Drummers of a certain age have their lists of undiscovered, video “holy grails,” which usually include Buddy Rich playing two bass drums at the Paramount Theater in 1949, Gene Krupa’s performance with the Benny Goodman band at Carnegie Hall in 1938, and the Buddy Rich/Gene Krupa drum battle at Jazz at the Philharmonic in 1952.

While these legendary moments have long been available on audio, no filmed images have surfaced, save for some newsreel footage of the Goodman band shot at Carnegie Hall during the actual concert.

These days, however, more and more “never thought to have existed” pieces of video have come to light, so it’s entirely possible that Buddy’s two bass drum bit and the Krupa/Rich duel may be out there somewhere. It is very, very doubtful that any more footage of the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert exists.

There are two meetings of Gene and Buddy on film–from television shows broadcast in 1966 and 1971–but the “original drum battle,” which first took place at Carnegie Hall on September 13, 1952, is considered to be “the real thing.”

In the course of researching a recently published piece on the two great drummers for Jazz Times magazine, and an essay on Gene and Buddy prepared in conjunction for a reissue of some of their material, some very curious pieces of information have come to light.

This info may perhaps lead the way to discovering another Krupa/Rich pairing, whether on film or audio.

“The Original Drum Battle, as it came to be known, took place at the kick off of what was the 12th National Tour of Norman Granz’ Jazz at the Philharmonic. Most of the JATP dates had early and late shows, and Granz, as was his wont in those days, likely recorded them all.

In fact, Billie Holiday actually appeared as a guest star during the early show, singing “Lover Man.” Some 57 years after this happened, a professional recording of it has just come to light. Certainly, there was another drum battle in performed that evening, and at JATP dates in Long Beach, CA and Hawaii, where Krupa and Rich were on the bill.

There’s another possibility: The January, 1953, opening of Broadway’s newest jazz club of the time, the Bandbox, was quite the gala, with a bill that included the trios of Krupa, Buddy Rich, and according to some reports, the Oscar Peterson Trio as well.

Since the demise of his big band in 1951, Krupa re-formed his famed Jazz Trio with pianist Teddy Napoleon and saxophonist Charlie Ventura. It proved to be quite the attraction, and Krupa traveled regularly with that unit when not on a JATP tour. And yes, Gene played without a bass until English bassist John Drew joined Krupa in 1954 at the insistance of Eddie Shu, making the trio into a quartet.

For whatever reason, Buddy Rich was using the same, bass-less format around 1953, with additional trio members being pianist Hank Jones, who sometimes doubled on organ; and star JATP tenor man Flip Phillips. This unit recorded for Granz’ Clef label in December of 1952, and a month earlier, with pianist Lou Levy in for Hank Jones, “The JATP Trio,” as it was called, worked a week at a Denver Club called Rossonian’s.

Was Buddy Rich one-third of a tenor/piano/drums trio without a bass because of the popularity of Gene’s bass-less trio? Or was it a matter of economics? Or at the Bandbox, maybe a simple matter of space? Who knows?

What we do know is that both units broadcast regularly from the club, and that two of these broadcasts were issued on obscure record labels. The Japanese Ozone label released the Krupa set (with pianist Teddy Napoleon identified as his brother Marty on the album’s cover), and the Joyce Music company released something called “One Night Stand with the Flip Phillips/Buddy Rich Trio.” Charlie Shavers, part of the recent JATP tour, was on hand to sit in on “Bugle Call Rag.”

Rich spent a good time at the Bandbox after this date, playing with his own group and sitting in with other acts on the bill like Harry James. Indeed, as a result of the James/Rich get together at the club in March of 1953, Buddy joined the James big band. He would be in and out of the James group until Rich formed his own unit in 1966.

As for Krupa, life after the Bandbox was pretty much the same as it was before, which included regular tours with JATP, recordings in various combinations for Norman Granz, and many gigs in the JATP off-season with a trio that by then included multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu.

Although there is no recorded documentation on hand thus far, there is evidence that Buddy and Gene continued their battles from time to time through 1957. At joint, 1956 radio interview with the Voice of America’s Willis J. Conover, the two drummers spoke of how they felt about the battles, as well as an upcoming JATP show where they were both set to appear.

On November 1, 1956, they went into the studio with a group of JATP All-Stars, recording an LP called “Krupa and Rich.” Strangely, Gene and Buddy only play together on one tune, with the rest of the tracks featuring one drummer or the other.

Their last in-studio meeting did not come off as well as they could have, and was also something of an oddity, recording-wise. In the 1962 LP, “Burnin’ Beat,” Rich and Krupa were not actually in the studio together. Rich dubbed his parts in, a situation clearly heard in two, unreleased tracks, “Flyin’ Home” and “Wham.” It’s a shame these two greats didn’t take an occasion like this more seriously.b

Sammy Davis, Jr. played host to the mighty two on a 1966 broadcast of his ABC television program. Sadly, Gene was clearly not well that night. Buddy Rich took that opportunity to wipe the floor with him.

The last, on-camera meeting that we know of took place on Oceober 12, 1971. The occasion was a Canadian television special hosted by Lionel Hampton. Buddy Rich came out at the very end of the program to participate in a four-way drum duel featuring Hamp, Krupa, Rich and Mel Torme’. Gene Krupa came off very well in his brief exchanges.

WIth the death of Gene Krupa in 1973 and Buddy Rich in 1987, the battles were over forever.

JazzLegends.com is pleased to announce the discovery of an incredibly rare and musically astounding Jazz at the Philharmonic show, recorded live in absolutely superb fidelity, in Stockholm on April 28, 1957. The principals–Roy Eldridge, Stuff Smith, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, the one and only “Papa”Jo Jones, and Ella Fitzgerald (backed by Don Abeny, Ray Brown and Papa Jo)–are all in unbelievable form. Truth be told, in terms of playing and actual sound quality, this is the best I’ve ever heard Roy, Ella and Papa Jo. Before hearing this show, I can tell you that I never really heard what these giants must have really sounded like in person. And yes, Jo takes a rare and fabulous extended outing. Stuff Smith? What can you say?

Eldridge plays “Undecided,” “Embraceable You,” sings and plays “School Days,” “Lester Leaps In” featuring Jo on drums, and is joined by Smith on fiddle on “Moonlight in Vermont” and “Bugle Call Rag.”

Songs on the full-length Fitzgerald set are “You’ve Got Me Singing the Blues,” “Angel Eyes,” “Lullaby of Birdland,” “Tenderly,” “April in Paris,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Love for Sale” and a finale of “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”

I’ve heard mostly all the released–and a few unreleased–JATP shows through the years. This is one of the best. And audio-wise, you would think you were there. Announcements by Norman Granz.

Almost 75 minutes of rare and marvelous music. “Jo at JATP” is not yet posted on the JazzLegends.com site, but you can get an advance copy now by ordering any other item we have, and in the “messages” section, indicate “Jo at JATP.”

“Papa” Jo is one of the site’s more popular artists. He should be. Be aware that this is the best title there is.

In response to dozens of request about Goodman and Krupa stuff on YouTube, we have gone to untold time and expense to figure out a way to get this stuff on DVD.  Here it is:  “BennyTube.com” includes the newsreel footage from JATP/Helsinki/1953, “Avalon” and “I Got Rhythm” with the Goodman Trio from the Peggy Lee tv special of the late 1950s, a couple of bonus tracks from the other “Swing Into Spring” tv special with Benny and Red Norvo in a small group, and the original theatrical trailer to “The Benny Goodman Story.”  They said this couldn’t be done.  But we did.

am pleased to announce the “official” release of “Norman Granz Presents Jazz at the Philharmonic, Hamburg, Germany, February 29, 1956. As one of the parties who discovered this previously-unknown recording, I tried from day one to put it in the hands of a record company, so it could be released widely and properly. Sadly, no American company would touch it, and I was even told by the folks who now handle JATP material that this “wouldn’t sell.” This was hard to believe, in that it wasn’t too long ago that this same operation released a 1949 JATP discovery that featured Shelly Manne and Fats Navarro. I won’t mention names. Maybe I will. The company is Concord Jazz, now the owner of Fantasy, now the owner of JATP material. Shame on you.

The good news is that the Fresh Sound record label out of Barcelona, Spain, took this project on and have given it the absolutely stellar, first-class release that it deserves. All the credit in the world must be accorded Fresh Sound founder Jordi Pujol and those associated with the release. Jordi is a man of taste and a man of integrity. His Fresh Sound label and its various imprints are simply spectacular. If it were not for him, an entire generation of young listeners would miss the chance to hear hundreds of jazz legends. And veteran fans are now able to rediscover their favorites.

For those who may have forgotten, this concert featured a scaled-down but quite swinging JATP crew, including Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and playing the entire concert on drums, none other than Gene Krupa. Fresh Sound has not only digitally remastered the music, but has included two gorgeous and informative booklets. One was written by yours truly and other is the actual program–in German–from this concert.

The deluxe, two-CD set is extraordinary in every way. It is available all over the web, from places like EJazzLines.com, Worlds Records.com, and many more. I do urge you to go to the www.FreshSoundRecords.com site, if only to check out their hundreds of other great CDs.

