Gene Krupa - The Krupa-Rich 'drum Battles'

The Krupa-Rich 'drum Battles'

Norman Granz recruited Krupa and fellow drummer Buddy Rich for his Jazz at The Philharmonic concerts. It was suggested that the two perform a 'drum battle' at the Carnegie Hall concert in September 1952, which was recorded and later issued on vinyl (a CD edition called The Drum Battle at JATP appeared courtesey of Verve in 1999). Further drum battles took place at subsequent JATP concerts; the two drummers also faced off in a number of television broadcasts.

Krupa and Rich recorded two studio albums together; the first was titled Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) and the second called Burnin' Beat (Verve, 1962).