Remembering Drummer Billy Kaye – Passion, Poise, Style, and Rhythm

My dear friend and mentor, Billy Kaye, jazz drummer par excellence has made his transition.

As relayed in a feature article in the Washington Post, “As a boy, Billy, who was born in Wilson, N.C. in 1932, took piano lessons; he didn’t start playing drums until he enlisted in the Air Force, at age 17. He is entirely self-taught and has toured the world and shared the stage with such greats as Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk (with whom he played in Washington D.C.), George Benson, Lou Donaldson and Dinah Washington. Billie Holiday once cooked for him after he fell sick.”

I met Billy in Harlem when he was playing with the great jazz singer Leon Thomas. Soon after, I got to sit in with his group. I immediately liked his smooth rhythmic support and the color and nuance he offered in his approach to backing singers. Back then Billy was traveling much of the time as drummer for Gloria Lynn, Lou Donaldson, and Leon Thomas.

Billy possessed an easy, affable manner and his comfort level with himself made even new acquaintances feel at ease. After several calls I managed to catch a spot on his bi-coastal schedule. He explained that he and his wife were planning to return to New York City from Southern California where they’d been living several years. Eventually I was able to offer him several bookings that set the stage for our collaborations for the next 30 years.

Billy was a dynamo. His compact frame defied his athleticism. Drumming is strenuous activity and Billy would occasionally reference his experience competing in track and field in the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952. Meticulous and dapper and always a tasteful dresser, Billy represents the school of genteel traditions in jazz, modeling proper decorum in dress and comportment on and off the bandstand as an artist.

Billy’s work ethic was driven by an insatiable desire to learn and improve at his craft. In later years he formed his own ensembles and groups of young talented musicians. They arrived in the Big Apple from South America, Israel, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East and from throughout the U.S.A., seeking opportunities to develop as musicians by playing with and learning from the best. Billy’s credentials were not varnished in conservatory halls, but rather in tens of thousands of hours of gigs, shows, recordings, and rehearsals with some of the last half century’s greatest jazz musicians. They heard and saw the brilliance of a young drummer whose time, style, and taste grew with distinction in the caldron of playing with the very best and growing through each outing to meet the next test – a test that those who know and appreciate the music instinctively discern as authentic talent.

Billy Kaye has the rare distinction of being part of the very first Newport Jazz Festival in 1966, where he was drummer in guitarist/singer George Benson’s group that included Lonnie Smith, later known as Dr. Lonnie Smith, on Hammond B3 organ along with tenor sax player Ronnie Cuber.

Today I’m sad after hearing of my friend, mentor, and collaborator’s transition. Billy was one of the most durable human beings I’ve ever known. I was aware that he was challenged with health issues related to aging but his resilience and passion for the music was irrepressible. He was playing up until nearly the very end. He lived and died pursuing the music he loved. Billy Kaye left behind a catalogue of great music mostly as a valued sideman ensemble player. The album SUGAR by legendary saxophonist Stanley Turrentine was voted by Down Beat Jazz Magazine as one of the 100 greatest jazz albums of all time; Billy’s tasteful drum work is part of the recording’s rhythmic foundation.

In 2017 when I had been looking for material for my album, Billy suggested to me a Milt Sealy instrumental composition entitled Blue Love Adieu. Sealy, a Canadian national, was a pianist/composer based in New York City. Billy’s group and I performed the song impromptu as I created a word montage that eventually became the ninth track on my album, Bossa, Blues, and Ballads. While Billy is on several of my recorded songs, I am eternally grateful that he appears on my Goodbye Blue Love Adieu track especially.

Rest in Peace, my friend. We are better artists and I am indeed the better person that our paths crossed along the journey of life. You will be sorely missed but never forgotten.