Benjamin "Buzzy" Drootin (April 22, 1920 – May 21, 2000) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

drummer.

Career

Drootin was born near

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine, and moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States, with his family when he was five. His father played the clarinet, and two of his brothers and his nephew were musicians. He began playing drums professionally as a teenager. At age twenty, he toured with the

Jess Stacy Jesse Alexandria Stacy (August 11, 1904 – January 1, 1995) was an American jazz pianist who gained prominence during the swing era. He is perhaps best known for his years with the Benny Goodman band during the late 1930s, particularly his pe ...

All-Stars, a band that includeded

Lee Wiley Lee Wiley (October 9, 1908 – December 11, 1975) was an American jazz singer during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Biography Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. At fifteen, she left home to pursue a singing career, singing on New York ...

. In 1940, he also toured with

Ina Ray Hutton Ina Ray Hutton (born Odessa Cowan; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female big bands. Biography A native of Chicago, Hutton began da ...

. He then joined the band of

Wingy Manone Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a ...

. From 1947 until 1951, he worked as the house drummer at

Eddie Condon's Eddie Condon's was the name of three successive jazz venues in New York run by jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader Eddie Condon from 1945 until the mid-1980s. He was a bandleader at

El Morocco El Morocco (sometimes nicknamed Elmo or Elmer) was a 20th-century Manhattan nightclub frequented by the rich and famous from the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s. It was famous for its blue zebra-stripe motif (designed ...

club in New York City, and a member of the house band with his brother Al at George Wein's Storyville club in Boston. During these years he worked with

Doc Cheatham Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham (June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997), was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the Grandfather of musician Theo Croker. Early life Doc Cheatham was born in Nashvi ...

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and car ...

Bobby Hackett Robert Leo Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was an American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet, and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Hackett was a featured soloist ...

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Bra ...

Claude Hopkins Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader. Biography Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his ...

Jimmy McPartland James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married ...

Pee Wee Russell Charles Ellsworth "Pee Wee" Russell (March 27, 1906 – February 15, 1969), was an American jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet. With a highly individualistic and s ...

, and Arvell Shaw. Drootin recorded with

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

, Bobby Hackett,

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...

, Eddie Condon, Ruby Braff,

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band a ...

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

, the Newport All-Stars,

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jaz ...

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His ...

, PeeWee Russell and

The Dukes of Dixieland The Dukes of Dixieland was an American, New Orleans "Dixieland"-style revival band, originally formed in 1948 by brothers Frank Assunto, trumpet; Fred Assunto, trombone; and their father Papa Jac Assunto, trombone and banjo. Their first records ...

. In 1968–69, he toured and recorded with

Wild Bill Davison William Edward Davison (January 5, 1906 – November 14, 1989), nicknamed "Wild Bill", was an American jazz cornetist. He emerged in the 1920s through his work playing alongside Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschemacher in a cover band where they ...

's Jazz Giants and then formed Buzzy's Jazz Family, borrowing some of Davison's sidemen (

Herb Hall Herbert L. Hall (March 28, 1907 – March 5, 1996) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist. Early life Hall was born in Reserve, Louisiana, the brother of Edmond Hall and the son of clarinetist Edward Hall (musician), Edward Hal ...

Benny Morton Benny Morton (January 31, 1907 – December 28, 1985) was an American jazz trombonist, most associated with the swing genre. Career He was born in New York, United States. One of his first jobs was working with Clarence Holiday, and he appea ...

) and adding

Herman Autrey Herman Autrey (December 4, 1904 – June 14, 1980) was an American jazz trumpeter. Career Autrey was born into a musical family in Evergreen, Alabama, United States. He played alto horn before taking up trumpet as a teenager and performing lo ...

on trumpet and his nephew, Sonny Drootin, on piano. In 1973, after touring Europe and America, he returned to his hometown of Boston, where he and his brother Al and nephew Sonny formed the Drootin Brothers Band. They played at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hi ...

. Drootin played at the first Newport festival and at many festivals after that. He also played at the Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival in the 1980s.

Death

Buzzy Drootin died from cancer at the age of 80, at the Actors Fund Retirement and Nursing Home in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from po ...

Discography

With

* ''Braff!!'' (Epic, 1956) * ''Ruby Braff'' (Jasmine, 1956) * ''Hi-Fi Salute to Bunny'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * ''

The Ruby Braff Octet with Pee Wee Russell & Bobby Henderson at Newport ''The Ruby Braff Octet with Pee Wee Russell & Bobby Henderson at Newport'' is a live album by Ruby Braff's Octet with Pee Wee Russell and solo pianist Bobby Henderson recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 and released on the Verve label ...

'' (Verve, 1958) * ''Blowing Around the World'' (United Artists, 1959) * ''Ruby Braff Goes Girl Crazy'' (Warner Bros., 1959) * ''The Ruby Braff-Marshall Brown Sextet'' (United Artists, 1960) With

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of ...

* ''Midnight in Moscow'' (Epic, 1956) * ''Ringside at Condon's Featuring Wild Bill Davison'' (Savoy, 1956) * ''Windy City Seven and Jam Sessions at Commodore'' (Commodore, 1979) With others *

, ''Sidney Bechet at Storyville'' (Storyville, 1974) *

Serge Chaloff Serge Chaloff (November 24, 1923 – July 16, 1957) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. The first and greatest bebop baritonist, Chaloff has been described as 'the most expressive and openly emotive baritone saxophonist jazz has ever ...

, ''The Fable of Mabel'' (1201 Music, 1999) *

, Buzzy Drootin, Herb Hall, ''The Jazz Giants'' (Biograph, 1970) * Wild Bill Davison, ''Wild Bill Davison with Eddie Condon's All Stars'' (Storyville, 1977) *

, ''Vic's Boston Story'' (Storyville, 1957) *

Dukes of Dixieland The Dukes of Dixieland was an American, New Orleans "Dixieland"-style revival band, originally formed in 1948 by brothers Frank Assunto, trumpet; Fred Assunto, trombone; and their father Papa Jac Assunto, trombone and banjo. Their first records ...

Clara Ward Clara Mae Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel singer who achieved great artistic and commercial success during the 1940s and 1950s, as leader of The Famous Ward Singers. A gifted singer and arranger, Ward adopted ...

, ''We Gotta Shout!'' (CBS, 1963) *

, ''Bobby Hackett at the Embers'' (Capitol, 1958) * Bobby Hackett &

, ''Jazz Ultimate'' (Capitol, 1958) *

, ''Old Tyme Modern'' (Biograph, 1969) * Max Kaminsky & Pee Wee Russell, ''Max and Pee Wee at the Copley Terrace'' (Jazzology, 1996) *

Tony Parenti Tony Parenti (August 6, 1900 – April 17, 1972) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. After starting his musical career in New Orleans, he had a successful career in music in New York Cit ...

, ''The Final Bar'' (Jazzology, 1999) *

, ''We're in the Money'' (Storyville, 1956) *

Ralph Sutton Ralph Earl Sutton (November 4, 1922 – December 30, 2001) was an American jazz pianist born in Hamburg, Missouri. He was a stride pianist in the tradition of James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. Biography Sutton was born in Hamburg, Missouri, ...

, ''Ragtime U.S.A.'' (Roulette, 1962) *

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

's Dixie-Victors, ''The Magic Horn'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * George Wein's Newport Jazz Festival All Stars, ''George Wein's Newport Jazz Festival All Stars'' (Smash, 1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drootin, Buzzy 1920 births 2000 deaths American jazz drummers Soviet emigrants to the United States 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Musicians from Boston Deaths from cancer in New Jersey