Second Post: Gene Kroopa

When Tommy Rockwell produced Gene Krupa’s first record in 1927, Krupa was the first drummer to make a record with a bass drum as part of their set. Rockwell was skeptical of the drummer, but let him record with the bass drum anyway. He was pleasantly surprised by the sound Krupa was producing with the bass drum and a foot pedal. For this, Gene Krupa will always be known as one of the greatest innovators behind the modern drum set. Seven years later, a more experienced Krupa was playing with Benny Goodman, his explosive, energetic playing style attracting the attention of all those who saw him live. For this, Krupa was known as “The Chicago Flash” throughout his career. Even though Gene Krupa died in 1973 of a heart attack, his legacy will live on forever.⁶

Gene was born Eugene Bertram Krupa in Chicago, Illinois, on January 15, 1909. He was the youngest of Bartley and Ann Krupa’s nine children. Since his father died when he was young, Gene had to start working at age eleven to help support his family. Along with his older brother Pete, Gene worked chores at a music store. As a kid, he wasn’t particularly opinionated about instruments, and would’ve been just as happy learning piano or trombone as drums. However, a drum set was the cheapest instrument at the store where he worked. Gene’s first drum set was a simple one consisting of a bass drum, a cymbal, a wood block and a snare drum.⁴

Since Gene’s parents were extremely religious, they hoped for him to become a priest. Most of his early education was at parochial schools. After that, Krupa attended St. Joseph’s college for a short time. However, he was so interested in drumming, that he gave up hope of becoming a priest. Gene started his drum studies under the instruction of Ed Straight, Al Silverman, and Roy Knapp. He played in bands with friends throughout his younger years. Gene’s started his career as a drummer in the 1920s, playing with those such as Joe Kayser, Thelma Terry and the Benson Orchestra. At this time, Krupa would go to popular spots in Chicago and jam with other musicians, one of which was Benny Goodman.⁴

During Krupa’s early years of drumming, he was most influenced by Warren “Baby” Dodds. Dodds was famous for his press rolls, and his influence on Krupa became evident through Krupa’s frequent use of press rolls in his playing. In addition, Dodds would often take short solos while playing jazz songs. Before this time, drummers only served the purpose of keeping time in songs.⁴ This was perhaps the most important part of Dodds’ influence on Gene Krupa, because Krupa started to implement extended drum solos into his playing. For this reason, he changed the face of jazz drumming. After that, many famous jazz songs started to include long drum solos.

A famous incident occurred in December of 1927 at the Okeh Records studio. Gene Krupa was setting up his drum set, preparing to record with a band led by banjo player Eddie Condon. In the past, recording studios had only tracked snare drums and cymbals. When the producer, Tommy Rockwell, saw Gene’s full kit set up, he was angry, believing that Krupa’s bass drum and tom-toms might destroy their sensitive recording equipment.⁵ However, Rockwell let Krupa record with his full drum set anyway. Later that day, listening to the playback in the studio, Rockwell was astonished at how good Gene Krupa’s drum set sounded altogether. This event caused the bass drum to be accepted as a crucial part of the modern drum set.¹

During his drumming years, Krupa worked with Slingerland drums to create the first tunable tom-toms. This caught on quickly, and soon most drums could be tuned to a specific pitch, instead of having drum heads glued on as they were before. Also, Gene Krupa was asked by Avedis Zildjian to help develop the modern hi-hat cymbals. The first hi-hat design was called a low-boy, which kept the cymbals too close to the ground to be played with a drum stick. These were both important innovations in drumming that Krupa helped design.⁴

Gene Krupa started studying with Sanford Moeller, who taught him advanced technique. This further improved Krupa’s style, which was already extremely modern and progressive for his time. In 1929, Krupa moved to New York. He played in the pit for multiple plays and musicals, alongside Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. An interesting fact to note about Gene Krupa is that he never learned how to read music. Throughout his time playing for live performances, Krupa was helped by Glenn Miller, who would hum the drum parts for Gene until he could learn them. ⁴

“The Chicago Flash” first played with Benny Goodman’s band in 1933, but didn’t join the Benny Goodman Band until a year later. Goodman had promised Krupa that his would be a successful jazz band, but the band became discouraged, and surrendered to playing dance music at events. At one such venue, the members of the band decided to take a risk and play their own arrangements. The crowd reacted wildly, and the Benny Goodman’s band took off.¹

The most famous performance by the Benny Goodman Band was on January 16, 1938 at Carnegie Hall. Before then, no popular jazz acts had performed at the prestigious concert hall, which previously only featured classical music. This concert was a great success for both Benny Goodman’s band and jazz music itself. Tickets to the performance sold out weeks before the show, and the crowd exploded after each song. However, the concert led to an argument between Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman. Krupa had played numerous drum fills throughout the show that stole the audience’s attention. As a result, Goodman was angry that the spotlight was on Krupa more than it was on him. He didn’t want a sideman in his band to steal attention away from himself. This led to Krupa leaving the band on March 3, 1938.²

