57 Best Jazz Drummers

Peter Erskine

Peter Erskine is a famous modern jazz drummer whose playing style is quite traditional. He’s also an incredible educator with a big passion for teaching younger drummers how to play jazz.

However, my favorite part of Erskine’s career was when he played with Weather Report and Steps Ahead. These were jazz fusion groups that allowed Erskine to play really busy and impressive parts on the drums.

While there are plenty of clips of Peter Erskine playing old-school jazz, I highly recommend people watch how good he was in those fusion settings.

Roy Haynes

In the general music space, drummers like Bernard Purdie, Hal Blaine, and Jim Keltner are known to be the most recorded players ever, making appearances in thousands of studio albums.

In the jazz world, it’s Roy Haynes. He’s played with almost every world-famous jazz artist, and he’s another one of the biggest inspirations in jazz drumming.

I’ve said that about a lot of drummers on this list, but jazz is such a broad style that it’s taken hundreds of drummers to influence how it gets played.

Jimmy Cobb

Jimmy Cobb was one of the first drummers to play in Miles Davis’ band, and he went on to play with more big names like John Coltrane, Hank Jones, and Cannonball Adderley.

Out of all the drummers on this list, he had one of the longest running careers, only dying at the age of 91.

Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham is yet another drummer who became famous when playing with Miles Davis. However, he’s mostly known for being one of the greatest jazz fusion drummers to ever live.

He became a huge influence on drummers that played styles other than jazz, including Danny Carey and Phil Collins.

Billy Cobham still plays regularly, and it’s amazing to see how well he can move around the kit in his old age.

Joe Morello

Joe Morello’s claim to fame was his immaculate drumming in Take 5 by Dave Brubeck. He was a master at playing amazing things in odd time signatures.

However, he had such a broad career that spanned years of gigging with some of the best jazz musicians in the world. While the Take 5 drum parts are great, it’s everything else about Joe Morello that places him on this list.

Terri Lyne Carrington

Terri Lyne Carrington is one of my favorite female drummers. While she’s played many of the biggest names in jazz, it’s her control over the instrument that really impresses me.

She’s become one of the go-to drummers to call up in the jazz world, and she’s done an incredible job of leading many of her own projects.

Kenny Clarke

Kenny Clarke is the final jazz drummer on this list that was part of the group of guys that formed bebop drumming.

His signature style of playing was to keep very busy on the ride cymbal while leaving space on the bass drum. He’d then play accents on the bass drum to support whatever the soloists were doing.

While a few other drummers did this too, it was all of them together that shaped bebop drumming as we know it.

Dave Weckl

Dave Weckl can easily be mentioned in a conversation as one of the best drummers in the world. He’s also an incredible educator, but his drumming in jazz fusion bands is what most people love.

He’s played with some amazing artists, with his work with The Chick Corea Elektrik band being one of my favorite things that I’ve heard him in.

If you want to see someone who has truly mastered good technique, Dave Weckl is the man to watch.

Cindy Blackman

Cindy Blackman can be considered both a rock and jazz drummer. Her roots are in jazz drumming, though, and you can see it in her playing.

While she gained major fame for being Lenny Kravitz’s drummer, I really enjoy watching her work in jazz bands.

She’s a major influence in the jazz world, especially to female drummers who mostly see men dominating the field.

My favorite thing about her is her drum solos. She plays with intense power but also sleek finesse.

Omar Hakim

Omar Hakim is arguably one of the most versatile drummers in the entire music industry. He was Daft Punk’s drummer for a long time, and he’s even played drums with the Foo Fighters at a stage.

However, he was ripping it up with jazz fusion bands in the 80s and 90s, and that’s why his name is on this list. He’s such a fantastic player.

Mark Guiliana

Mark Guiliana is one of the best modern jazz drummers playing at the moment, in my opinion. He plays in a few projects, with some of them being geared toward traditional jazz and others having electric influences.

He’s incredibly creative, having a playing style that always amazes any audience that gets to watch him play.

He also played drums with David Bowie, so he’s another versatile drummer on this list.

Harvey Mason

With him being the original drummer of Herbie Hancock’s The Headhunters, that pretty much tells you that Harvey Mason is a big jazz fusion drummer.

However, he currently plays with the band Fourplay, which is more of a jazz group than a jazz fusion one.

Harvey Mason has an amazing sense of groove, and he vividly brings that into his jazz drumming parts.