Chick Webb

CHICK WEBB d1939. American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. He alternated between band tours and residencies at New York City clubs through the late 1920s. In 1931, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. He became one of the best-regarded bandleaders and drummers of the new "swing" style. Drummer Buddy Rich cited Webb's powerful technique and virtuoso performances as heavily influential on his own drumming and even referred to Webb as "the daddy of them all". He was unable to read music and instead memorized the arrangements played by the band and conducted from a platform in the center. He used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, a 28-inch bass drum and other percussion instruments. In 1935 he featured a teenage Ella Fitzgerald as a vocalist. He died of Pott disease aged just 34 on June 16th 1939