Gene Krupa’s playing style changed drastically from his early records to his later ones. One of his first recorded songs was “Nobody’s Sweetheart” with Eddie Condon. Instead of riding on a cymbal during the song, Krupa creates an interesting, and more powerful effect by playing a beat using the rims of his drums. To accent throughout the song, Gene plays a short fill on his snare drum and tom-toms. Finally, near the end of the song, he plays the snare drum on beats two and four, a la modern rock drumming.¹²

Another song Krupa played with Eddie Condon’s band is “China Boy.” In this upbeat song, Gene Krupa’s playing is quick, yet sparse. He stops playing entirely during the piano solo, which leaves the listener with a feeling of emptiness. However, by starting his playing again after the solo, Krupa fills in the empty space again with his drum beat, which includes crisp rim clicks on the snare drum. His articulate playing contributes to the fast feel of the song.⁷

In the middle part of Gene Krupa’s career, he was playing with Benny Goodman’s band. His performance on “Don’t Be That Way” during the Carnegie Hall concert is outstanding. For most of the recording, Krupa keeps time on the ride cymbal, not playing anything exciting. However, a few times during the song, he surprises his listeners with a lightning-fast drum solo (perhaps for which he got his nickname). Krupa’s playing in this song is representative of his influence on jazz music, because he was one of the primary drummers to incorporate solos and drum fills into his playing, which had a permanent effect on the role of jazz drummers, who used to be strictly timekeepers, and now had a role during solo sections, too.⁸

Undoubtedly the most famous of Benny Goodman’s songs is “Sing, Sing, Sing.” In this song, Gene Krupa truly shines. He begins the song with a classic fill on his floor tom, and then the horns join in. The horns pause for Krupa to play a four-measure solo, before Harry James takes a drum solo. After that, Benny Goodman himself solos. Following Goodman’s solo, Krupa plays a sparse fill on his tom-toms, and then plays his cowbell to signal the entire band into the outro of the song. At this point, Krupa is on fire, playing a fast roll on the snare drum until the last note of the song.¹¹

In Krupa’s later years, after leaving Benny Goodman, he started his own group, the Gene Krupa Big Band. One popular song was “Drummin’ Man.” In this song, representative of Krupa’s later drumming; his style has matured into what most drummers think of when they picture jazz drumming today. Gene starts the song with a swing beat on the hi-hat, and plays quick fills on the snare drum at the end of each section. He later changes to the ride, and then takes a drum solo. His solo, featuring advanced technique, such as rolls and rudiments, on both the snare drum and the tom-toms, is a classic example of the jazz drum solo, as “invented” by Gene Krupa.⁹

“Big Noise from Winnetka” is a famous song by the Gene Krupa Quartet. Gene starts off with a basic swing pattern on the ride cymbal, but he soon transitions into an extended drum solo, showing his technical prowess behind the drum set. The bass player then starts to take a solo, while Gene stands up and walks away from the drum set. He then starts playing the bass’s strings with his drum sticks, while the bass player continues to hold the frets. This is just one of many examples of how creative Gene Krupa’s drumming is.¹⁰

In 1943, Gene Krupa’s career started to take a turn for the worse. In San Francisco, he was caught with the possession of marijuana, also charged for contributing to a minor’s delinquency. He was sentenced 90 days in prison, but only served 84, and was cleared of the latter charge. During this time, Roy Eldridge led Krupa’s band, but eventually it broke apart. After being released from jail, Gene played shortly with Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, and then re-formed his own band.³ At the time, the age of big bands was coming to an end, so Gene decreased the size of his band, which stayed together until 1951. Krupa then started working with a few small bands, but he wasn’t sure which direction he wanted to go. His career started to slow.

In the late 1950s, Gene Krupa started to have greater back problems, which led to him playing less often. In 1960, he had a heart attack, and had to take many months off. He reunited with the Goodman Quartet and played throughout the early and mid 1960s. By this time, Krupa’s playing lost the speed and excitement it used to have. His health became a problem again, and his second marriage broke apart, which led to him officially retiring in 1967. On October 16, 1973, Krupa died of a heart attack.

Gene Krupa led a wonderful lifetime and career. He will always be remembered as one of the biggest innovators in drumming, who revolutionized the drum set by making the bass drum and tom-toms a popular part of any kit. In addition, he helped create tunable tom-toms and modern hi-hat cymbals, both still a part of drums today. More than just in equipment, Gene was revolutionary for popularizing the extended drum solo in jazz music, making drums a solo instrument that had a much greater role. Even though his career took a turn for the worse in his later years, Krupa will be remembered for the wonderful things he did, not his ailments and downfall. Gene Krupa will never be forgotten as one of the greatest drummers of all time.