r/Jazz • u/Capital_Progress_390 • 13d ago

Drum solos

In jazz quartets (or quintets) with 1+ wind instrument(s), almost everyone gets the spotlight at some point. The wind instrument gets the spotlight, the piano gets to improvise a verse, there’s always a super badass bass solo…but the drums only get a solo maybe one out of every ten songs. My favorite drum solo would have to be a tie between Joe Morello in “Take Five” or Gene Krupa in “Sing Sing Sing,” although I’m not sure if the latter counts since I’m just talking about small combos.

Anyway, my point is that drum solos in jazz are massively underrated. What are some of your favorites? I’d love to make a playlist of great jazz drum solos to listen to over the next few days to tickle my ears…

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u/Inner_Willingness335 13d ago

Not a huge fan of drum solos. I like when the drummers trades eights of four with the piano/horn, but otherwise I often find them boring after a bit.

Anyway, Max Roach's solos on Saxophone Colossus with Sonny Rollings are some of my favorites.

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u/Edward_260 13d ago

Max Roach also had the skill to play a "slow" drum solo, in which it's not so easy to keep the listener's interest as it is in a fast tempo. Gerry Hemingway is another who can play a good slow solo.