charles Lloyd Quartet and Miles Davis electric ensembles, with Davis credits that include Bitches Brew, Live-Evil, and Jack Johnson. DeJohnette later led Directions, New Directions, and Special Edition and maintained a long-running trio […]
John Betsch (born Oct. 8, 1945) is an American jazz drummer from Jacksonville, Fla., who assembled the spiritual-jazz ensemble Society for the 1974 album Earth Blossom, released on Strata-East. Background John Betsch assembled the Society in Nashville in January 1974 with multi-reedist Billy Puett, pianist Bob Holmes, guitarist Jim Bridges, bassist Ed “Lump” Williams, and […]
