Kenny Clarke (1914 - 1985) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's in the early 1940's, he participated in the birth of modern jazz. He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the snare drum ("digging coal", Clarke called it) with heavy support from the bass drum. With Clarke time was played on the cymbal and the bass and snare were used more for punctuation. For this, "every drummer" Ed Thigpen said, "owes him a debt of gratitude."

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