Music
Louis Hayes
born 1937 · jazz drummer, bandleader
Detroit-born drummer who led a band in the city's clubs before he was 16 and went on to Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley and Oscar Peterson; NEA Jazz Master 2023.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 89- Birth name
- Louis Sedell Hayes
- Detroit years
- 1937–1956
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hayes grew up in Detroit, the son of an auto worker who played drums and piano and a mother who waited tables and played piano; his mother's brother was John L. Nelson, father of Prince. He got his first drum set at ten, learned the fundamentals from his cousin Clarence Stamps, and absorbed the big bands on the radio and the playing of Philly Joe Jones. Before he turned sixteen he was leading his own band in Detroit clubs, and in 1955–1956 he worked with Yusef Lateef and trombonist Curtis Fuller. In August 1956 he moved to New York to replace Art Taylor in Horace Silver's quintet, then spent 1959 to 1965 with Cannonball Adderley and 1965 to 1967 with Oscar Peterson, often alongside bassist Sam Jones. He recorded with John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor, co-led bands with Junior Cook and Woody Shaw, and later formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2023.
Highlights
- Led his own band in Detroit clubs before age 16
- Worked with Yusef Lateef and Curtis Fuller in Detroit (1955–1956)
- Drummer for Horace Silver (1956–1959) and Cannonball Adderley (1959–1965)
- Member of the Oscar Peterson Trio (1965–1967, 1971)
- NEA Jazz Master (2023)