Bernard Purdie
Jimmy Mak's
April 16
Two Shows // All Ages @ 7pm // 21+ @ 9:30pm
Tickets
An all-time great soul, r&b, funk, and pop drummer, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie's impeccable time and mastery of backbeats and grooves are well celebrated. His collaborations serve as a who's who list of some of the biggest and most influential names in popular music in the 20th Century and have earned him the undeniable monkier of "World's Most Recorded Drummer."
He moved to New York from Maryland in 1960 and immediately made his mark in the scene. In short succession, Purdie began recording with James Brown and King Curtis. He was CTI's house drummer in the late '60s and early '70s, and worked with Grover Washington, Jr. and George Benson among several others during his time there.
Purdie toured with Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin in 1970, and was Franklin's music director until 1975. During his studio days in the early '70s, Purdie recorded with Louis Armstrong and Gato Barbieri along with numerous rock, pop, and soul sessions. He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie in 1980 at the Montreux Jazz Festival and toured with him in 1983. Purdie recorded with Hank Crawford during the early '80s, and has continued working steadily into the '90s.
He famously generated a firestorm of reaction in 1993 when he charged it was his uncredited drumming rather than Ringo Starr's on some Beatles tracks. Purdie claimed proof was forthcoming, but none was presented. He made a rare date as a leader for Flying Dutchman in 1972, Pretty Purdie, that has long since disappeared, remaing one of the most sought out gems by crate diggers to this day.
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie is one of those rare figures that stood at the crossroads of an historic time in music and staked his claim as the progenitor of progressive, groove-based drumming. Although still somehwat unknown in more mainstream circles, those that know of him and his music know what a treat it is to catch him live, still groovin' after all these years.