Famous Drummers From A to Z > B
Famous Drummers
B
Your complete resource to info on the most famous drummers in the world. This page contains everyone who's anyone with a last name beginning in the letter B.
Ginger
Baker
Born: August 19, 1939. The year was 1968. The album: Wheels of Fire. The
song: Toad. The drummer: Ginger Baker plays what had to be the longest
recorded drum solo up to that time. Along with Jack Bruce on bass and
Eric Clapton on guitar, they were simply known as Cream. Check out Baker's
bio, from Derek Araujo's site.
Jeff Ballard
I'm looking for a good link on Jeff. If you've got one, please click
here to email it to us.
Paul
Barbarin
Born 1899 - Died 1969. A brief bio of the man Louis Armstrong credited
with inventing the rim shot. Courtesy of RedHotJazz.com.
Travis
Barker
Born: November 14, 1975. Here's an interview with Blink-182's drummer,
Travis Barker, courtesy of Moderndrummer.com. For more, check out Camille
Grainger's site, which includes a brief Travis bio, lots of pics,
and plenty of Blink-182 info.
Barrimore Barlow
If you know of a good link for the former Jethro Tull drummer, please
click
here to email it to us.
Joey
Baron
Joey has worked with many greats including Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie,
Tony Bennett, Hampton Hawes, Chet Baker, Laurie Anderson, Art Pepper,
Stan Getz, David Bowie, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Al Jarreau, Jim
Hall, Randy Brecker, Marian McPartland, Bill Frisnell, and many others.
Check out his bio and discography, courtesy of Europe Jazz Network.
Ray
Barretto
Conguero and bandleader credited with being the first US-born percussionist
to integrate the African-based conga drum into jazz. Courtesy NPR.org.
Ray
Bauduc
Here's a bio on Ray, courtesy of centrohd.com.
Eddie
Bayers
Born: January 28, 1949. Discography, facts, news, photos and more on popular
country music drummer Eddie Bayers.
Carter
Beauford
Good info on the drummer of Dave Matthew's Band, by Christopher Toth.
Includes photos, drum set-up, interview, and links to other Beauford sites.
Alessandra
Belloni
Click the above link for more information on this singer, percussionist, dancer,
and actress who is widely recognized as one of the most important voices of traditional
southern Italian music and dance today. For a sample of her performance, see
our coverage of the Cape
Breton International Drum Festival 2005.
Sergio
Bellotti
Sergio is a drummer, vocalist, educator, and composer who, in addition to working
with some of the most famous names in the business, also finds time to teach
at Berklee School and Music in Boston and run a music shop at ADRUMS.com.
Click the above link for more info on Sergio.
For a sample of his performance, see our coverage of the Cape
Breton International Drum Festival 2005.
Louie
Bellson
Sean Leary's profile of the pioneer of the double bass drum, Louie Bellson,
says it well. I first met Louie in 1977, when he endorsed my book DoubleDrum:
A Double Bass Drum Text. He's not only a fantastic drummer, he's
a real person too. There's nothing phony about Louie.
Charlie
Benante
Born: November 27, 1962. Click the above link for an interview with the
drummer from the heavy metal band Anthrax, who talks about the state of
music today, his musical influences, and more. Courtesy of Score Music
Magazine. To hear the audio for "Superhero"and download the
chart, check out Charlie's
Vic Firth page. And for more on Charlie and the band Anthrax,
check out their Official Web
site.
Ronnie Benedict
Playing professionally for nearly six decades (including teaching for
almost four of those decades), Ronnie has worked with some of the greatest
names in music, such as Harry James, Louis Prima, B.J.Thomas, Peter Duchin,
Frank Sinatra, Jack Teagarden, Marion McPartland, Dionne Warwick, Cannonball
Adderly, and many more. Since Ronnie passed away in 2002, his Web site
has been taken down. If anyone has a decent link on him, please click
here to email it to us. Thanks.
Brian
Bennett
Brian first achieved fame as drummer with The Shadows in the '50s check
and has since won numerous awards for his TV and film compositions. This
is his official Web site.
Han
Bennink
This Holland born drummer was one of the pioneers of free improvisation.
Known also for his unconventional use of practically anything for a rhythmic
source. He also formed ICP Records. Site includes bio, MP3s, and more.
Denzil
Best
Here's a discography of some of Denzil's "best" work, courtesy
of VerveMusicGroup.com.
Curt
Bisquera
Drummer for Boz Scaggs and Elton John, here's a brief bio and an audio
interview with Curt. Courtesy of Remo.com.
Gregg
Bissonette
Gregg Bissonette, who has worked with artists as diverse as David Lee
Roth and Maynard Ferguson, has built a reputation as a versatile drummer
of many styles. See his official Web site for more. Also, check out
Tiger Bill's review of Gregg's DVD Musical
Drumming in Different Styles.
