The Gretsch Broadkaster Snare Drum

Arguably one of the finest snare drums ever made was the Gretsch Gladstone two way or three way tension snare drum. ( See blog date Oct 6th, 2010). There wasn't anything else quite like it and great big band drummers like Chick Webb and Jo Jones raved about the Gladstone. Jo even played a complete set of Gladstone drums. In the 30's, Gretsch based it's reputation on this drum and the company "rode" it for all it was worth
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 But the Second World War affected drum production and it wasn't until the late 40's that drum companies returned to their normal way of doing business. The music scene was changing also. Be-bop was the trend of the day and Big Bands were starting their long slide into oblivion.

The Gretsch Drum Company recognized this and was johnny-on-the spot in grabbing the lion's share of endorsers who played this "new" music. The list of musicians was most impressive. It  included Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Shelly Manne, Art Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Charli Persip. The company didn't ignore big band drummers either. Jo Jones continued to play the brand but he was joined by Louis Bellson, Sonny Payne, Don Lamond, Mel Lewis, Shadow Wilson and Dick Shanahan.  Thus Grestch  entered it's glory days.  The company started a run that culminated in the 60's, stumbled a bit in the 70's and 80's, righted itself in the late 90's, and is currently enjoying great success in the marketplace.

All of which brings me to the gorgeous beauty you see pictured here. This is a Gretsch Broadkaster Snare Drum from 1947. She has a 3 ply wooden shell, which was advertised as being perfectly round for life, double flange hoops, self-aligning non strip lugs and the " feather touch" snare strainer.

 This drum has no reinforcing rings. Gretsch engineers believed that such rings distorted the sound. She is wrapped in a White Pearl finish. Later Gretsch drums had a silver sealant on the inside of the shell.  This drum does not. Perhaps not the most sensitive drum around and her sound is "old fashioned". That is to say that younger players who like that real poppy snare sound would not care for her at all. But no matter. She's a real sweet heart, and for us older players, she fits the bill perfectly.

Elvin Jones and Gretsch Drums

The Jazz Showcase has been one of the premier Jazz clubs in the Chicago land area for many years. Other clubs have come and gone, but the Showcase rolls on. It was at this club that I heard the great Elvin Jones right after he left the John Coltrane Quartet.

I remember the night quite vividly. My date and I arrived early...in fact we were the only people in the place, outside of the owner. The club, as it were, was really a storefront. The location of the club would move every few months. Sometimes it would stay in one place for a year or more, but then it would move somewhere else. This particular venue was a one off. I never saw anyone else play there and I don't believe it was ever used again.

In any case, Elvin arrived with his wife Keiko and began setting up his drums. He played Gretsch Drums and the kit was a Satin Flame Wrap. I gathered my courage and went up to him, introduced myself and began to chat. What followed was over a hour of conversation involving Gretsch Drums, Coltrane and his new trio. There are no words to describe how I felt. My teacher, Max Mariash, had spoken about Elvin with great admiration and here I was talking to one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time.

The album cover pictured was the first release by the Elvin Jones Trio. That night they played many tunes from this release. Joe Farrell was there, but Jimmy Garrison was not. That night was the start of a love affair with Elvin's playing. Not counting the great Louis Bellson, I saw Elvin Jones play more than any other Jazz Drummer.

Gretsch Gladstone Snare Drum

Billy Gladstone was a theatre show drummer in New York City in the 1930's. He was accomplished drummer who also had some very definite ideas about drums and their construction. He invented an ingenious tuning system that allowed him to tune his snare drum without lifting it off its stand. This three way, or in some cases, two way tuning system was revolutionary for the time. Billy also believed that the drum shell should be free of any reinforcing rings that would in his estimation distort the true sound of the drum He took his ideas to Gretsch and the Gretsch Gladstone Drum was born.

It was through my teacher, Max Mariash, that I became aware of this drum, albeit in a rather roundabout way. As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, Max turned me on to Papa Jo Jones. The first picture that I saw of Papa Jo showed him sitting behind a complete set of Gretsch Gladstone Drums. That was it.....if the great Jo Jones played those drums, I needed to find out more about them.

Back in the day, the 1960's, there wasn't a lot of information about drums. No one thought about collecting them. You bought a kit, used it until it fell apart, then you bought another one. But I, like many others, were fascinated by all the different drum companies and their products. Those drums that interested me, like the Rogers Wood Dynasonic Snare Drum, I wanted to buy and play. The Gretsch Gladstone fit into this category.

I never thought I would ever get to play this drum until one fall afternoon I walked into a drum shop in the upper Midwest and, lo and behold, there sat the drum you see pictured at the top of this entry. To say she's beautiful, is a colossal understatement. The drum is a dream to play. All in all, the Gretsch Gladstone occupies a special place in American Drum History.