Drumming Approach Analysis: Comparison and

Contrast between Art Blakey, Mel Lewis, and

Buddy Rich

Yuhao Tian

Aj.Sarute Wijitwechakarn

Jazz department

College of Music

Mahidol University

9/28/2024
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Introduction

From the 70’s to today, with the diversification of musical expressions, jazz has developed

many new musical forms. In Jazz big band, drummer have played a crucial role in it. Throughout

the past century and more, drum set has become one of the most important instruments in

percussion to establishing energy. Tyler (2018) has mentioned that “Music from groups like the

Count Basie Orchestra and the Duke Ellington big band had major contributions to the reputation

of the drummer. The role of the drummer is to make people move, in whatever way is intended.

In jazz, the drummer’s job is to make people dance and swing, in heavy metal it’s to make people

head bang. Drummers even have their respective roles in a marching band and gospel choirs.”

Art Blakey, Buddy Rich and Mel Lewis are three of the most iconic drummers in the

history of jazz. They each represents a different style of jazz drumming, but all have profound

impact on the evolution of jazz. Art Blakey was the leader of the Jazz Messengers who drives the

band with his drumsticks. Art Blakey’s playing style is full of power and rhythm. His drumming

is aggressive where the rhythms are simple yet powerful, focusing on emotional expression and

improvisation. Monson (2004) pointed that Blakey was known for having a thrilling, propulsive

playing style that highlighted his skill and pushed accompanying musicians to shine. Over the

decades, the Messengers became known for having a changing, evolving membership with a

varied roster size. As the band developed, newer musicians entered the group to learn and hone

their skills under Blakey’s guidance were often the case.

Buddy Rich is known for his extremely high technical efficiency in Swing and Bebop and

a self-demanding leadership style. He formed the Buddy Rich Big Band on his own, and one can

infer from the name that he tends to let the drum solos take center stage in his performances.
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However, he also makes sure that the overall performance of the band is organized and precise.

He was widely regarded as the pinnacle of jazz drumming technique, and especially known for

his exceptional speed. Brown spoke highly of Rich’s skill: “He (Rich) was able to express this

talent throughout his life in a natural and effortless way, and to do it at such a high artistic level,

is a joy of the musically gifted. Put simply, and much to our advantage, Buddy Rich was born to

play drums” (Brown, 1993). By showcasing solos, Rich made the drummer the star of the band,

propelling the drummer’s rise as a leading performer. As the leader of the band, Rich pays great

attention to details, and he conducts his Big Band not just as a drummer, but also in a way that

guides the entire band.

Mel Lewis’ leadership style is different from that of Blakey and Rich. His leadership

focuses on the cooperation and balance of the band, rather than being the star. Mel Lewis co-

founded the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra with Thad Jones in 1966, which became a major

force in the history of jazz big band. Known for their innovative repertoire and skills, the band

became a model for the modern big band. Chris Smith (2014) included Mel Lewis’ biography

that Lewis focuses more on teamwork and musical wholeness rather than individual

achievements. Apart from that, he was also a good mentor for many young jazz drummers whom

he thought showed promise.

Each of these three drummers represented different styles and musical philosophies. This

paper will compare the differences in drumming techniques and jazz language between these

three legendary drummers. In the next section, three drummers’ style and jazz language will be

compared from two perspectives: drum comping and drum solos.

Drumming Analysis
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Drum Comping

Little Pixie was featured on the orchestra’s album “Consummation”, released in 1970.

Lewis chooses to use drum brushes for the song until F section when he switches to other

drumsticks. The application of brush patter is classic, as exemplified by Lewis’s playing in the

first four bars of section A (Figure 1). Lewis played a 2-feel groove, because in the drum brush

pattern used by Lewis, the rhythm of the left hand brushing in a circle every two measures is

similar to the 2-feel groove. Essentially, the rhythm played by the right hand is often played by

jazz drummers on a rhythm cymbal which makes the sound low key, while the constant brushing

by the left hand makes the overall sound full. Figure1 shows Lewis using the brush in the first

four measures of section A. Figure 2 shows the first measure to the twelve measure of Little

Pixie’s first section.

Figure 1. Little Pixie, drum brush pattern mm.3-6

West Side Story Medley was included on the “Swingin’ New Big Band” album released by

Buddy Rich Big Band in 1966. Even though before the piece enters the transition passage (mm.

9-17), Rich is still playing with the Hi-Hat as shown in Figure 3. When playing some low-key

parts, Rich adds the open Hi-Hat sound to the first beat based on swing rhythm. In addition, such

as on the fourth beat of mm9, Rich also adds triplet rhythms to control the size of Hi-Hat

openings. As the piece slows down further, starting at bar 22 Rich plays a marching drum rhythm

on the drums with a very low intensity. This is much more interesting than using drum brushes. It

also proves that rich prefers to play a more prominent role in the big band sound than other

drummers.

Appendix 3. West Side Story Medley, mm.9-32

The samba style song EI Torro was recorded in 1959 with 2 minutes and 46 seconds long.

