Top 10 Drum Performances
To me, it all comes back to the drums. As such, this was a hard one to narrow down (hence the honorable mentions). Note that this category is not strictly limited to drum solos.
- Max Roach: "For Big Sid" from Drums Unlimited
- Art Blakey: "The Core" from The Big Beat
- Roy Haynes: "Pumpkin" from Black Fire by Andrew Hill
- Papa Jo Jones: "Old Man River" from Jo Jones Trio
- Philly Joe Jones: "Billy Boy" from Milestones by Miles Davis
- Billy Higgins: "Una Muy Bonita" from Change of the Century by Ornette Coleman
- Elvin Jones: "Pursuance" from A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
- Mickey Roker: "Riot" from Speak Like a Child by Herbie Hancock
- Victor Lewis: "Big Girls" from Quickstep by Kenny Barron
- Joe Chambers: "El Gaucho" from Adam's Apple by Wayne Shorter
HONORABLE MENTION
Vernell Fournier: "Poinciana" from But Not For Me by Ahmad Jamal
Jack DeJohnette: "Isotope" from Power to the People by Joe Henderson
Dannie Richmond: "Fables of Faubus" from The Great Concert of Charles Mingus by Charles Mingus
Tony Williams: "Freedom Jazz Dance" from Miles Smiles by Miles Davis
Grady Tate: "Organ Grinder Swing" from Organ Grinder Swing by Jimmy Smith
Roy Brooks: "Filthy McNasty" from Doin' the Thing at the Village Gate by Horace Silver
Louis Hayes: "Unit 7" from Jazz Workshop Revisited by Cannonball Adderley
Andrew Cyrille: "Tales (8 Whisps)" from Unit Structures by Cecil Taylor
Ben Riley: "Boo Boo's Birthday" from Underground by Thelonious Monk
Gene Krupa: "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman (reissued on various compilations)
and on and on and on . . .