early drumset styles in honor of william alexander ’sonny’ greer

a segment from a suite honoring the drummer-percussionists in the early decades of the 20th century in the african american tradition known as jazz. here i focus on the drumset instruments, sounds and styles of the first decades of the 20th century that led to the swing era of the 1930s, 1940s bebop, and beyond, until the present. the music of this early era had and still has a unique joy, and sometimes pathos, expressing our human condition. the early drumset consisted of snare and bass drums from the m