Gene Krupa | |
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 Krupa in 1944 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Eugene Bertram Krupa (1909-01-15)January 15, 1909 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | October 16, 1973(1973-10-16) (aged 64) Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1920s–1973 |
| Formerly of |
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Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973)[1] was an Americanjazz drummer, bandleader, and composer.[2][3] Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo onBenny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, Sing" elevated the role of the drummer from that of an accompanist to that of an important solo voice in the band.
In collaboration with theSlingerland drum andZildjian cymbal manufacturers, he became a major force in defining the standard band-drummer's kit.Modern Drummer magazine regards Krupa as "the founding father of modern drumset playing".[4]
Upon his death,The New York Times labeled Krupa a "revolutionary" known for "frenzied, flashy" drumming, with his work having generated a significant musical legacy that started "in jazz and has continued on through the rock era".[5]
The youngest of Anna (née Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa's nine children, Gene Krupa was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Bartłomiej was animmigrant from Poland born in the village ofŁęki Górne, southeastern Poland. Anna was born inShamokin, Pennsylvania, and was also ofPolish descent. His parents wereRoman Catholics who groomed him for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days atparochial schools. He attendedJames H. Bowen High School on Chicago's southeast side. After graduation, he attendedSaint Joseph's College for a year, but decided the priesthood was not his vocation.[1]
Krupa studied withSanford A. Moeller, and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. In 1927, he was hired byMCA to become a member ofThelma Terry and her Playboys,[1] the first notable American jazz band to be led by a female musician (exceptall-female bands).[citation needed] The Playboys were the house band at the Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and toured throughout the eastern and central United States.
Krupa made his first recordings in 1927 with a band under the leadership ofRed McKenzie and guitaristEddie Condon.[1] Along with other recordings by musicians from the Chicago jazz scene, such asBix Beiderbecke, these recordings are examples of Chicago-style jazz. Krupa's influences during this time included Father Ildefonse Rapp andRoy Knapp (both teachers of his), and drummersTubby Hall,Zutty Singleton, andBaby Dodds.[1] Press rolls (dragging one stick across the snare head while keeping the beat with the other stick) were a fairly common technique in the early stages of his development. Many other drummers (Ray Bauduc,Chick Webb,George Wettling,Dave Tough) influenced his approach to drumming, and other instrumentalists and composers such asFrederick Delius influenced his approach to music.[6]
Krupa appeared on six recordings by the Thelma Terry band in 1928. In December 1934, he joinedBenny Goodman's band, where his drum work made him a national celebrity.[1] Histom-tom interludes on the hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" were the first extended drum solos to be recorded commercially.[7] Conflict with Goodman, though, prompted him to leave the group and form his own orchestra shortly after theCarnegie Hall concert in January 1938.[1] He appeared in the 1941 filmBall of Fire, in which his band and he performed an extended version of the hit "Drum Boogie" (composed by Krupa andRoy Eldridge), sung byMartha Tilton and lip-synced byBarbara Stanwyck.
In 1943, Krupa was arrested on a falsified marijuana (cannabis) drug charge;[2][8][9] this resulted in a short jail sentence, and the breakup of his orchestra. After Krupa broke up his orchestra, he returned to Goodman's band for a few months.[1] When Goodman wanted him to go on a West Coast tour, Krupa declined.[1] He then joined Tommy Dorsey's band for several months, and put together his next orchestra.[1] He performed an uncredited drum riff in a montage sequence in the (1946) Oscar-winning movieThe Best Years of Our Lives.
As the 1940s ended,Count Basie closed his band andWoody Herman reduced his band to an octet. In 1951, Krupa cut down the size of his band to 10 pieces for a short while, and from 1952 on, he led trios, then quartets, often withCharlie Ventura thenEddie Shu on tenor sax, clarinet, and harmonica. He appeared regularly in theJazz at the Philharmonic concerts.[1] In the 1950s, Krupa returned to Hollywood to appear in the filmsThe Glenn Miller Story andThe Benny Goodman Story. In 1959, the movie biographyThe Gene Krupa Story was released;Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa, and the film included cameos byAnita O'Day andRed Nichols.[6]
During the 1950s and 1960s, Krupa often played at theMetropole nearTimes Square in Manhattan, and by 1956, his recordings were showcased on national radio networks byBen Selvin within theRCA Thesaurus transcriptions library.[10] He continued to perform in famous clubs in the 1960s, including the Showboat Lounge in northwest Washington, D.C. With peer Cozy Cole, Gene started a music school in 1954 that carried on into the 1960s.[1] Some of the school's students includedPeter Criss of KISS andJerry Nolan of the New York Dolls.Doug Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival cited Krupa as an inspiration.
