By Steve Dunfey

I came to love jazz through Gene Krupa. My mother bought me a couple of his albums on the
Verve and MGM labels. Wow! I was completely captivated.

Then one day I was trying out some new equipment at Jack’s Drum Shop in Boston when a salesperson told me that Krupa was coming to New England. So it turns out that my cousin Jerry, a drummer also, and I went to see him perform at the Eastland Hotel in Portland Maine. After the show, we sat down with Krupa and pianist Teddy Wilson. At Krupa’s request I got him a drink and then we listened to these giants of the swing era talk with each other. What an opportunity for a couple of young jazz fans.
Of course, we got Krupa’s autograph too.

Also playing in the band that night was a drummer from Newburyport named Les Harris, Sr. It was the first time I had seen him play. He was a great drummer who taught for many years at Berklee College of Music. He was the father of Les Harris Jr. also a great drummer. And it turns out that he produced and performed two concerts with Krupa in Newburyport.

Les was kind enough to talk to me about his experience in the “jazz center of the universe” as the
Newburyport Daily News called the concerts with Krupa.

“Every drummer’s hero and a wonderful guy who was down to earth. A beautiful guy…no big ego just a nice guy” is Harris’ description of Krupa. “He played with Teddy Wilson on piano, Tyree Glynn who was Louis Armstrong’s trombonist, Dave McKenna on piano and Henry “Hank” Kolosey on bass. I negotiated with Krupa’s agent in New York. Locally, Mayor Byron Mathews helped out with city funding. He deserves a lot of credit and he was a good jazz fan.”

Newburyport’s Yankee Homecoming annual citywide event was the background for these two Krupa concerts. This was before the existence of the Traditional Jazz Series and the Clark Terry Jazz Festival, both at the University of New Hampshire. So Harris was on his own in producing the jazz concerts. They included appearances of local notable musicians such as Lovey Ann Bosteels singing and playing the piano and Johnny Battis on saxophone and clarinet. An anticipated Krupa concert at the South Wind in Rye apparently had to be canceled due to Krupa’s health problems.

According to Harris, “we met Gene at the airport and he was in a lot of pain due to a case of sciatica. I had to wheel him up to the drum set. He was in his 60’s and still chewing gum! But every drummer, especially jazz drummers has been influenced by Gene Krupa.”

Harris’ son Les Jr. remembers the Krupa concerts. “Usually around the time of the Newburyport concerts, they’d put a “mini tour” together with Gene and the same sidemen. The venues would be The Village Green in Danvers, The South Wind in Portsmouth and The Bridgeway and the Eastland Hotel in Portland.

“I was just 9 years old when Gene first came to Newburyport in 1970 and 11 years old on his second and
final visit in 1972. So as you can imagine, I was quite young and impressionable, and a drummer, so seeing Gene Krupa live at those ages made a lasting impression on me.”

“When I was very young, prior to 1970, my Dad had introduced me to the great Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall recordings with Gene’s solo feature Sing Sing Sing!, Gene’s own big band recordings with
his solo feature Drum Boogie, Gene’s small group recordings with Charlie Ventura as well as the LP,
Together Again! a reunion recording of the great Benny Goodman Quartet with Benny, Gene, Teddy
Wilson and Lionel Hampton.”

“.In those days, Gene would also appear on TV shows such as Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin, so of
course, I was very familiar with him and very excited to meet him and hear him play live as a nine year old
aspiring drummer. At that time in my life, of course Gene’s drumming inspired me a great deal as I’d play
along with all of those recordings. I wasn’t just drawn to his playing for his drum solos but I was also
inspired by his great time feel. Gene came up in Chicago playing with Bud Freeman and Jimmy
McPartland.”

“In fact, my Dad had those recordings as well, and Gene’s time feel was always alive and swinging. He’s
considered one of the first drum soloists and may be most famous for his solo on Sing Sing Sing but one
of my favorite recordings is an LP that he rarely solos on called, Gene Krupa plays the Arrangements of
Gerry Mulligan from the late 50’s. Great arrangements in a more modern, early bop style.”
“My Dad had taught me this history and bought me the records, so seeing Gene play live while sitting in
the front row with my grandfather at Newburyport High School was a great thrill! An even greater thrill was seeing my Dad walk onstage to play a drum duet with Gene!”
“I had the opportunity to meet Gene in person after both of these concerts and he was very kind,
gracious and encouraging to me. I still have an autograph from the 1970 concert and a pair of sticks and
brushes that he gave me at the 1972 concert. Gene Krupa was one of the most important and influential
drummers of all time and seeing him play live are experiences that I’ll never forget and will always
cherish!”
As jazz critic Scott Yanow says,”Gene Krupa was the first drummer to be considered a superstar and a matinee idol.” And musicologist Jared Pauley states that, ”Krupa left behind an unmistakable impact on all modern drumming, not just jazz drumming. Without Krupa’s innovations and enthusiasm the toolkit used by modern drummers in music from jazz to rock and country wouldn’t exist.”