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Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit.

Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909; he began learning the saxophone at age six but switched to drums five years later because they were the cheapest item in the music store. He played in local dance bands while still in his teens, and in spite of his mother's wishes that he study for the priesthood he decided to become a professional musician.

Krupa made his first recording in 1927 as a member of the Chicagoans, with Eddie Condon and Red McKenzie. He is said to be the first drummer to use both a bass drum and tom-toms together in the studio. In 1928 he worked with female bandleader Thelma Terry. In 1929 he moved to New York, along with Condon and his other bandmates, to work with singer Bee Palmer. When that job fell through they ended up working for Red Nichols in his various pit bands. Krupa also found work with orchestra leaders Mal Hallett, Buddy Rogers, Russ Columbo, Roger Wolfe Kahn, and Irving Aaronson.

In 1934 Krupa joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, where he played a major role in its success, and was the propeller for the bands popular “Sing, Sing, Sing.” His wild appearance and drum playing made him a star in his own right. As Krupa's popularity grew tension mounted between him and Goodman, by 1938, not long after the famous Carnegie Hall Concert, the two had a falling out, and Krupa left to form his own outfit.

With help from Tommy Dorsey's managers, Krupa put together an exciting group that made its debut in April on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. Female vocalist for that date was Jerry Kruger. Helen Ward joined the band for its first recording session, after which Irene Daye became featured vocalist. Male vocalist for the first year was the ultra-wild scat singer Leo Watson.

Though the band was a big hit in concert, its recordings, first on Victor and then on Brunswick, proved rather dull. It wasn't until the arrival of trumpeter/singer Roy Eldridge and groundbreaking jazz vocalist Anita O'Day that the group finally came into its own. The duo provided a much needed spark that sent the orchestra to the top of the charts with the big hit “Let Me Off Downtown.” The ride, though, lasted little more than a year. Bad times hit in 1943, first O'Day briefly left the group, and soon after her return Krupa was arrested in San Francisco on charges of marijuana possession.

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Album Review

Gene Krupa Quartet: The Gene Krupa Quartet: Live 1966!

Read "The Gene Krupa Quartet: Live 1966!" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


This was a period, late in Gene Krupa's career, when he really wasn't up to much, or so some critics said. Whether that's fair or not is not for me to say. When Krupa appeared in the summer of 1965 at the Steel Pier in jny: Atlantic City he only rated second billing to The Supremes. He didn't seem to care. The band he had was, with the exception of Eddie Shu, this one. If you were young and impressionable, ...

207
Album Review

Gene Krupa: Boogie, Ballads, and Be-Bop: The Best of the Columbia Years 1945-1949

Read "Boogie, Ballads, and Be-Bop: The Best of the Columbia Years 1945-1949" reviewed by David Rickert


Gene Krupa’s flailing arms and floppy hair were undeniable emblems of the Big Band Era. As the first drummer to explore the uses of the full drum kit in jazz (and insist that it be miked at full volume) he helped propel Benny Goodman to stardom-who hasn’t heard the famous opening to “Sing, Sing, Sing”? His success with Goodman (and, as some claim, ego clashes) led to Krupa forming his own big band, which was as successful as any of ...

223
Album Review

The Gene Krupa Quartet: Live from the Inn Club, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1957

Read "Live from the Inn Club, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1957" reviewed by Jack Bowers


By January 1957, when this concert date was recorded at the Inn Club in Chicago, Gene Krupa’s salad days as a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra and leader of his own big bands were behind him, but he remained a major figure on the Jazz scene, even though his flamboyant style of drumming, once considered state–of–the–art (at least in the public’s mind), had been overshadowed by the incomparable Buddy Rich and such be–bopping innovators as Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gene Krupa's birthday today!

Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909; he began learning the saxophone at age six but switched to drums five years later because they were the ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gene Krupa's birthday today!

Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909; he began learning the saxophone at age six but switched to drums five years later because they were the ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gene Krupa's birthday today!

Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909; he began learning the saxophone at age six but switched to drums five years later because they were the ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gene Krupa's birthday today!

Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909; he began learning the saxophone at age six but switched to drums five years later because they were the ...

TV / Film

Doc: Gene Krupa, Jazz Legend

Doc: Gene Krupa, Jazz Legend

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci


Video / DVD

The Gene Krupa Story

The Gene Krupa Story

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci


Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Krupa

Source: Michael Ricci


1

Video / DVD

Gene Kurpa: Drummer Man

Gene Kurpa: Drummer Man

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Gene Krupa...

Dot Time Records
2018

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Razor Sharp Rhythm

Resonance Records
2012

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Bang The Drums

Resonance Records
2005

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Gene Krupa Plays...

Resonance Records
2005

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The Gene Krupa Story

Resonance Records
2005

buy

Who's Rhythm?

Resonance Records
2004

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Videos

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