When Jazz made the big step from dance music to Modern Jazz with all its di erent playing styles in the 1940s, its harmony and rhythm became more and more complex and it moved away from his "primitive" origins. Interestingly, however, this sparked an interest in the African roots of the music, fueled of course by the new self-consciousness of African Americans after World War II. The drummer Art Blakey traveled to Africa in 1947 in order to become more familiar with African polyrhythms. He used all of these experiences for albums like "Holidays for Skins", which kicks o this comprehensive overview of the great drummers of Modern Jazz. Guy Warren from Ghana was one of the pioneers of the fusion of African music with Jazz, which went on to in uence many musicians in Africa as well as North America - from Fela Kuti to Duke Ellington. With his "Percussion Bittersweet", Max Roach managed to create a wonderful work that confronts young avant-garde musicians such as Eric Dolphy with complex rhythms, enriching the mix with Abbey Lincoln's new vocal accents. Two of the most important drummers of the "Swing into Bebop"- era cannot be left out: Gene Krupa and Jo Jones. Not least because of the successful drum battles at the popular Jazz At the Philharmonic concerts, encounters of the best drummers have always taken place for recording sessions as well, which fortunately presents all participants' musical abilities. With Chico Hamilton, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Shelly Manne, and Dave Bailey, some of the best drummers of the time present themselves in small and medium-sized ensembles without pushing their instruments into the foreground. A very special album is "The Drum Suite" by Manny Albam and Ernie Wilkins, who also wrote scores for the participating drummers. Feat. Art Blakey, Max Roach, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Guy Warren, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Shelly Manne, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, Clark Terry, Eric Dolphy, Abbey Lincoln, Mal Waldron, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson.