Eugene Bertram Krupa was born on January 15, 1909, and died on October 16, 1973. He was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is often considered one of the most important drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, Sing" made the drummer's role more important, changing it from a background player to a key soloist in the band.

Krupa worked with Slingerland drum and Zildjian cymbal companies to help shape the standard equipment used by band drummers. Modern Drummer magazine calls Krupa "the founding father of modern drumset playing."

After Krupa died, The New York Times described him as a "revolutionary" known for his exciting and showy drumming style. His work left a lasting musical influence that began in jazz and continued through the rock era.

Early life

Gene Krupa was the youngest child of Anna (née Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa, who had nine children. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Bartłomiej was born in the village of Łęki Górne, southeastern Poland, and moved to the United States as an immigrant. Anna was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and had Polish heritage. Gene’s parents were Roman Catholics who prepared him to become a priest. He attended grammar school at Catholic schools and later went to James H. Bowen High School on Chicago’s southeast side. After finishing high school, he studied for one year at Saint Joseph’s College but decided that becoming a priest was not his calling.

Gene studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. In 1927, he was hired by MCA to join Thelma Terry and her Playboys, the first well-known American jazz band led by a woman, though there were also all-female bands. The Playboys were the regular band at the Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and performed across the eastern and central United States.

Career

Gene Krupa made his first recordings in 1927 with a band led by Red McKenzie and guitarist Eddie Condon. These recordings, along with others by musicians from the Chicago jazz scene like Bix Beiderbecke, are examples of Chicago-style jazz. During this time, Krupa was influenced by his teachers, Father Ildefonse Rapp and Roy Knapp, and drummers Tubby Hall, Zutty Singleton, and Baby Dodds. A technique called press rolls, where one drumstick is dragged across the snare while the other keeps the beat, was common in his early work. Other drummers, such as Ray Bauduc, Chick Webb, George Wettling, and Dave Tough, also influenced Krupa. Musicians like Frederick Delius affected how Krupa approached music.

In 1928, Krupa appeared on six recordings by the Thelma Terry band. In December 1934, he joined Benny Goodman’s band, where his drumming made him famous. His drum solos on the hit song "Sing, Sing, Sing" were the first long drum solos recorded commercially. However, conflicts with Goodman led Krupa to leave the band and form his own orchestra after a Carnegie Hall concert in January 1938. He performed in the 1941 film Ball of Fire, where he and his band played an extended version of "Drum Boogie," a song he co-wrote with Roy Eldridge.

In 1943, Krupa was arrested on a false marijuana charge, which led to a short jail sentence and the end of his orchestra. After leaving his orchestra, he briefly returned to Goodman’s band but declined a West Coast tour. He then joined Tommy Dorsey’s band and later formed another orchestra. He played an uncredited drum part in the 1946 Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives.

As the 1940s ended, Count Basie closed his band, and Woody Herman reduced his band to an octet. In 1951, Krupa reduced his band to 10 members for a short time. From 1952 onward, he led trios and quartets, often with Charlie Ventura and Eddie Shu on saxophone, clarinet, and harmonica. He performed regularly at Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. In the 1950s, he appeared in films like The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story. In 1959, the movie The Gene Krupa Story was released, with Sal Mineo playing Krupa and cameos by Anita O’Day and Red Nichols.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Krupa often performed at the Metropole near Times Square. His recordings were featured on national radio by Ben Selvin in the RCA Thesaurus transcriptions library. He continued performing in famous clubs, such as the Showboat Lounge in Washington, D.C. In 1954, he started a music school with Cozy Cole, which lasted into the 1960s. Students included Peter Criss of KISS and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls. Doug Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival said Krupa inspired him.

Krupa remained active in the early 1970s, including reunion concerts with the original Benny Goodman Quartette. On April 17, 1973, the Gene Krupa Quartet, including Eddie Shu, John Bunch, Nabil Totah, and Krupa, performed a live version of "Sing, Sing, Sing" at the New School.

Krupa wrote or co-wrote many songs, including "Some Like It Hot" (1939), "Drum Boogie," "Boogie Blues," "Apurksody," "Ball of Fire," "Disc Jockey Jump" with Gerry Mulligan, "Wire Brush Stomp," "Hippdeebip," "Krupa’s Wail," "Swing Is Here," "Quiet and Roll 'Em" with Sam Donahue, "Bolero at the Savoy," "Murdy Purdy," and "How 'Bout That Mess."

Norman Granz hired Krupa and drummer Buddy Rich for Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. They performed at Carnegie Hall in September 1952, and the performance was released as The Drum Battle by Verve. The two drummers competed in television broadcasts and played duets with Cozy Cole. They also recorded two albums together: Krupa and Rich (1955) and Burnin’ Beat (1962).

Personal life

Krupa married Ethel Maguire two times. Their first marriage lasted from 1934 to 1942, and their second marriage began in 1946 and ended with her death in 1955. In 1959, Krupa married Patty Bowler, but they divorced within 10 years.

In the early 1970s, a fire damaged Krupa’s home in Yonkers, New York. He continued to live in the parts of the house that remained safe to use.

In 1973, Krupa died in Yonkers at the age of 64 due to heart failure. He also had leukemia and emphysema at the time of his death. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, Illinois.

Endorsement

In the 1930s, Krupa became the first person to promote Slingerland drums. Because of Krupa's request, Slingerland created tom-toms with adjustable top and bottom heads, which quickly became important parts of nearly every drummer's equipment. Krupa created and made widely used many cymbal techniques that are now standard. He worked together with Avedis Zildjian to develop modern hi-hat cymbals and gave standard names and purposes to the ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and splash cymbal. He also helped create the modern drum set, as he was one of the first jazz drummers to use a bass drum in a recording session in December 1927. One of his bass drums, a Slingerland 14×26, marked with Benny Goodman and Krupa's initials, has been kept at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Awards and honors

In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer added to the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. A 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" along with Fats Waller's "Christopher Columbus" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, which included Krupa playing drums, was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1996, Apollo 440 released a hit song titled "Krupa," which honors Gene Krupa.

Legacy and posthumous information

Roy Knapp said, "Every professional drummer, percussionist, or musician owes something to Gene Krupa because of his creative ideas that helped shape modern drumming techniques and styles used today." Buddy Rich, who considered Krupa a major influence, stated, "Gene Krupa was the start and the end of all drummers." He was a true genius of the drums. Gene discovered new ways to play the drums that had never been done before. Before Gene, drums were only part of a band and not noticed much. Gene changed that by giving drums more importance and making drummers stand out. He helped people understand the role of drummers and why they play the way they do. Jim Chapin described Krupa as "a charismatic person who made the public aware of drummers' importance."

Music critics like Charles Waring noted that Krupa's performance style, including his energetic personality and use of solos, influenced rock drummers such as John Bonham, Bill Ward, and Keith Moon. Drummers Ian Paice and Carl Palmer said they began playing drums at a young age after hearing Krupa's music. Guitarist Dick Dale, who also played percussion early in his career, was a fan of Krupa and said his guitar sound and rhythm were inspired by Krupa's drumming.

Discography

• 1946 Drumming with Krupa (Columbia)
• 1947 Gene Krupa and His Orchestra (Columbia)
• 1948 Gene Krupa (Columbia)
• 1950 Gene Krupa Plays "Fats" Waller for Dancing (Columbia)
• 1952 The Original Drum Battle (Verve)
• 1952 The Drum Battle with Buddy Rich (Verve)
• 1953 Timme Rosenkrantz's 1945 Concert Volume 3 (Commodore)
• 1953 The Exciting Gene Krupa
• 1954 Sing, Sing, Sing (Verve)
• 1954 The Driving Gene Krupa (Verve)
• 1954 Gene Krupa, Volume 1 (Clef)
• 1954 Gene Krupa, Volume 2 (Clef)
• 1955 The Jazz Rhythms of Gene Krupa (Verve)
• 1955 G. Krupa-L. Hampton-T. Wilson (Verve)
• 1955 The Gene Krupa Quartet (Clef)
• 1956 Drummer Man (Verve)
• 1956 Krupa and Rich (Verve)
• 1957 Krupa Rocks (Verve)
• 1959 Big Noise from Winnetka (Commodore)
• 1959 Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve)
• 1959 Hey…Here's Gene Krupa (Verve)
• 1959 The Gene Krupa Story (Verve)
• 1961 Percussion King (Verve)
• 1962 Burnin' Beat with Buddy Rich (Verve)
• 1962 Classics in Percussion! (Verve)
• 1963 The Mighty Two with Louis Bellson (Roulette)
• 1964 The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura (Verve)
• 1972 Jazz at the New School (Chiaroscuro)

• 1950 Live at Carnegie Hall (1938)
• 1955 The Benny Goodman Story, Volumes 1–2
• 1956 The King of Swing, Volume 2
• 1956 Trio Quartet Quintet
• 1997 The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (RCA Victor, 1935–39 [1997])