American Jazz drummer, Paul Humphrey took private drum lessons, beginning when he was 8 years old. After a time in the in the U.S. Navy, he went on to be a session artist and played with many of the great jazz artists of all-time! Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Les McCann, Kai Winding, Jimmy Smith, Charles Mingus, Joe Williams, Lee Konitz, Blue Mitchell, Gene Ammons and the Harry James Band (replacing Buddy Rich).
After his time in New York, he moved to L.A. and worked with many of the soul and R ‘n’ B artists of the 60s and 70s like Larry Williams and Johnny “Guitar” Watson and toured and recorded with Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Tony Orlando, Jerry Garcia, Burt Bacharach, Diahann Carroll, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Bill Medley.
He also recorded with Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Al Kooper, Jackie DeShannon, Natalie Cole, Albert King, Quincy Jones, Dusty Springfield, Jean-Luc Ponty, Maria Muldaur, Marc Bolan and many others. The fact that most people don’t know his name is a terrible shame.
As a band leader, he had a couple hits of his own on the Hot 100 and R ‘n’ B chart! His only Top 40 was “Cool Aid” and peaked at #29!
