Roy Haynes, Pioneering Jazz Drummer, Dies Aged 99

Roy Haynes, a pioneering jazz drummer who went on to become one of the most recorded percussionists in music history, has died at the age of 99.

As per the New York Times, Haynes’ daughter – Leslie Haynes-Gilmore – confirmed that the drummer passed away on Tuesday (Nov. 12) in Nassau County, N.Y. following a brief illness.

Born on Mar. 13, 1925, Haynes grew up in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning his musical career in the early 1940s and becoming a full-time professional drummer in 1945. Throughout the decade, he worked with the likes of saxophonist Lester Young and performed as part of Charlie Parker’s quintet from 1949 to 1952.

Haynes was also offered a role in Duke Ellington’s band in 1952, ultimately turning it down due to a desire of being in smaller bands which allowed more room for musical expression.

Haynes’ recorded output is an impressive one, boasting appearances as a sideman for names as revered and acclaimed as Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Stan Getz, and countless others before the advent of the 1960s. Alongside this work as a sideman, his output as a bandleader was equally prolific, with his first record – Busman’s Holiday – arriving in 1954.

Haynes received his first Grammy Award nomination in 1988 in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group for his work with Chick Corea. Over the next 19 years, he would take home two awards from his eight nominations. In 2012, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys, with another Lifetime Achievement Award coming from the Jazz Foundation of America in 2019.

Haynes’ other awards included the the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 1996, and honorary doctorares from both the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. In 2004, DownBeat magazine inducted him into their Hall of Fame, having being named in their readers and critics polls on 14 occasions.

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