The drum set traces its roots back to the second half of the nineteenth century, in New Orleans, right alongside the birth of jazz. While each component of the kit has a long European pedigree, the notion that one player could handle them all at once is a purely American inspiration.
At the time, the Crescent City was a true melting pot, and its overlapping cultures—European and African-American above all—blended into the new musical language we now call jazz. From day one the drum set was front-and-center.
Legend has it, the kit came about for a practical reason: marching bands that once played in the streets gradually moved indoors, where space was tight. Instead of several percussionists, a single player covered the bass drum and snare, then began adding so-called “traps” (cowbell, woodblock, and the like), expanding the palette with fresh colors and textures.
A game-changer arrived in 1909, when William Ludwig patented the bass-drum pedal. Before that, drummers literally “kicked” the drum—hence kick drum—with a single foot.
Over time, icons such as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and, more recently, James MacMillan wove the drum set into their orchestral scores, fascinated by its new rhythmic vocabulary.
This historically minded book focuses on the drum set’s solo art inside jazz, tracing that story through a handful of the instrument’s most authoritative voices. Though the kit usually serves an accompanying role—whether in a trio, a big band, or genres like rock, pop, fusion, or Latin—the African-American lineage shows how melodically and creatively a drummer can speak, far beyond pure time-keeping.
Why? Because jazz drummers tend to command a solid grasp of melody and harmony; many have also been respected bandleaders—think Max Roach, Art Blakey, or Roy Haynes. With bebop, drummers became co-architects of the music, helping shape themes and their development rather than simply laying down a backbeat.
Tuned drums and coated heads even let the kit flirt with definite pitch—quite the contrast to the damped, thuddy rock sound that rose when early engineers struggled to capture the instrument’s full frequency range. That technical limitation caught on commercially and became a “standard” aesthetic only after the fact.
In Africa—the drum’s ancestral homeland—percussion sings. Consider the talking drum, used to communicate across villages, or the log drum, a hollowed-out trunk that speaks in distinct pitches. Drummers like Roy Haynes and Tony Williams absorbed those sounds; yet even when exploring such timbres, they never stopped swinging or crafting rich melodies and polyrhythms.
THE TEXT
Our sonic journey opens with a tribute to Warren “Baby” Dodds, one of New Orleans’ legendary drummers, captured here in a rare solo performance. Recorded in New York in 1941, the piece paired Dodds with famed dancer Merce Cunningham—a striking meeting of dance and drums.
Titled “Fast Blues,” the track isn’t a blues in any formal sense. Built on eight-bar sections—likely improvised—it showcases unrivaled musicianship and melodic flair, capped by a forward-looking five-over-four polyrhythm. The framework echoes a rhythm-changes progression, whose forebear is George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm. Dodds rides the rims, woodblock, and cowbell while anchoring the groove with a four-on-the-floor bass drum, hypnotizing the listener. (Kudos to the YouTube user who uploaded the audio—there’s no commercial release!)
Another highlight is the Gene Krupa/Cozy Cole drum duet from the movie The Glenn Miller Story. In a club scene with Louis Armstrong’s band, Krupa jumps onstage for an impromptu jam; the two drummers share one kit—augmented by extra floor toms—for 32 unforgettable bars. It’s pure visual and musical fireworks.
Cole turns up again in “Topsy,” his answer to Krupa’s jungle smash “Sing, Sing, Sing,” written by Louis Prima and immortalized by the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Around that time, Cole and Krupa co-founded a New York drum school that became the hang for aspiring drummers.
The Bebop Era
Moving into bebop, I include several Philly Joe Jones transcriptions and classic Max Roach solos, notably “The Drum Also Waltzes” from Drums Unlimited, built on a 3/4 ostinato between bass drum and hi-hat. Roach’s lyricism, strategic use of space, and melodic sense cement him as a revolutionary voice—and a Juilliard-trained symphonic percussionist whose formal chops deeply informed his solo architecture.
Philly Joe, beloved by peers and fans alike, powered the late-’50s Miles Davis Quintet. From that golden stretch—bebop at its stylistic peak—I’ve chosen “Half Nelson” and “Blues by Five.” His polyrhythms, melodic inventiveness, and heavy deployment of snare rudiments (he adored C. Wilcoxon’s books) make Philly an essential study for anyone serious about the music.
The Sixties Vanguard
The 1960s ushered in Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, and Roy Haynes.
