Quiz

He was innovative. It was his idea to create the tunable tom-tom; he went to the Zildjian company and asked for thinner cymbals; he was the first drummer to record using a bass drum; he was one of the first drummers (if not the first) to use a hi-hat as we know it today; and the modern drum kit basically stems from his.

Along with Eddie Condon, Krupa moved from Chicago to New York in 1929 to work in theatre pit bands (some under the direction of Red Nichols) alongside Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. He also recorded with Bix Beiderbecke. Between late 1934 and 1938, Krupa came to fame as star drummer for Benny Goodman, but his high profile within the band, his showmanship and popularity with audiences, irritated Goodman and led to a public quarrel -- after which Krupa left to set up his own orchestra.

The Gene Krupa Orchestra became one of the most popular swing bands in the U.S., but it folded in 1943 after Krupa was arrested and jailed on a marijuana possession charge. Eventually rehabilitated after the charge was dropped (the chief witness recanted!), he was again voted the most outstanding drummer in the U.S. in January 1944 and soon started up another big band.

Krupa is referred to by name on a couple of occasions in the 2000 film "Pollock". Painter Jackson Pollock was a jazz fan, and Gene Krupa was one of his favourite musicians.

Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1983.

His band's theme song was "Apurksody", derived from a backwards spelling of 'Krupa' and the word 'rhapsody'.

Bandleader and drummer

According to newspapers reports at the time, Krupa's first wife Ethel collapsed while walking down the stairs at home and died. She was 47 at the time.

In 1973, Krupa died in Yonkers at the age 64 from heart failure, though he also had leukemia and emphysema.

His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, Sing" elevated the role of the drummer from an accompanying line to an important solo voice in the band. The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" combined with Fats Waller's "Christopher Columbus" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.

Inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1975.

In the early 1970s, Krupa's house in Yonkers, New York, was damaged by fire.

In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Gene Krupa and drummer Buddy Rich performed at Carnegie Hall in September 1952 and it was issued by Verve as The Drum Battle.

Norman Granz hired Krupa and drummer Buddy Rich for his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts.