- New Orleans and the Origins of Jazz
Jazz is an Afro-American music. Where Western music accents the first beat, African music does not. To even out the beat, Afro-American drummers had to strengthen beats 2 & 4. Baby Dodds, did this with a press roll.
- Blues and Jazz in 1920s Chicago
The rhythms of Blues and Jazz were combined by Dave Tough, who became a great big band drummer during the swing era.
- The Swing Era
With the development of cymbals, the snare drum beat moved to the hi hats and the rhythm got looser and more syncopated. Jo Jones defined the drum set and Big Sid Catlett took swing drumming to its heights.
- Early Bebop
With the more complex phrasing of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the drummer became more interactive. Kenny Clarke played off-beat accents to move the melody line.
- Late Bebop
With experiments in extending harmonies and phrasing, drumming became more complex. Max Roach brought in more of the drum set and constructed drum solos to reflect the song structure.
- Polyrhythms
Instead of just playing in and around the rhythm drummers now started playing polyrhthms to allow the horns to develop their more complex style, as shown by Elvin Jones.
- Free Jazz
Drummers such as Andrew Cyrille propelled the music without reference to meter.
