Louis Hayes...plays really fast!

Louis Hayes is one of the all time great drummers, hands down.  He moved to New York from Detriot at the age of 19 to play with Horace Silver, went on to be a long time member of the Cannonball Adderly band (turning down Miles Davis to stay with Cannonball), and also played with John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Mongomery, and so many other greats.  Tony Williams and Billy Hart cited him as some of their biggest influences, and Kenny Washington said that Louis Hayes taught him how to play uptempo.

SO!  Make sure to check him out, he's still around playing better than ever.  Here's a nice drum solo from a TV appearence of the Cannonball Adderly Sextet.

Art Taylor Plays the Blues

Rare footage today from Johnny Griffin and Art Taylor.  The whole 30 min. clip is phenomenal, but check out from 26:30 on to see Griffin's tune Blues for Harvey, and compare it Kenny Washington's playing on the same tune in this post found here.  What hand speed!

Kenny Washington Plays the Blues

The great Kenny Washington playing the the Johnny Griffin Quartet, the song Blues for Harvey.

What a tempo!  Incredible playing by Johnny Griffin, Ronnie Matthews, Ray Drummond, and Kenny Washington himself.  Kenny has always been known for playing blinding tempos with dexterity and groove.  Check out the trading between Johnny and Kenny that launches into his drumsolo (around 8:00) the interaction is incredible.  What an amazing drum solo, and listen closely, he keeps the form!!!