Portraits in Rhythm: The Greats of "Give the Drummer Some"

Best known as pianist and Music Director for San Francisco jazz treasure The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Joe Warner has performed and recorded with Marcus Shelby, Mary Stallings, Steve Turre, Gary Bartz, John Santos, and many others. He conceived this series as a way to salute the unique gifts of this stellar group of rhythm masters.

Here’s a closer look at each of the four drummers performing during the week with Warner and Mateen.

Billy Hart (4/10)

A 2022 NEA Jazz Master, Billy Hart has provided the backbone for the most adventurous modern jazz since the early 1960s, including Herbie Hancock’s explosive Mwandishi band and the loose juggernaut chronicled on Miles Davis's hugely influential 1972 release On the Corner. Beginning his career with jazz legends Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery in his hometown of Washington D.C., Hart moved to New York in 1968 and earned his place as one of the most in-demand drummers on the modern jazz scene.

In addition to his contribution to definitive statements by Hancock and Davis, work with Pharoah Sanders, Eddie Harris, Joe Zawinul, Eddie Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, and McCoy Tyner followed in rapid order. He made his first venture as a bandleader with 1977’s Enchance and led or co-led 14 albums for the Gramavision, Arabesque, Enja, and ECM labels, among others.

Hart currently leads an acclaimed quartet including pianist Ethan Iverson, saxophonist Mark Turner, and bassist Ben Street, whose 2025 ECM album, Just, was released in February. He is also a member of the all-star veteran ensemble The Cookers along with Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, Donald Harrison Jr., David Weiss, George Cables, and Cecil McBee.

Herlin Riley (4/11)

New Orleans native Herlin Riley is the quintessential Crescent City rhythm master whose style is the ultimate mix of post-bop edge and second-line swagger.

He came to prominence as a member of fellow New Orleans jazz hero Wynton Marsalis’s various ensembles, recording over 30 albums with the trumpeter including several of his Standard Time releases and the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, for which he originated the signature percussion parts.

Riley has recorded and performed with a roster of major artists including George Benson, Marcus Roberts, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Harry Connick Jr., and was a member of piano icon Ahmad Jamal’s working quartet for over three decades until Jamal’s death in 2023.

In collaboration with fellow New Orleans drum luminary Johnny Vidacovich, he co-authored the definitive method book on his city’s drumming tradition with 1995’s New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming. He’s released four albums as a leader for the Criss-Cross and Mack Avenue labels including his latest, 2019’s Perpetual Optimism.

Nasheet Waits (4/12)

Son of the legendary drummer Freddie Waits (Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner), Nasheet Waits is a virtuoso percussionist best known as a member of pianist Jason Moran’s longstanding Bandwagon trio with Tarus Mateen, the bassist performing each night this week.

With the Bandwagon, Waits has been an intrinsic part of one of the greatest working piano trios of the modern age – one that has attained an unparalleled level of communication and capacity for collective exploration over two decades.

A student of the great Michael Carvin, Waits gained early experience as a member of the percussion ensemble M’Boom founded by his father and the innovative drummer and bandleader Max Roach. He’s a charter member of the explosive Tarbaby trio with Orrin Evans and Eric Reevis and has supplied his polyrhythmic pulse to albums and dates with Andrew Hill, Christian McBride, Ethan Iverson, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Dave Douglas, and countless others.

Waits has released three albums as a leader including his latest, 2024’s New York Love Letter (Bitter Sweet) for the Giant Steps Arts label, featuring a quartet including saxophonist Mark Turner, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, and bassist Rashaan Carter.

Marvin “Smitty” Smith (4/13)

A powerhouse drummer whose ferocious chops and daunting speed is tempered by his unfailing taste, sensitivity, and touch, Marvin “Smitty” Smith first gained attention through his association with singing great Jon Hendricks.

As a studio heavyweight, Smith has appeared on more than 200 albums including memorable work with Benny Golson, Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Robin Eubanks, Bobby Watson, and SFJAZZ Executive Artistic Director Terence Blanchard.

He has had extended musical partnerships with bassist Dave Holland and in particular saxophonist and M-Base originator Steve Coleman, with whom Smith appears on ten recordings with Coleman’s Strata Institute and Five Elements projects. The drummer's performance on Coleman’s 1991 Novus release Black Science is a staggering amalgam of angular funk, post-bop jazz, and hip-hop that blazed new trails in modern jazz drumming.

Smith performed nightly with guitarist Kevin Eubanks on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show for fifteen years and toured with non-jazz acts including Sting and Willie Nelson. He recorded a pair of albums as a leader for Concord Jazz including 1987’s Keeper of the Drums and 1989’s The Road Less Traveled, both featuring Steve Coleman.

Joe Warner presents “Give the Drummer Some” 4/10-13. Tickets and more information are available here.