Cindy
Blackman
Cindy's own Web site includes a personal audio message from Cindy,
recordings (using Real Audio plug-in), reviews, itinerary, gear set-up,
and you can even send an email to Cindy.
Ed
Blackwell
Born: October 10, 1929. Died: October 7, 1992. A pioneer of free drumming,
Ed is widely known for his work with Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. Bio
and discography courtesy of JazzReview.com and ECM Records.
John
Blackwell
Born: September 9, 1973. Check out what the drummer with Prince has been
doing lately, on his own Web site. Also, check out this interview
with John, courtesy of CitySearch.com.
Brian
Blade
Brian has worked with such diverse artists as Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris,
Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Seal, Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell, and Joshua
Redman. Enjoy this interview with Brian, courtesy of The Onion A.V. Club.
Hal
Blaine
Born: February 5, 1929. Hal Blaine, the famous drummer only musicians
know, has worked with the top performers in the pop music field. He's
played drums on seven consecutive "Record of the Year" albums,
362 gold records, and some 35,000 song titles from the 1960s – 1990s.
Click the above link for Hal's Official Web site. Click here for an
interview, courtesy of molehillgroup.com.
Michael
Blair
Take a look at the bio of this talented composer/songwriter, producer/arranger,
percussionist and drummer, who has worked with Tom Waits, Elvis
Costello, Lou Reed and many others.
Art
Blakey
Born: October 11, 1919. Died: October, 1990. Good bio page for Art
Blakey, the Jazz Messenger, and the first drummer to start using the
hi-hat to
keep time on 2 & 4. Site includes Blakey discography, glossary
of jazz terms, and other links to jazz around the world. From Duke
University.
Jason
Bonham
Born: July 15, 1966. Drummer Jason has big shoes to fill in the wake of
his dad. Check him out.
John
Bonham
Born: May 31, 1948. Died: September 25, 1980. I caught this legendary
power drummer in action with Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden: Awesome.
He left us way too soon, but his son carries on the tradition. Follow
this link for bios and info on John and son Jason. Also, treat yourself
to some rare video and audio clips of Bonham in action. From Sam Rapallo's
www.led-zeppelin.com site.
Terry
Bozzio
Frank Zappa drummer Bozzio gets an interview, discography, and comments,
courtesy of University of Oregon.
Tom
Brechtlein
Tom is proof that wishes do come true. When he was 18 he saw Chick Corea's
Return To Forever on PBS TV and swore he would be his drummer someday.
Two years later, he auditioned for Chick and got the gig.
Don
Brewer
Born: September 3, 1948. Grand Funk Railroad was formed in 1968, by 1970
they had sold more albums than any other American band. In 1971, they
broke the Beatles' record by selling out their Shea Stadium concert in
72 hours. Don was behind the drums through it all, and later went on to
rock Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Here's a link to Don's Grand Funk
discography, from the Grand Funk official homepage.
Tony
Brock
Tony is a Drummer, Producer, and Multi-Instrumentalist who has a number
of albums to his credit including work with Rod Stewart. Click the above link
for
Tony's
discography.
Gerry
Brown
Check out this transcript in the Pro-Mark archives of a chat with Gerry
Brown, from WorldWithoutBorders.com.
Bill
Bruford
Born: May 17, 1949. This is the official Web site of Bill Bruford, who
toured with Yes and King Crimson from 1968 through 1974. Find out what
he's been up to recently. Site includes FAQ, bio, photos, articles,
and even audio samples of his work (in both MP3 and Real Audio).
Mark
Brzezicki
Interview with the Procol Harum drummer, courtesy of ProcolHarum.com.
Ron
Bushy
Born: September 23, 1945. Who hasn't heard of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida?
Within a year of its initial 1968 release this long (17:05) song outsold
every record in recorded music history. And became the first Platinum
Album ever! Ron Bushy was the legendary drummer on that cut and his band,
Iron Butterfly, is still gigging today. Here's a link to interviews with
Bushy and the other members of the band. From the Official Iron Butterfly
Homepage.
Kenny
Buttrey
Born: April 1, 1945. Died: September 12, 2004. You
may not know Kenny by name but you definitely know his drumming. This influencial
session drummer, died at his home in Nashville on September 12th
of cancer, was drummer and arranger on
sessions with a host of artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Neil
Young to Jimmy
Buffett and on classic songs ranging from All Along the Watchtower to Tonight's
the Night to Margaritaville and many other recordings
of the '60s and '70s. He started his drumming career
with the Nashville band Charlie McCoy and the Escorts, and went on to
record with some of
the most famous artists in the industry including: Linda
Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Elvis Presley, Steve Goodman,
Dan Fogelberg, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Donovan, George Harrison, J.J. Cale,
Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, the Everly Brothers, Ramblin' Jack Elliott,
the Beau Brummels, and John Hammond.
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