Bopworks’ Chris Bennett and I are poised to begin production on the “officially sanctioned” Gene Krupa drumstick. We are just waiting for the official go-ahead by the Krupa Estate. The stick itself, as previously mentioned herein, is an exact duplicate of the 1948 Slingerland model. Each pair will have a replica of Gene’s actual signature. Very, very instrumental in helping to bring all the parties together is drum great and bandleader Mike Berkowitz. Michael, from day one, has been generous with his time and with his knowledge. This could not have happened without him. We are happy to be carrying Michael Berkowitz and the New Gene Krupa Orchestra’s initial CD. We hope and trust that we will have the honor of carrying his forthcoming release. I’ve heard a lot of Krupa tribute bands, including my own, going back to the days of–does anyone remember?–Brent Brace. Michael’s is the best of all. And by the way, Michael Berkowitz will be the first, official “endorsee” of the Gene Krupa model stick (until I try them first).

There is a new drum magazine in the marketplace, and it’s a darn good one. “Traps,” subtitled “The Art of Drumming,” comes from the good offices of Enter Music Publishing of San Jose, CA, edited by industry veteran Andy Doerschuk. Currently a quarterly, “Traps” is an exquisitely designed and produced publication that is heavily geared in favor of jazz. Indeed, their latest–and second issue–is devoted to Jeff “Tain” Watts,” who is given almost book treatment. Other pieces concentrate on the drummers of Blue Note records, the Motown giants. equipment reviews (including Bopworks drumsticks), and an analysis of the drumming of the one and only Mitch Mitchell. With your loyal interest and support, “Traps” will hopefully go monthly. They deserve to. Their stellar stable of writers includes giants like Chip Stern, Bill Milkowski and Bobby Sanabria. I think I’ll give them a call and see if they need another writer. For subscription information, log onto TrapsMagazine.com. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Many of our good international visitors are aware that I am in Naples, Florida, the southwestern portion of the state. My most significant other, the great jazz singer and photographer Joy Adams, has just undergone hip replacement surgery here. Joy is directly and indirectly responsible for JazzLegends.com It wasn’t too long ago that I wouldn’t have anything to do with computers. Joy bought me my first one in 1996, and here we are. She is doing very well in rehabilitation and will hopefully be home here in Naples as you read this. I know Joy would love to hear your good wishes via email, so open up your hearts and contact Joy at: DrumAlive@aol.com. Better yet, consider obtaining her superb CD, “Joy Adams Sings the Classics,” listed on the CD page of the JazzLegends.com web site.

Above all, keep swingin’.

Bruce Klauber April, 2007

JATP: Our Jazz at the Philharmonic discovery from Germany in 1956 is getting great comments–deservedly–from everyone who’s heard it. That includes the A & R department of Verve Records, by the way, even though they declined to acquire it for release. “It wouldn’t sell very well,” was their comment. We disagree and are in the midst of approaching several other outfits about it. At this moment, though, we’re the only place making it available. 

GENE AND GEORGIE: The Krupa Jazz Trio’s appearance on “The George Jessel Show” of 1954 has been mentioned several times in this space. Progress is being made on it. The first order of business is that the Library of Congress has to do a copyright search to see who–if anyone–owns this. That’s what’s happening now, and once that is finalized, it should only be a matter of weeks before we get our hands on it. 

GINGER BAKER: Many of the drummers out there are well aware that the famed rock group, The Cream,” has reformed for a reunion tour. Their three-night appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City is eagerly anticipated by those who fondly remember Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and drummer Baker. Baker, of course, is famed for his extended workout on Cream’s recording of “Toad,” which many percussionists believe owed a large debt to Gene Krupa. The good people at Hudson Music and yours truly have been working on a DVD project for some time, entitled “Classic Rock and Roll Drum Solos.” Obviously, Baker would have to be a part of it. We tracked down a great film of Baker doing his solo, then tracked down Baker himself. We asked his permission to use this clip in our DVD and told him how much his participation would mean to us. His reply was quite interesting. He told us he considers himself a jazz drummer and not a rock drummer, and also commented that Gene Krupa got most of his style from Baby Dodds. Baker didn’t hesitate to state that he didn’t think much of the other rock drummers who were being considered for inclusion in our DVD, and we’re talking about giants like Carl Palmer, Neil Peart, Steve Smith, Mitch Mitchell and many others. These were some of the milder comments he made. However, he did let us know about two films that were made in Europe in the early 1970s that show his jazz side: One is with Art Blakey and the other is with Elvin Jones. We’re trying to track these things down. He never did battle Buddy, though. Wonder why. 

DAVID GARIBALDI: Our friend David is one of the great innovators of “funk drumming” on the planet, known universally for his superb work with the groundbreaking group, Tower of Power. David has also been involved in percussion education for many years as a teacher at The Drummer’s Collective and Dick Grove schools, as an international clinician, and as an author of any number of award-winning drum books and instructional DVDs. He has a wonderful new book coming out courtesy of the good folks at Hudson Music, entitled “The Code of Funk.” Those interested in such things should check this out at www.HudsonMusic.com David, by the way, is one of the contributors to our upcoming Gene Krupa book, and wrote some lovely comments about what Gene meant to him. 

