Famous Drummers From A to Z > K

Famous Drummers

K

Your complete resource to info on the most famous drummers in the world. This page contains everyone who's anyone with a last name beginning in the letter K.

Eric Kalb
Check out the Deep Banana Blackout (yeah, a horn band) drummer on the Official DBB Web site, includes Real Audio, Real Video, and MP3s too.

Laurence Kaptain
Kaptain is a percussionist, marimba, and cimbalom (the Hungarian dulcimer) artist. He has played with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Syracuse, Rochester, New World, Kansas City and St. Louis Symphonies, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus, and many others. Laurence's homepage courtesy of University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Manu Katche
Manu has played with Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, Tears for Fears, Dire Straits, Paul Toung, Tori Amos, and many others. Here's his bio, courtesy of Holger Hoffmeister.

Connie Kay
Born: April 27, 1927. Died: November 30, 1994. Connie Kay (Conrad Henry Kirnon) was a self-taught drummer who worked with Miles Davis, Cat Anderson, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, and Cannonball Adderley. He also played on rock singer Van Morrison's 1968 album Astral Weeks but was best known for his work with the Modern Jazz Quartet, which he powered for over 30 years. Site courtesy VH1.com.

Jim Keltner
By the looks of the above Web site and this link too, you could get the impression that Jim has played on a lot of recordings. And you'd be right! Check out the multiple discographies of this studio legend.

Will Kennedy
Check out this Grammy Award winning drummer's Official Web site. And while you're at it, check out Tiger Bill's review of his video, Be A DrumHead.

For a further example of his performance, see our exclusive video coverage of the Cape Breton International Drum Festival 2005.

Lee Kerslake
Uriah Heep drummer Kerslake plays the kit not with his fingers, wrists, or arms - but his entire body. For the scoop on "body" drumming, check out Lee's bio on Uriah Heep's own Web site.

Billy Kilson
Billy has worked with greats like Dave Holland, Bob James, Larry Carlton, George Duke, Christian McBride, and Dianne Reeves. This, Billy's Official Web site, contains bio, discography, tour info, MP3 samples, and more.

Joey Kramer
Born: June 21, 1950. Aerosmith drummer, Joey Kramer, has a short bio and cymbal setup here, compliments of Zildjian Cymbals. And here's an interview with Kramer by Virginia Reed. Courtesy of Bishop's Drum Shop.

Bill Kreutzmann
Born: May 7, 1946. Click the above link to read about the return to music of the Grateful Dead drummer, from metroactive.com. Also, read about his association with Mickey Hart, on the University of Washington student web server. And don't miss Sarah Bruner's interview with Bill from January 1999, courtesy of JamBands.com.

Gene Krupa
Born: January 15, 1909. Died: October 16, 1973. Thorough bio with lots of photos. Includes link to Gene's discography, filmography, and his 1943 drug bust. Good stuff for fans of the ace drummer man. Also, check out this Krupa – Rich interview, following one of Gene and Buddy's famous Drum Battles. It originally appeared in Metronome Magazine in 1956. He doesn’t mention it here, but years later Buddy would complain that he played all the drums while Gene got all the applause! That was because Gene was a true showman, everything he did just looked so good! These two guys influenced a ton of drummers, myself included. From the excellent Krupa site maintained by fan and fellow drummer: Shawn C. Martin.

Russell Kunkel
Russ has been around for more than 20 years and has worked with and, in some cases, produced albums for top talent like Joe Walsh, Stevie Nicks, Wynonna Judd, Steve Winwood, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffet, Carly Simon, Bob Seger, and many others. Yamaha Corporation offers a discography and drum setup.

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