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 […]
Cozy Powell — aka Colin Trevor Flooks (Dec. 29, 1947 — April 5, 1998) — was an English rock drummer from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, who initially gained renown as part of the Jeff Beck Group during the early 1970s. Over the subsequent two decades, he played in the bands Bedlam, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Phenomena, ELP, Black Sabbath, […]
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 […]
