Grady Tate, who helped drive soul-jazz movement, dies at 85

Grady Tate, a jazz musician who was nominated for Grammy Awards as a singer but was best known as a versatile drummer who helped propel the “soul-jazz” style of the 1960s and who appeared on hundreds of albums, has died at his home in New York. He was 85.

The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, his son, Grady Tate Jr., said in a social media posting.

Beginning in the early 1960s, Tate was one of the most sought-after drummers in music, performing in big bands led by Quincy Jones and with singers as varied as Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne and Bette Midler. He played delicately enough to work in a trio led by pianist Billy Taylor, yet also had enough energy to anchor the “Tonight Show” band with Doc Severinsen for six years in the 1960s and 1970s. He performed with Simon and Garfunkel at the duo’s celebrated 1981 reunion concert at New York’s Central Park.

As the drummer on several recording dates by jazz organist Jimmy Smith throughout the 1960s, including “Organ Grinder Swing” and “Hoochie Coochie Man,” Tate provided the rhythmic pulse that made the bluesy soul jazz a popular style of the time. He recorded with guitarists Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, saxophonists Stanley Turrentine and Oliver Nelson, and provided the strolling drum introduction to Jones’ seminal 1969 recording of Benny Golson’s “Killer Joe.”

“I’ve done so many dates,” Tate told Modern Drumming magazine in 2001. “I’d leave one session and immediately go to another, and I’d have to empty my head in between so I could start fresh on the next project.”

A self-taught drummer, Tate was known for a crisp, controlled style that was both precise and relaxed. He seldom launched into loud, showy drum solos.