Gene Krupa

1909年1月15日生于美國伊利諾州的芝加哥。克魯帕是一位幸運的音樂家，首張專輯就取得了成功。1927年，在與麥堪奇·科頓的“芝加哥人”樂隊合作的音樂會上，他精彩地演奏了全套的爵士鼓而深受觀眾的喜愛和好評。 　　1934年，克魯帕加盟本尼·古德曼的樂隊。1937年，他演奏的爵士鼓套曲《唱、唱、唱》是一次歷史性的突破，將一個爵士鼓手從配角躍升為樂隊中的明星。1938年，他又在著名的卡內基音樂廳的音樂會上搶盡風頭而引起古德曼的不滿，最終導致離開古德曼的樂隊自立門戶。在新組建的樂隊中，他吸收了許多出色的音樂家，這支樂隊演奏的《爵士鼓布基伍基舞曲》是一首流行曲。 　　1941～1942年，樂隊又演奏了《讓我離開市中心》、《在你走之后》、《搖椅》等幾首非常成功的樂曲。1943年，克魯帕與當時最走紅的湯米·道爾西的樂隊進行過短斯合作，1944年，又重新組建了自己的大樂隊并與次中音薩克斯管演奏家查爾斯·凡杜拉和鋼琴家泰迪·拿破侖推出過一首三重奏熱門曲《黑眼睛》。 　　1951年，克魯帕解散了自己的大樂隊后，經常參加三重奏或四重奏的演出，曾與著名的爵士管弦樂團一道巡回演出、與科茲·科爾開辦過鼓手學校、與本尼·古德曼合作過幾次。從60年代起，克魯帕的健康狀況每況愈下，一直處于半退休的狀態(tài)。1973年10月16日，克魯帕在紐約州克斯去世，享年60歲。 　　1943年，當?shù)鼐鞆幕帷た唆斉恋臉逢犂锼殉隽撕Ｂ逡?，這事如同今天人們傳言某某作家嫖娼一樣令人唾棄。克魯帕的名聲降到了最低點。然而克魯帕畢竟是克魯帕，他心里明白陷害他的人是一種什么樣的心理在作怪，這反過來也證明了他的藝術才華。在監(jiān)禁中他第天都在墻壁上練習鼓譜，百分之百地投入，盡最大可能地將痛苦忘卻。律師看到這一情景后對他說：“克魯帕，你應該盡快同警方合作，早點離開這個鬼地方?！笨唆斉琳f：“我從來不知道毒品為何物，但我知道比毒品列壞的是人的惡劣的嫉妒心，我要用更加有力的鼓聲，將這種惡劣的心態(tài)擊碎?！笨唆斉两K于獲釋，同情他的人在弄明白真象后對他更加熱愛，崇拜他的人也更多了。
by Scott Yanow
The first drummer to be a superstar, Gene Krupa may not have been the most advanced drummer of the 1930s but he was in some ways the most significant. Prior to Krupa, drum solos were a real rarity and the drums were thought of as a merely supportive instrument. Krupa, who with his good lucks and colorful playing became a matinee idol, changed the image of drummers forever.
Gene Krupa made history with his first record. For a session in 1927 with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans, he became the first musician to use a full drum set on records. He was part of the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s before moving to New York and worked in the studios during the early years of the Depression. In December 1934 he joined Benny Goodmans new orchestra and for the next three years he was an important part of BGs pacesetting big band. Krupa, whose use of the bass drum was never too subtle, starred with Goodmans Trio and Quartet and his lengthy drum feature Sing, Sing, Sing in 1937 was historic. After he nearly stole the show at BGs 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert, Krupa and Goodman had a personality conflict and Gene soon departed to form his own orchestra. It took the drummer a while to realize with his band that drum solos were not required on every song! Such fine players as Vido Musso, Milt Raskin, Floyd OBrien, Sam Donahue, Shorty Sherock and the excellent singer Irene Daye were assets to Krupas Orchestra and Drum Boogie was a popular number but it was not until 1941 when he had Anita ODay and Roy Eldridge that Krupas big band really took off. Among his hits from 1941-42 were Let Me Off Uptown, After Youve Gone, Rockin Chair and Thanks for the Boogie Ride. Krupa made several film appearances during this period, including a very prominent featured spot in the opening half hour of the Howard Hawks comedy Ball of Fire, performing an extended version of Drum Boogie (with Roy Eldridge also featured), and William Dieterles faux jazz history, Syncopation. Unfortunately Krupa was arrested on a trumped-up drug charge in 1943, resulting in bad publicity, a short jail sentence and the breakup of his orchestra.
In September 1943 he had an emotional reunion with Benny Goodman (who happily welcomed him back to the music world). Krupa also worked briefly with Tommy Dorsey before putting together another big band in mid-1944, one that had a string section. The strings only lasted a short time but Krupa was able to keep his band working into 1951. Tenor-saxophonist Charlie Ventura and pianist Teddy Napoleon had a trio hit in Dark Eyes (1945), Anita ODay returned for a time in 1945 (scoring with Opus No. 1) and, although his own style was unchanged (being a Dixieland drummer at heart), Krupa was one of the first swing big bandleaders to welcome the influence of bebop into his groups arrangements, some of which were written by Gerry Mulligan (most notably Disc Jockey Jump). Among the soloists in the second Krupa Orchestra were Don Fagerquist, Red Rodney, Ventura, altoist Charlie Kennedy, tenorman Buddy Wise and in 1949 Roy Eldridge.
After breaking up his band in 1951, Krupa generally worked with trios or quartets (including such sidemen as Ventura, Napoleon, Eddie Shu, Bobby Scott, Dave McKenna, Eddie Wasserman, Ronnie Ball, Dave Frishberg and John Bunch), toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic, ran a drum school with Cozy Cole and had occasional reunions with Benny Goodman. In 1959, Columbia Pictures released The Gene Krupa Story, a biographical drama based on Krupas life starring Sal Mineo in the title role and Red Nichols in a supporting part. Gradually worsening health in the 1960s resulted in him becoming semi-retired but Krupa remained a major name up until his death. Ironically his final recording was led by the same person who headed his first appearance on records, Eddie Condon. Gene Krupas pre-war big-band records are gradually being released by the Classics label.