Tony Williams appears in his complete comping on Wayne Shorter’s “Pinocchio,” foreshadowing a more organic drum concept, and in his brush solo on Ron Carter’s “United Blues” from Third Plane—a minimalist gem played on an un-snared drum over two blues choruses. I’ve also transcribed his iconic solo on “Dolphin Dance,” cut from the same album with Herbie Hancock. As Miles once said, “Tony doesn’t just play time; he pushes the music.”
Elvin Jones is represented by his solo on Shorter’s “Black Nile” (from Night Dreamer)—a 32-bar clinic in musical storytelling—and his majestic break on “Passion Dance” from McCoy Tyner’s album of the same name. Nicknamed the King of Triplets, Elvin remains a towering influence on modern drumming.
Roy Haynes caps the ’60s trio with solos from “Reachin’ Fourth” (McCoy Tyner). I’ve transcribed the full chorus and subsequent eight-bar trades before the final head of this 16+16+8 modal form. Haynes’ extended stick-shot vocabulary, melodic instinct, and creative hi-hat work—executed with the foot—steer the trio with irresistible swing.
Beyond
I also spotlight Jack DeJohnette and Peter Erskine. Erskine’s grace and musicality shine in two choice solos, while DeJohnette’s vast, dynamic artistry could fill a book of its own.
Music is language. Like mastering a foreign tongue, you need vocabulary and grammar to speak it. Transcribing records or live performances is a time-honored way to decode an instrument’s lineage and evolution. Because the drum set is relatively young, nearly its entire recorded history is at our fingertips—studio takes, radio dates, even bootlegs.
Teaching Jazz Drums and Percussion at Palermo’s Conservatory “A. Scarlatti” has given me constant opportunities to exchange ideas and dig deeper into history. I invited my students to contribute transcriptions under my guidance, training them in notation techniques and challenging them to internalize a complete, stylistically aware language. I’m proud of what they achieved: these historic solos will serve future generations and spark new research for years to come.
CONCLUSIONS
Each of these master drummers deserves a book of his own, and many pivotal artists are absent simply for lack of space. My goal here has been to chart the drum set’s solo evolution—from New Orleans through post-bop—by spotlighting signature moments in its repertoire.
These transcriptions were born out of love and the sense of absolute beauty I felt hearing this music. The book is aimed at advanced students with solid foundations who want to dive into the styles discussed. May it launch a lifelong, personal quest—because true musical journeys never really end.
- Warren “Baby” Dodds: Fast Blues, 1946
- Gene Krupa/Cozy Cole: Solo, 1954
- Cozy Cole: Topsy II, 1958
- Philly Joe Jones: Half Nelson, 1960/1956
- Philly Joe Jones: Blues by Five, 1957/1956
- Philly Joe Jones: Blues for Philly Joe: Trading Fours, 1957
- Philly Joe Jones: Trading 8’s on Tune Up, 1957
- Max Roach: Daahoud Solo, 1954
- Max Roach: If I Love Again Solo, 1955
- Max Roach: The Blues Walk (Alternate Take), 1955
- Philly Joe Jones: Four (Comping), 1960
- Peter Erskine: Solo on Runferyerlife, 2016
- Philly Joe Jones: Gone, 1959
- Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, 1965
- Max Roach: What Is This Thing Called Love, 1957
- Tony Williams: Pinocchio, 1968
- Tony Williams: United Blues, 1977
- Tony Williams: Dolphin Dance Solo, 1977
- Elvin Jones: Black Nile, 1964
- Elvin Jones: Passion Dance, 1978
- Roy Haynes: Reaching Fourth, 1963
- Jack DeJohnette: How About You, 1989
- Max Roach: Jordu Solo, 1954
- Max Roach: Joy Spring, 1954 (Same Album)
- Max Roach: Au Privave, 1951
- Art Blakey: Trading Fours on Are You Real?, 1958
- Paul Motian: What Is This Thing Called Love, 1960
- Philly Joe Jones: Blues for Philly Joe, 1959
- Roy Haynes: Reflection, 1959
- Frankie Dunlop: Rhythm-a-Ning, 1961
- Max Roach: Trading Fours on Shirley, 1958
- Philly Joe Jones: Tenor Madness, 1956
- Philly Joe Jones: Locomotion, 1958
- Art Blakey: This I Dig of You, 1960
- Philly Joe Jones: Two Bass Hit, 1957
- Peter Erskine: Trading Fours on Duo, 1992
- Roy Haynes: In Walked Bud (Live), 1949