“Gene Krupa: The Pictorial Life of a Jazz Legend”: The release date of this book has been pushed back a few weeks, due to some technical problems that had to do with the Alfred Publishing Company’s takeover of Warner Bros. Publications. We have been assured by the Alfred Publishing Company that the release will be in late October. 

Bruce Klauber

One of the first records I ever heard was the original “Perdido” from Jazz at the Philharmonic, with tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips playing his soon-to-be-legendary solo, battling it out with Illinois Jacquet, and backed up beautifully by Jo Jones on drums. If memory serves, that JATP recording was made in 1947 at Carnegie Hall, and the music writers say Flip was “forced” to repeat his set-in-stone solo, almost note-for-note, until the JATP ride ended around 1957. I was hooked from day one. I always believed that jazz should be exciting. 

Norman Granz, founder and JATP instigator, was a singular human being. He insisted that all the members of his troupe traveled first class and were treated on a first class basis all the way. He kept mainstreamers like Roy Eldridge, Lester Young and yes, Gene Krupa, in the limelight by making them stars of his tours. He mixed and matched players from different eras. As an example, a JATP front line might have included Prez, Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins, backed up by a rhythm section that included Oscar Peterson and Gene Krupa. I’ll never figure out why this isn’t being done today. Why isn’t there a recording, just as an example, of vibist Terry Gibbs and Gary Burton playing together? I could venture a guess, given the personality of Mr. Gary Burton, but it still should be done. 

This is why the “discovery” of our Hamburg, Germany, concert of 1956 is so important. Here, on the same stage for one of the few times in history, were Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis and Ella Fitzgerald. Backing all of them up from the drums? Gene Krupa. 

Gene was musically a generation behind artists like Ella and Dizzy, but he backed them up so sensitively, so thoughtfully and so happily, that the more than two hours of music presented at this show is simply a total joy to hear. Though it could be my ears playing tricks on me, I swear that Dizzy and Ella never swung harder, and never sounded as happy as they do on these tracks. An added plus, of course, is the wonderful fidelity of these shows, which likely came from a German radio broadcast. 

This is one of the few instances where I fervently believe that these programs should be released by a “major” record company. People need to hear this. If only out of loyalty (Verve did put out most of the original JATP recordings), these tracks were sent to Verve Records, where they are under consideration for future release. But as they say on T.V., “Wait…there’s more.” 

After Norman Granz sold his Verve/Clef/Norgran catalog (and what a catalog it is) to MGM in 1961, he was effectively out of the record business. He came back in a big way in 1973 with his famed Pablo label, and again started putting together all kinds of players from all kinds of eras, on record (Oscar Peterson with Count Basie, Duke Ellington with Joe Pass, et al.). The Pablo imprint, as well as Fantasy Records and several other well-known jazz record labels, is now owned by Concord Jazz. I spoke to the good people at Concord recently about our “newly discovered” JATP release. 

The good news? According to the folks in the archival department at Concord/Fantasy, there are “hundreds” of tapes of JATP concerts–both European and stateside–that sit in the vaults. This may even include the concert at hand, the Hamburg, Germany concert of February, 1956. And more good news is that this archival material may include more unreleased drum battles between Krupa and Rich, Krupa and Bellson, Bellson and Rich, J.C. Heard and Krupa, Jo Jones and Rich, and who knows what else. 

The bad news? We were told, in no uncertain terms, that most of this material will remain unreleased, due to the costs involved of clearing the rights with the surviving artists, the estates of the artists, etc. Concord/Fantasy/Pablo will put one of these things out from time to time (their most recent release being an “unknown” JATP concert that featured Fats Navarro and Shelly Manne), but we were told, point blank, that “it’s just not worth the expense and the trouble.” 

We did, however, get a promise that we would be informed of all of the undocumented JATP drum battles. At least that’s something. 

If I had to pick two “must haves” from JazzLegends.com, it would have to be the “Championship Jazz” DVD of Gene, and these JATP shows. I urge you to get them. I don’t know how long we will be able to carry them. 

And in terms of “special” and “singular,” stay tuned for more news about The Gene Krupa Jazz Trio’s television performance on the “Georgie Jessell Show” of 1954. Certainly, this will be something. 

Finally, my thanks to all of you for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers about my mother, Frances Klauber. She is hanging in there, and just sang the other day with a visiting pianist who was entertaining at the Bryn Mawr Terrace Convalescent Home. She called me the next day complaining about his time. 

We should all live so long…and have good time!!! 

God bless and keep swingin’ 

Bruce Klauber