In this song, Blakey used a 4-drum kit, consisting of a snare drum, a bass drum, and two tom-

toms. For cymbals, his setup included hi-hat, ride, and crash. For example, in bars 5-8 of Figure
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4, the hi-hat appears on beats 2 and 4, the right hand plays Clave which is the core of the rhythm

and the left hand plays the eighth note of the tom drum on beats 2 and 4. Because Blakey

basically does not change rhythmic patterns, it is the right hand rhythm that drives the music to

provide support for the music. Different from Lewis and Rich, Blakey’s use of various

techniques and jazz language in this piece is traditional, but of course this is also because this

song was recorded very early. For example, in measure 4 of Figure 4, this Fill in is based on a

single stroke roll played on tom drums. Blakey often used this sound in his solos.

Appendix 4. EI Torro, drum section mm.1-8

Drum Solo

Little Pixie was originally recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra in 1999.

The tempo is approximately 120 BPM (quarter notes). In the first choruses of the drum solo,

Lewis uses a 3-note group rhythm with lots of quarter notes. The first use of note clusters in the

solo occurs on beats 3 and 4 of measure 141 and the first beat of measure 142. This rhythm has a

quarter-note pulse and lasts for the length of a quarter-note, so it is considered a quarter-note 3-

note cluster rhythm. In measures 144 through 149, Lewis repeats this note group six times in a

row. In measures 141 through 156, Lewis plays with an overall intensity of “mf,” which drops to
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“p” in measure 157, and returns to “mf” after eight measures. Figure 5 shows Lewis’s

performance in the “mf” section of the program.

Appendix 5. Little Pixie, drum section mm.141-156

In the song West Side Story Medley, Rich used a 4-drum kit that included a snare drum,

bass drum, and two tom-toms. In Chorus 1, Buddy divides the solo into 4 bars. Each section

presents a complete musical phrase. The first Chorus is divided into 3 even parts, each part

consisting of four bars. In the first section (measures 1-4 of Chorus 1), Buddy creates a solo that

follows a 4-beat feel. The performance in this part can be regarded as three 4/4 measures. These

three 4/4 sections are divided by dotted lines in Figure 6. In Chorus 2, Buddy still divides the

solo into 4 bars. In the second section (measures 5-8 of Chorus 2), Buddy creates a solo that

follows the feel of 6 beats. The performance in this part can be seen as two 6/4 measures. These

two 6/4 sections are divided by dotted lines in Figure 6. In the first two bars of Chorus 3, Buddy

creates a solo according to the feel of 6 beats. The performance here can be regarded as a 6/4

measure. This 6/4 section is also divided by dotted lines in Figure 6. Buddy applies a variety of

different snare drum sounds here and pushes the mood of the music up by increasing the volume.

In measures 5-12 of Chorus 3, the bass drum begins to hold quarter notes, and Buddy creates a

solo in the feel of a 4-beat beat. It could be said that the performance in this part can be regarded
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as six 4/4 measures. In Chorus 5, Buddy divided the solo into a 4/4 groove. Therefore, this part

of the performance can be regarded as nine 4/4 measures. These nine 4/4 sections are divided by

dotted lines in Figure 7. At the same time, these 9 4/4 measures are divided according to the

phrases, and the structures are 4, 2, and 3 respectively. The 1-4 measures of 4/4 are developed by

the quarter note rhythm of the bass drum and finally transitioned by the multiple bounce roll.

Appendix 6: West side story medley, drum solo choruses 1-3

Appendix 7: West side story medley, drum solo choruses 4-6

fewer instruments in his solos. For example, in the first two beats of measures 3 and 4 of Tippin’s

drum solo section (Figure 8), Blakey’s playing here forms two similar groups, each of which is

bracketed in the figure and is three quarter notes long. Measures 8, 9, and 10 are also played in

groups of three quarter notes. In addition, Blakey specializes in the use of different snare sounds

to create dynamics, and in Tippin’s drum solo he uses a cross stick, stick on fixed stick, and a left

hand on the top of the drum to stop the sound.

Figure 8. Tippin’, drum solo mm.1-12

Conclusion

All three drummers contributed massively to the development of jazz. Blakey not only

fueled the Hard Bop boom, but also helped shaped a new generation of jazz talent. Rich, through

his amazing individual skills, redefined the role of the drummer in the band and the style of

performance. Lewis, on the other hand, developed the sophistication of modern big band playing

centered on teamwork. All three drummers not only had profound influence on the way other
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drummer play, but also shaped different genres and playing styles throughout the jazz field

through their individual styles and leadership.

In conclusion, Blakey’s jazz language is powerful and interactive, especially in

improvisation. Rich’s jazz language favors showmanship and rhythmic complexity, especially in

the fast-paced Swing and Bebop, demonstrating a high degree of technicality and individual

expression. Lewis’ jazz language is more introspective, focusing on the overall sound of the band

and rhythmic stability.

Reference

Brown, T. D. (1993). The World of Gene Krupa: That Legendary Drummin’Man.

Monson, I. (2004). Art Blakey’s African Diaspora. In African Diaspora (pp. 333-356).

Routledge.

Smith, C. (2014). The View from the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis (Vol.

10). University of North Texas Press.

Tyler Katz (2018). The Evolution of Recorded Music and Its Impact on Session Drummers.

Purchase College - State University of New York.