VIDEO / DVD: 12 Videos of Drummer Sonny Payne

By the time drummer Sonny Payne joined Count Basie in December 1954, he had played with bands led by Paul Bascomb, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Tiny Grimes and Erskine Hawkins. After he joined Basie, the band loved his novel approach to drumming—driving the swing with a steady beat while adding accents, polyrhythms and a rhythmic attitude to excite and motivate the players and audiences…