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Zutty Singleton, Drummer born

Zutty Singleton

On this date in 1898, Zutty Singleton was born. He was a Black drummer and band leader.

He was born in Bunkie, LA, and moved to New Orleans when he was ten. Zutty Singleton was one of the most influential drummers of early jazz. He popularized the use of brushes and drum solos in jazz and had some of the best techniques of the era. Zutty started at the Rosebud Theater in New Orleans with Steve Lewis in 1915 when he was fifteen. During World War I, he went to Europe to fight and was wounded while in the Navy.

He played in several bands in New Orleans after the war, including with Papa Celestin, Luis Russell, and Fate Marable on the riverboats. He moved to St. Louis to play with Charlie Creath and married his sister, Marge. He moved back to New Orleans for a year and then to Chicago, where he worked with Doc Cooke and others. While in Chicago, he and Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines tried to open a club, but it was unsuccessful. Zutty played on several of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five sides, including "A Monday Date," where Armstrong says, "Come on Zutty, whip those cymbals Pops!"

In 1931, he moved to New York City to play with Fats Waller. Throughout the Depression, Singleton kept working, often in traveling vaudeville shows. 1933 he returned to Chicago and joined Carroll Dickerson at the Grand Terrace. Throughout the rest of the 1930s, he played with several bands, including those led by Roy Eldridge, Mezz Mezzrow, and Sidney Bechet. In 1941, he moved to Los Angeles and led or played in a series of bands.

He continued playing up until he retired in 1970 after a stroke. Zutty Singleton died in New York in 1976.

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