Jimmy Wormworth was determined to play drums from an early age. Born in Utica, N.Y., he quickly became part of the "Upstate Guys"—a local nickname that referred to the sizable number of jazz musicians who grew up and gigged in the center of New York state. In the 1950s, Jimmy toured in Europe, and in the U.S. with Nellie Lutcher. Starting in 1960, Jimmy gigged with Charles Mingus, Horace Parlan, Charlie Rouse and played and recorded with Lou Donaldson, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and Al Haig. There were lots of jazz jobs in between and in the decades ahead. [Photo above of Jimmy Wormworth by Antonio Porcar, courtesy of the Jazz Foundation]
Bassist and documentarian Neal Miner, who last year released a documentary on bassist Bill Crow (Jazz Journeyman), put out one on Jimmy Wormworth in 2015. You can view the documentary, Through the Eyes of a Drummer, here...
A special thanks to Todd Selbert.
