50 JAZZTIMES SEPTEMBER 2019
I
n 1909, Chicago was the site for two
events that would forever change
the role of percussion in popular
music: The brothers Ludwig launched
their eponymous instrument company by
releasing a bass drum pedal, and Anna
and Bartłomiej Krupa welcomed to the
world their ninth child, Eugene.
The pedal, along with other inno-
vations, allowed one percussionist to
assemble a small set known as the “traps”
(short for contraption). With a single
player now able to handle bass, snare, a
tom-tom, and some cymbals, the traps
saved space and manpower. It became an
efficient, though unglamorous, time-
keeper for a new rhythm-heavy musical
genre then emerging in small clubs and
speakeasies.
By 1927, jazz and Gene Krupa hadFrom “Contraption”
to Classic
How Gene Krupa kicked the drum kit into—and
beyond—the Jazz Age BY EMILE MENASCHÉGEARHEAD
both come of age. On the other hand,
the traps were like an awkwardly shy
youth covered in spots and hiding a smile
marred by braces. Few recognized the
potential beauty hidden within.
Krupa would change all that when, as a
young veteran of the Chicago jazz scene,
he joined Benny Goodman’s outfit in- More than 80 years on, his ground-
breaking solo drum breaks in Goodman’s
1937 studio recording of “Sing, Sing,
Sing”—and subsequent Carnegie Hall
live recording—remain among the most
important percussion performances in
history.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Gene
Krupa can be considered the founding
father of modern drum set playing,” says
noted swing drummer, author, and his-
torian Daniel Glass. “Combining superb
technique with swaggering showman-
ship, he brought legitimacy and a new
kind of ‘cool factor’ to the traps.”
Krupa hit the skins (then actually
made of animal hide) with power, swing,
and imagination. Plus, he was a treat to
watch behind his signature kit, built by
Ludwig’s crosstown rivals, Slingerland.
Reportedly, Krupa didn’t just lend his
name to his drums: He pushed Slinger-
land to refine tom-tom design with tun-
able top and bottom heads and worked
with the Avedis Zildjian company to
develop the crash, ride, splash, and hi-hat
cymbals we know today.
“He also made drumming look like
a hell of a lot of fun,” Glass says, adding
that Krupa’s looks and flamboyant style
caught Hollywood’s attention. “They
typically showcased him performing
ingenious routines like a solo with a pair
of matchsticks, stick twirls, and other
tricks—which inspired budding drum-
mers for decades.”
Eventually, his star power would
cause friction with Goodman. By the
late ’30s Krupa left the King of Swing,
formed his own band, and updated his
Slingerland gear. Decades later, Krupa’s
Goodman-era bass drum (pictured here)
would find its way into the American
Music collection at the National Museum
of American History, still bearing his sig-
nature drum head. It’s an iconic artifact
that reminds all who see it of how Krupa
literally kicked the drum set into the
modern age and showed that drummers
could become stars.WILLIAMP.^GOTTLIEB/LIBRARY^OF^CONGRESS^ (KRUPA);^ COURTESYOFTHE^ SMITHSONIANINSTITUTION(DRUM^ KIT)Gene Krupa at the 400
Restaurant in New York,
June 1946; below: the
vintage Slingerland kit
in the National Museum
of American History
featuring Krupa’s 1930s
bass drum