Roy Haynes
Biography
Roy Owen Haynes (March 13, 1925 – November 12, 2024) was an American jazz drummer. He was among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 80 years, he played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and was considered a pioneer of jazz drumming. "Snap Crackle" was a nickname given to him in the 1950s.
Haynes led bands such as the Hip Ensemble. His albums Fountain of Youth and Whereas were nominated for a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1999. His son Graham Haynes is a cornetist; another son Craig Holiday Haynes and grandson Marcus Gilmore are both drummers.
Read full biography ↓
Haynes was born in Boston, Massachusetts and began his full time professional career in 1945. From 1947 to 1949 he worked with Lester Young, and from 1949 to 1952 was a member of the Charlie Parker Quintet. He also recorded at the time with Bud Powell, Wardell Gray, and Stan Getz. From 1953 to 1958 he toured with Sarah Vaughan.
Haynes is one of the most recorded drummers in jazz and in his over 80-year career has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing to avant-garde jazz. In addition to being a sideman, some feel that Haynes is one of the most original musicians in jazz history. He has a highly expressive, personal style ("Snap Crackle" was a nickname given him in the 1950s) and is known to foster a deep engagement in his bandmates, listening and supporting and lifting the whole band rhythmically and sonically.
He is equally adept at gracefully backing a singer like Sarah Vaughan or in explosive interactions with the likes of John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Eric Dolphy, or Andrew Hill. He was inducted into the Down Beat Magazine Hall of Fame in 2004.
Haynes has recorded or performed with John Coltrane, Gary Burton, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Henry Grimes, Christian McBride, Jackie McLean, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, Horace Tapscott and many others. He has also led his own groups, some performing under the name Hip Ensemble. His most recent recordings as a leader are The Roy Haynes Trio, Fountain of Youth and Where As (recorded live at the Artists Quarter).
On November 12, 2024, Haynes died at the age of 99 in Nassau County, New York, on the South Shore of Long Island. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.
