Max Roach, a master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations provided the dislocated beats that defined bebop jazz, has died after a long illness. He was 83.

The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach’s labels. No additional details were available, he said.

Roach received his first musical break at age 16, filling in for three nights in 1940 when Duke Ellington’s drummer fell ill.

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Bill Ward was born in Birmingham, England, in 1948. His interest in drumming began as a toddler and by age 15, he was playing gigs. Ward played in several bands before meeting up with Tony Iommi in 1964. The two of them worked together in the group Mythology before they met up with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler in the band Polka Tulk Blues. The blues band later changed their name to Earth, but that moniker was destined not to stay with them long. Instead, in 1969 they became Black Sabbath and that would prove to be a change that would transform Ward’s and the rest of band members’ lives forever. In 1970, they released their self-titled debut and their fame began. It was only a few short months later when Paranoid was released and the true glory would really begin. Ward stayed with them through what many consider to be the classic period of the group, even when Osbourne was ousted in 1978. He was a member of the band through the first album to feature Ronnie James Dio in Osbourne’s place, 1980’s Heaven & Hell.

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With names like Madonna, David Bowie and Sting under he’s belt its easy to see why Omar Hakim is such an in demand drummer. The legendary Omar Hakim takes advantage of every hot, new percussion option out there, from acoustic drums, to Roland’s electronic V-Drums—which he MIDIs into his Power Mac when he plays drums for and produces for the greats of pop and jazz fusion in modern music.

Not just a drummer, Omar Hakim is a well-recognized percussionist and producer in these two distinct worlds of music.
“I had a natural affinity for drums and rhythm very young,” says Hakim. “I started playing drums at about age five, when I got a toy drum as a Christmas gift from an uncle. They strapped that thing around my neck and I immediately started playing one of those marching cadence kind of beats.”

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A sadly missed drummer. The late great Tony Williams in a very rare drum solo from 1985!

Sometimes referred to as “The Wembley Whammer” by Mick Jagger. Rolling Stones Drummer, Charles Robert “Charlie” Watts was born 2nd June 1941 in London, England. As well as being the drummer for one of the biggest bands in the world Charlie Watts is a tireless jazz bandleader and also a commercial artist.

Charlie attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School and Harrow Art School. It was in 1960, while working with a local band that he met Alexis Korner, who convinced him to join his own band, as the drummer for Blues Incorporated. And later in that same year, the band picked up the vocal talents of one Mick Jagger, as well as guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards.

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What better way to meet fellow drummers out there but through the usefulness of the internet!

MikeDolbear.com is run as an equal partnership by two people, Gerry McDonnell & Mike Dolbear, in their spare time with support from a core team of writers and reviewers. Their philosophy is to use the power of the Internet to bring the drumming community together, to share knowledge and experience for the mutual benefit of all.

Drumsmylife is a wonderfully put together forum and community created to showcase drummers and their talents. You’ll find many topics to discuss on this very welcoming forum. Register and talk about drum set, hardware, technique, cymbals etc. - drum forum, drummers community.

Houseofdrumming.com started as a fan site I made with the free 6mb of web space I received with my Earthink dial-up internet account in the mid-nineties. I scanned some pics from MD issues, wrote up some bios on my favorite drummers, and also included a couple MP3’s from a hand-held recording I had done at a local jazz club. As time went by, more rare bootleg and clinic MP3’s were made and uploaded and I also added a forum. It seemed folks that shared my opinions on drumming started hanging out on the forum and a virtual snow-ball effect began tumbling down the endless hill that is the internet. Since then HOD has become a hub for hundreds of drummers to come together and share opinions and information with no end in sight.

Anthony “Tony” McCarroll was one of the founding members of English rock group Oasis, as their drummer from 1991 to May 1995.

Born in Levenshulme, Manchester, England, McCarroll joined pre-Oasis incarnation The Rain in 1990, replacing their drum machine, and linking up with rhythm guitarist Paul Arthurs, bassist Paul McGuigan and singer Chris Hutton. Hutton was later sacked, and replaced by Liam Gallagher. Liam’s brother Noel soon joined with a bag full of songs that were to make Oasis famous.

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Larry Mullen Jr. was born 31st of October 1961 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland and is best known as the drummer for the Irish rock outfit known as U2.

Raised in Artane, a suburb of Dublin City located on the north side of the city, Larry was the only son of three children fo Larry Mullen Snr. and Maureen Mullen who was killed in a car accident in 1978.
As a child, Larry’s parents decided it would be a good idea for their only son to take up a musical instrument and thus began his first foray into music which began with pain lessons, however it did not take very long for Larry to realise he preferred being behind a drum kit than a piano. So, at the age of 9, Larry received his first drum kit.

