Meet 2023 NEA Jazz Master--Drummer Louis Hayes!

In this podcast, Louis Hayes talks about his long and illustrious career as one of the great hard bop drummers. We talk about his growing up in Detroit—home to many great musicians—in a household filled with music. Hayes started drumming when he was young— influenced by the two drummers in his family: his father and his cousin Clarence Stamps, who was his first teacher.  As a youngster, Hayes heard Charlie Parker and it rocked his world.  By 15, Hayes was leading teenage bands, and, at 18, he was playing in a club with Yusef Lateef. He’s talks about his life-changing move to NYC to play with Horace Silver and all he learned there, the NYC jazz scene in the 50’s, recording with John Coltrane, and the happy experience of playing with Cannonball Adderley for six years before joining the Oscar Peterson Trio. He also discusses his own reluctance to become a bandleader as well as his tribute albums to both Silver and Adderley. But what shines through his deep love for the music and his fellow musicians.

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