Bob Gluck's Blog

As a writer and pianist/keyboardist, drummers have always been important to me. One of my longest running musical partnerships has been with drummer Tani Tabbal (who appears most recently on my album “Early Morning Star” (2020, FMR). Another highlight was the time I spent speaking and playing with Billy Hart (the fruits of which include the album “Infinite Spirit, Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band” (2016, FMR) and interviews that appear within my book “You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band (University of Chicago Press, 2016). You can find information about all of these projects at electricsongs.com.

A few years ago, I published in my WordPress blog an interview with the late drummer Alvin Fielder. Recently, I’ve begun to post additional interviews on my Substack “Music and Our Lives”

Warren Smith

The most recent addition is a conversation with the remarkable percussionist, educator, organizer Warren Smith. The initial interview took place in 2011, but has been updated with further conversation, most recently on December 1, 2025. We discuss his early life in and around Chicago, his eclectic performing career – from Broadway to Max Roach’s M’Boom percussion ensemble, to Tony Williams Lifetime… his teaching career and his involvement in the NYC Downtown jazz loft world. His work continues now in his 9th decade. He is just a pleasure to speak with and I think you’ll enjoy reading the text.

Barry Altschul and Jerome Cooper

Also this year, I’ve posted on Substack an interview with drummers Barry Altschul, the late Jerome Cooper (an earlier version of which is also on the WordPress blog you are now reading.

Jabali Billy Hart as an exemplar of what I admire so much about drummers – and a note about his new album

What I have personally loved most about fine drummers is how the best of them combine a wealth of historical knowledge and a broad perspective on the music they are playing. Their fine technical skills go without saying. Jabali Billy Hart one told me that he thinks of his role as composing at the drums, no matter what the music may be. This implies an awareness of everything that is happening at any given moment during a performance. This was certainly my own experience playing with him. With the recent passing of Jack DeJohnette, and a year ago Roy Haynes, Hart now essentially stands alone among the distinctive drummers of his generation, the ones who learned from Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Tony Williams… and who have thus defined jazz drumming in the generation that came of age in the 1960s.

And Billy Hart continues to inspire. The latest album of his stellar quartet was just released: “Multidirectional” (a term he uses, borrowing from John Coltrane, for his aesthetically expansive approach to the drums). Learn more here about the album and about the club whose label released it, Smoke, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

For me, drummers keep the world spinning round and there have been fewer the equal of Billy Hart. I will have more to say about him in the future.

Remembering Jack DeJohnette

I posted a few reflections about Jack DeJohnette on my Substack a few days following his death.

~ by bobgluck on December 4, 2025.

Posted in great musical thinkers, memories
Tags: aart blakey, Alvin Fielder, barry altschul, billy hart, drummer, elvin jones, interviews, jabali, jack dejohnette, jazz, jazz drummer, jazz lofts, jerome cooper, max roach, mboom, music, percussionist, rock, roy haynes, tani tabbal, tony williams, Tony williams lifetime, Warren Smith