Krupa on the Tom-Tom

I'm not that big a fan of Big Band era music, so when Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing" started playing on the local Jazz radio, I almost switched it off.

After a minute or two, it started getting to me and I wasn't sure why. About half way through it, I knew. There was a drummer banging away on the Tom-tom that was relentless. He turned out to be Gene Krupa.

Krupa does, what I found out later, to be the first extended and most famous drum solo ever recorded. If you've never heard this, you owe it to yourself to listen to it at least once in your life.

I defy anyone to not get caught up in the beat.

Recorded in 1938, you can listen to it here or watch a cool video here. I now have a copy of Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall and the track runs twelve minutes!