Two British jazz drummers, Chris Dagley and Martin Drew, died this week, both of them unfashionably excellent exponents of straight-down-the-line timekeeping.
Chris Dagley (by Gordon Sapsed)
Chris Dagley, star of NYJO in the 1990s and for the past few years house drummer at Ronnie Scott's died in a scooter accident on the morning of 28 July on the A40 west of London after leaving his gig at Ronnie's.
Chris will be remembered for his professional, propulsive work in many pickup bands with Americans around the UK and for his 'commercial' work with Eric Clapton, Take That, Jamiroquai, Van Morrison, Will Young and others. He represented first-class, no-nonsense musicianship in a jazz world where musical ability is often obscured by hype.
Chris was 38 years old and leaves a widow and three children. His death is a shocking and tragic loss for his family and the British jazz scene.
Martin Drew in 2006 (by Gordon Sapsed)
Martin Drew, for many years drummer with Oscar Peterson, died on Tuesday as he prepared to go to the funeral of Harry Klein.
According to JJ correspondent Gordon Sapsed, Martin felt unwell after taking a shower and was taken to hospital. The consultant happened to be a jazz fan and knew Martin from his days at Ronnie Scott's but his efforts proved in vain.
Martin was a larger-than-life character, as was evident when I visited his west London house for a blindfold test a few years ago, and he leaves a large hole on the London jazz scene.
An appreciation by Martin's friend John Altman will appear in the September issue of Jazz Journal.
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