Sharing the recently discovered Gene Krupa drum collection, with the world.
Gene Krupa, considered by many as the world's greatest drummer, has influenced generations with his ferocious drum solos and enthusiastic stage presence. He became the first drummer to be a star of the silver screen performing alongside the best jazz musicians of his time, most notably with The King of Swing, Benny Goodman. Gene's contributions to the drumming world are immeasurable, collaborating with the Slingerland drum company as their first endorsee inventing the tunable tom - tom. With the Avedis Zildjian cymbal company Krupa helped standardize the names to their cymbals such as: the swish, splash, crash and ride becoming known as the founding father of the modern drum set. In 1978, Eugene Bertram Krupa became the very first drummer to be inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.
These historic items for sale are from Gene Krupa's personal drum collection and were purchased directly from the Gene Krupa estate. All of these pieces and more were rumored to have been destroyed during a fire at Gene’s home in Yonkers, NY in April of 1973. After the fire and before renovations of the home, the items were privately moved to the Morgan & Brother Storage, Co. in Manhattan, NY. Gene passed away just 6 months later on October 16th, 1973. Everything remained in that storage locker until they were discovered by myself and another collector in 2019.
Some of these items can be seen in the documentry film, "Born To Swing" and in these photos of Gene with Benny Goodman at the 1973 Carnegie Hall concert. Which would be Gene's last public performances.
The entire collection has been personally reviewed by Krupa historian and author, Brooks Tegler. Understanding the historical impact and provenance behind this collection would not have been possible without his tireless help. Please refer to Brooks' report to learn more about each item and click on the link below to purchase his new online book on Hudson Music, dedicated to the life of Gene Krupa with a chronological view of the equipment he once used. https://hudsonmusic.com/product/gk-the-tools-that-built-the-gene-krupa-legend/ Each sale will be accompanied by a Certificate Of Authenticity, and all items sold will remain on mcaulaydrums.com as a source of provenance.
.jpg)