Krupa was still busy in the early 1970s, until shortly before his death. That included several reunion concerts of the original Benny Goodman Quartette.[1] On April 17, 1973, the Gene Krupa Quartet, composed of Eddie Shu (tenor and clarinet), John Bunch (piano), Nabil Totah (bass) and Krupa (drums), recorded a live performance at the New School featuring the Louis Prima composition "Sing, Sing, Sing".
His compositions he wrote or co-wrote included "Some Like It Hot" in 1939, "Drum Boogie", "Boogie Blues", his theme song "Apurksody", "Ball of Fire", "Disc Jockey Jump" withGerry Mulligan, "Wire Brush Stomp", "Hippdeebip", "Krupa's Wail", "Swing Is Here", "Quiet and Roll 'Em" withSam Donahue, "Bolero at the Savoy", "Murdy Purdy", and "How 'Bout That Mess".
Norman Granz hired Krupa and drummerBuddy Rich for his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. The two drummers performed at Carnegie Hall in September 1952, and it was issued byVerve asThe Drum Battle. The two drummers faced off in a number of television broadcasts and other venues, and often played similar duets with drummer Cozy Cole. Krupa and Rich recorded two studio albums together:Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) andBurnin' Beat (Verve, 1962).
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Krupa married Ethel Maguire twice; their first marriage lasted from 1934 to 1942 and the second from 1946 to her death in 1955. He remarried in 1959 to Patty Bowler but they were divorced within 10 years.
In the early 1970s, Krupa's house inYonkers, New York, was damaged by fire.[11] He continued to live in the parts of the house that were habitable.
In 1973, Krupa died in Yonkers at the age 64 from heart failure, though he also had leukemia and emphysema.[12] He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery inCalumet City, Illinois.
In the 1930s, Krupa became the first endorser ofSlingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developedtom-toms with tuneable top and bottomheads, which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's setup. Krupa developed and popularized many of thecymbal techniques that became standard. His collaboration withAvedis Zildjian developed the modernhi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of theride cymbal,crash cymbal, andsplash cymbal. He is also credited with helping to formulate the moderndrum set, being one of the first jazz drummers to use abass drum in a recording session (December 1927).[8] One of his bass drums, a Slingerland 14×26, inscribed with Benny Goodman and Krupa's initials, is preserved at theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[13]
In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer inducted into theModern Drummer Hall of Fame. The 1937 recording ofLouis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" combined withFats Waller's "Christopher Columbus" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.
Apollo 440's 1996 hit single "Krupa" is a tribute to Gene Krupa.[14]
Roy Knapp affirmed: "There is not a professional drummer, percussionist, or other instrumentalist who does not in some way owe something and should be grateful to Gene Krupa for his imaginative and creative contributions in the modern drum techniques and styles in performance that we are using today".[15]Buddy Rich, who cited Krupa as one of his biggest influences,[16] stated: "Gene Krupa was the beginning and the 'end' of all drummers" . He's a great genius - a truly great genius of the drums. Gene discovered things that could be done with the drums that hadn't been done before, ever. ... Before Gene, the drums were in the background, just a part of the band. To put it in plainer terms, the drums didn't have much - meaning. Along comes Gene and the drums take on meaning and they're out of the background. The drummer becomes somebody ... Gene gets credit for making people aware of the drummer - of what he's doing and why he's doing it and he deserves every bit of that credit".[15]Jim Chapin defined him as "a charismatic figure that made the public fully conscious of drummers".[15]
Music critics such as Charles Waring have remarked that Krupa's methods of performing, particularly his flamboyant charisma and use of solos, evolved into the approach taken byrock drummers such asJohn Bonham,Bill Ward[17] andKeith Moon.[18]Ian Paice[19] andCarl Palmer[20] claimed they started to play the drums at early age after listening to Krupa. GuitaristDick Dale, who also played percussion in his early days, was a Krupa fan and said his guitar sound and rhythm came from Krupa's drumming.[21][22]
WithBenny Goodman
If anyone can be considered the founding father of modern drumset playing, it's Gene Krupa.
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