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Modern Drummer have come up with 25 of the most Legendary Talents who Changed Drumming as we know it. In a special collector’s edition publication, Modern Drummer magazine spotlights some of the all-time greats of drumming, from yesteryear right up to today. Jazz giants, rock legends, studio greats-they’re all here, like you’ve never seen them before. As well as biographical info, classic photos, style & analysis sections, tips, quotes, and even lessons from the artists themselves are included!

Drummers profiled include:

Buddy Rich (A Big Band Legend)
Gene Krupa (Drumming’s First Star)
Steve Gadd (The Recording Giant)
Tony Williams (Miles Davis)
Neil Peart (Rush)

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Steve Hewitt the drummer for Placebo was born 22nd of March 1971 in Northwich, Manchester, United Kingdom which incidentally is also home to Tim Burgess of The Charlatans. Who Steve actually played with for a period with the band Electric Crayons. At the age of 17 after seeing an advert for ‘Genius duo’ who required a drummer for a German tour, he duly joined the ranks of Breed and touring Germany with them. As well as stints with the Boo Radleys, Steve was also playing simultaneously with early 90’s dance outfit K-Klass, who had scored five top 40 hits from 1991 to 1994. As time progressed, Steve found himself becoming more and more involved with session work doing music for car adverts amongst other things. Following a dismal and somewhat disastrous gig at the Bull and Gate, Breed decided to part ways and call it a day on the band.

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Where does one start with Steve Gadd?The man is modern day legend for all drummers, aspiring or professional. His body of work is phenomenal with a tally of over 600 albums to his name. A tireless drummer, teacher and entertainer the same Steve Gadd is synonymous with Drumming. Having worked with such names as Steely Dan, Joe Cocker, Chick Corea, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton and James Taylor its easy to see why Steve Gadd has become recognised as one of most well known session drummer around.

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Johnny Rabb is an American drummer characterised by his incredible speed and his ability to play single stroke rolls as well as modern Drum and Bass style beats with considerable style and ease. Johnny currently performs with his original duo Ten Finger Orchestra & Johnny Rabb, rock band U.S.S.A. (with Duane Denison, Paul Barker and Gary Call) and his Drum ‘N’ Bass group BioDiesel (featuring Clay Parnell and Borahm Lee). Rabb has added turntables to his arsenal of innovative drum sounds. Johnny refers to his drum / turntable set up as DrumJockey. The visual antics of the TFO & Johnny Rabb show include juggling routines using drumsticks while they are playing.

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Metal Hammer magazine recently conducted an exclusive interview with METALLICA’s drummer Lars Ulrich about the progress of their recording sessions for the group’s new album, as well as few other subjects. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Hammer: You’ve already recorded the drum, guitar and bass tracks for the new album, with the rest to be added some time in August.

Lars: “The backing tracks are done, yeah. But Rick [Rubin, producer] likes to keep things organic and work in a way that can be described as ‘of the moment.’ If we continue in August we should be done by October.”

Metal Hammer: Rubin isn’t known for being too giving with his time. What role has he played in the sessions?

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Alan John Wren born on 10 April 1964, in Manchester, England better known as Reni, was the drummer of the ever influential rock band The Stone Roses from 1984 to 1995.

Reni is considered by many to be one of the best drummers of his generation, and quite possibly the “single most important drummer in UK indie circles” according to Rhythm magazine in 2004, he is also credited as being a “genius drummer” on John Squire’s official Web site, and according to former Hacienda General Manager Howard Jones he, “played the drums like Hendrix played the guitar.” His laid-back style of off-beat rhythms was influential in bringing about the blend of indie and dance music that formed much of the Manchester or Madchester (as it would become known) sound of the day.

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Rick Buckler born Paul Richard Buckler, 6 December 1955, in Woking, Surrey, England, was the drummer and one of the founding members of The Jam, the English rock band that enjoyed considerable success in the UK from 1977 until their premature demise in 1982. Although spearheaded by Paul Weller, the rhythm section of Buckler on drums and Bruce Foxton on bass guitar were an integral part of the Jam’s sound and success. The Jam split at the behest of Weller.

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Neil Peart playing with the original Buddy Rich Big Band on the Burning for Buddy DVD of the same name.

Joey Castillo was born March 30, 1966, in Gardena, CA. He is best known as the powerhouse drummer currently playing in Queens of the Stone Age. Castillo joined the band in 2002 after the departure of Dave Grohl who played and toured with Queens while his Foo Fighter’s album at the time was on hiatus.

A native of southern California, Castillo began playing drums at age fifteen, influenced by everyone from Al Green to Zeppelin to Black Flag. Prior to Queens of the Stoneage, Joey completed an eight-year tenure with Danzig, preceded by gigs with Wasted Youth, Sugartooth, and the Mark Lanegan Band.

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