Ben Thigpen

Biography

Drummer Ben Thigpen may be the father of the quite well-known bebop and contemporary jazz drummer, Ed Thigpen. The former’s big sister Eva Thigpen may take very much responsibility for all of this rhythmic skill becoming approved along: she began her little sibling from piano and looked another method when he turned to drums. By the first ’20s Ben Thigpen was gigging expertly in South Flex, IN, in an organization led by Bobby Boswell. He also started to accompany a set of dancers before shifting to Chicago and learning percussion with Jimmy Bertrand. From your mid-’20s the drummer collaborated numerous fine vintage jazz players from your Windy City picture, including trumpeter Doc Cheatham. For just two years from 1927, Thigpen was section of Charlie Elgar’s Creole Music group, but unfortunately didn’t record with this interesting clothing. A Cleveland stint inside a combo helmed by J. Frank Terry lasted many years ahead of what would end up being the drummer’s longest and best-known association, Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Pleasure. Kirk, a significant leader from your Kansas Town jazz picture who nurtured very much splendid talent, like the great pianist Mary Lou Williams, managed a Thigpen existence in his tempo section from 1930 until 1947. Huge slabs of Thigpen’s discography are specialized in this era, with a number of the materials also released in series devoted to these Williams’ early years. Significantly less documentation can be obtained concerning the drummer’s later profession. He led a quintet of his very own in St. Louis and in the ’60s matched up with bassist Singleton Palmer.

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