Gene Krupa biography

 

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was a famous and influential Polish-American jazz and big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.

Gene Krupa was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin.

Gene Krupa made his first recordings in 1927, with a band under the leadership of banjoist Eddie Condon and "fixer" (and sometime singer, who did not appear on the records), Red McKenzie: these sides are now recognised as the first, and definitive, examples of white "Chicago Style" jazz. The numbers recorded at that session were: 'China Boy', 'Sugar', 'Nobody's Sweetheart' and 'Liza'.

The McKenzie - Condon sides are also notable for being the first records to feature a full drum kit. Eddie Condon describes what happened in the Okeh studio on that day (in 'We Called It Music' - pub: Peter Davis, 1948):

"Mezzrow (Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow) was helping Gene Krupa set up his drums. 'What are you going to do with those?' Rockwell (Okeh's 'A&R' man in the 1920's) asked. 'Play them,' Gene Krupa said simply. Rockwell shook his head. 'You can't do that,' he said. 'You'll ruin our equipment. All we've ever used on records are snare drums and cymbals.' Gene Krupa, who had been practising every day at home, looked crushed. 'How about letting us try them?' I asked. 'The drums are the backbone of the band. They hold us up.' I could see that Rockwell was leery of the whole business; drums or no drums, I figured, we are probably going to get tossed out. 'Let the kids try it', McKenzie said. 'If they go wrong I'll take the rap'. I didn't know until long afterwards that Red had guaranteed our pay for the job'.

"Quietly we waited for the playback. When it came, pounding out through the big speaker, we listened stiffly for a moment. We had never been an audience for ourselves.Rockwell came out of the control-room smiling. 'We'll have to get some more of this. (Rockwell nodded towards Gene Krupa): didn't bother the equipment at all,' he said. 'I think we've got something,'".

Gene Krupa moved to New York City in 1929 and worked with the band of Red Nichols. In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band, where his featured drum work — especially on the hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" — made him a national celebrity. In 1938 Gene Krupa left Goodman to launch his own band and had several hits with singer Anita O'Day and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Gene Krupa made a memorable cameo appearance in the 1941 film Ball of Fire, in which he and his band performed an extended versions of the hit Drum Boogie.

In 1943, Gene Krupa was arrested for possession of marijuana and was given a brief jail term. After his release, Krupa reorganized his band with a big string section, featuring Charlie Ventura on sax. It was one of the largest dance bands of the era, sometimes containing up to forty musicians. Gene Krupa gradually cut down the size of the band in the late 1940s, and from 1951 on led a trio or quartet. He appeared regularly with the Jazz At the Philharmonic shows.

Gene Krupa largely went into retirement in the late 1960s, although occasionally played in public until shortly before his death by leukemia in Yonkers, New York. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetary in Calumet City, Illinois.

Many consider Gene Krupa to be the most influential drummer of the 20th century, particularly with regard to the development of the drum kit.

Gene Krupa's main influence began in the 1930s with his collaboration with the Slingerland drum company, but he had already made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to record using a bass drum pedal. His drum method was published in 1938 and immediately became the standard text.

Gene Krupa established the 8 x 12" and 9 x 13" hanging toms mounted on the bass drum, and he developed and popularised many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. Gene Krupa`s collaboration with Armand Zildjian of the Avedis Zildjian Company developed the hi-hat stand and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, the crash cymbal, the splash cymbal, the pang cymbal and the swish cymbal. Later innovations included the floor tom and toms with tunable bottom heads. At first he placed this between his two bass drums, another technique he was pioneering at the time, before moving it to its now standard position.

Gene Krupa has been cited as an influence by 1960s rock drummers such as Keith Moon of The Who and Paul Whaley of Blue Cheer. The British techno-rock group Apollo 440 had a hit with "Krupa" which featured the sampled phrase; "Gene Krupa's syncopated style". The song itself is an electronic dance track written in the style of Gene Krupa, giving the impression of Krupa's style in the form of a 1990's dance track, blending his musical idioms with a modern song using samples and synthesised basslines.

Gene Krupa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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