Profile of Gene Krupa on Famous Like Me

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was a famous and influential Polish-American jazz and big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.

Krupa was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin.

Krupa moved to New York City in 1929 and worked with the band of Red Nichols. In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band, where his featured drum work — especially on the hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" — made him a national celebrity. In 1938 he left Goodman to launch his own band and had several hits with singer Anita O'Day and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Krupa made a memorable cameo appearance in the 1941 film Ball of Fire, in which he and his band performed an extended versions of the hit Drum Boogie.

In 1943, Krupa was arrested for possession of marijuana and was given a brief jail term. After his release, Krupa reorganized his band with a big string section, featuring Charlie Ventura on sax. It was one of the largest dance bands of the era, sometimes containing up to forty musicians. He gradually cut down the size of the band in the late 1940s, and from 1951 on led a trio or quartet. He appeared regularly with the Jazz At the Philharmonic shows.

Krupa largely went into retirement in the late 1960s, although occasionally played in public until shortly before his death by leukemia in Yonkers, New York.

Legacy

Many consider Krupa to be the most influential drummer of the 20th century, particularly with regard to the development of the drum kit.

Krupa's main influence began in the 1930s with his collaboration with the Slingerland drum company, but he had already made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to record using a bass drum pedal. His drum method was published in 1938 and immediately became the standard text.

Krupa established the 8 x 12" and 9 x 13" hanging toms mounted on the bass drum, and he developed and popularised many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. His collaboration with Armand Zildjian of the Avedis Zildjian Company developed the hi-hat stand and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, the crash cymbal, the splash cymbal, the pang cymbal and the swish cymbal. Later innovations included the floor tom and toms with tunable bottom heads. At first he placed this between his two bass drums, another technique he was pioneering at the time, before moving it to its now standard position.

Krupa has been cited as an influence by 1960s rock drummers such as John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon of The Who, and Paul Whaley of Blue Cheer. The British techno-rock group Apollo 440 had a hit with "Krupa" which featured the phrase "Now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style", sampled from Martin Scorcese's 1976 film, Taxi Driver. The song itself is an electronic dance track written in the style of Gene Krupa, giving the impression of Krupa's style in the form of a 1990's dance track, blending his musical idioms with a modern song using samples and synthesised basslines.

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