Hall of Fame

by Rick Mattingly As the big band era of the 1930s and early ’40s gave way to the bebop era of the late 1940s and ’50s, Max Roach became the most important bop drummer through his work with bebop founders Charlie “Bird” Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Roach was at the forefront of a new drumming…

One of the most influential 20th century composers, John Cage pioneered a body of music that he described as “the contemporary transition from keyboard-influenced music to the all-sound music of the future.” From 1930 to 1950 Cage composed over 16 percussion scores and invented compositional procedures and theories conceived for percussion music. During the 1950s…

by Frederick D. Fairchild (b. Omaha, Nebraska, USA May 23, 1893; d. 1970) Considered one of history’s greatest xylophone players, George Hamilton Green started playing at age 11 and at 13 was performing solos with his father’s band. At 19 he entered vaudeville and in one year was proclaimed “the fastest, most artistic, and most…

by Rick Mattingly “Lionel Hampton inspired me to play the vibraphone,” said Milt Jackson, the innovative vibraphonist of the Modern Jazz Quartet. “He was the first one of note to play it, but more important, I liked how dynamic he was. And the way he blended with groups and the way he played in front…

by Frederick D. Fairchild World renowned businessman and percussionist Carroll Bratman was the founder and owner of Carroll Sound, Inc. Starting percussion in 1921 as a member of the Baltimore Evening Sun Newsboys Band, he studied with Harry Soistmann and Adolph Riehl, received a scholarship to Peabody Conservatory in 1924, and in one year was…

by James Robbins There was a fine house band at the Savoy Ballroom during the 1930s. They weren’t widely known in the first half of the decade, but in 1935, after their leader discovered and hired the loser of an amateur singing contest (her name was Ella Fitzgerald), their fortunes began to change. 1 In…

by Frederick D. Fairchild Lou Harrison is one of our most influential percussion composers and innovators. His career has included work as a composer, performer, teacher, musical theorist, ethnomusicologist, conductor, instrument maker, poet, calligrapher, critic, polemicist, dancer, puppeteer and playwright. Harrison received his earliest training in piano and dance, later taking up composition, and finally…

by Frederick Fairchild Fred Hinger is recognized throughout the world as one of the great percussion authorities and instrument designers. He has the distinction of having held two of the world’s premier orchestral timpani positions. Hinger’s formal studies began during his junior high school years. While attending high school he was encouraged to pursue music…

by Rick MattinglyAdditional reporting by Lauren Vogel Weiss Remo Belli didn’t have to go to PASICs and trade shows; he had plenty of employees who could promote and sell his products. But he could typically be found in the Remo booth, and he usually had one or more new products to promote, which he did…

Elected to the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 1986 in the categories of band leader, drum set, and recording artist, Buddy Rich is best known as the most technically advanced drum set artist of the 20th century and for leading the Buddy Rich Big Band.