1909年1月15日生于美国伊利诺州的芝加哥。克鲁帕是一位幸运的音乐家，首张专辑就取得了成功。1927年，在与麦堪奇·科顿的“芝加哥人”乐队合作的音乐会上，他精彩地演奏了全套的爵士鼓而深受观众的喜爱和好评。 1934年，克鲁帕加盟本尼·古德曼的乐队。1937年，他演奏的爵士鼓套曲《唱、唱、唱》是一次历史性的突破，将一个爵士鼓手从配角跃升为乐队中的明星。1938年，他又在著名的卡内基音乐厅的音乐会上抢尽风头而引起古德曼的不满，最终导致离开古德曼的乐队自立门户。在新组建的乐队中，他吸收了许多出色的音乐家，这支乐队演奏的《爵士鼓布基伍基舞曲》是一首流行曲。 1941～1942年，乐队又演奏了《让我离开市中心》、《在你走之后》、《摇椅》等几首非常成功的乐曲。1943年，克鲁帕与当时最走红的汤米·道尔西的乐队进行过短斯合作，1944年，又重新组建了自己的大乐队并与次中音萨克斯管演奏家查尔斯·凡杜拉和钢琴家泰迪·拿破仑推出过一首三重奏热门曲《黑眼睛》。 1951年，克鲁帕解散了自己的大乐队后，经常参加三重奏或四重奏的演出，曾与著名的爵士管弦乐团一道巡回演出、与科兹·科尔开办过鼓手学校、与本尼·古德曼合作过几次。从60年代起，克鲁帕的健康状况每况愈下，一直处于半退休的状态。1973年10月16日，克鲁帕在纽约州克斯去世，享年60岁。 1943年，当地警察从基尼·克鲁帕的乐队里搜出了海洛因，这事如同今天人们传言某某作家嫖娼一样令人唾弃。克鲁帕的名声降到了最低点。然而克鲁帕毕竟是克鲁帕，他心里明白陷害他的人是一种什么样的心理在作怪，这反过来也证明了他的艺术才华。在监禁中他第天都在墙壁上练习鼓谱，百分之百地投入，尽最大可能地将痛苦忘却。律师看到这一情景后对他说：“克鲁帕，你应该尽快同警方合作，早点离开这个鬼地方。”克鲁帕说：“我从来不知道毒品为何物，但我知道比毒品列坏的是人的恶劣的嫉妒心，我要用更加有力的鼓声，将这种恶劣的心态击碎。”克鲁帕终于获释，同情他的人在弄明白真象后对他更加热爱，崇拜他的人也更多了。by Scott YanowThe first drummer to be a superstar, Gene Krupa may not have been the most advanced drummer of the 1930s but he was in some ways the most significant. Prior to Krupa, drum solos were a real rarity and the drums were thought of as a merely supportive instrument. Krupa, who with his good lucks and colorful playing became a matinee idol, changed the image of drummers forever.Gene Krupa made history with his first record. For a session in 1927 with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans, he became the first musician to use a full drum set on records. He was part of the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s before moving to New York and worked in the studios during the early years of the Depression. In December 1934 he joined Benny Goodmans new orchestra and for the next three years he was an important part of BGs pacesetting big band. Krupa, whose use of the bass drum was never too subtle, starred with Goodmans Trio and Quartet and his lengthy drum feature Sing, Sing, Sing in 1937 was historic. After he nearly stole the show at BGs 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert, Krupa and Goodman had a personality conflict and Gene soon departed to form his own orchestra. It took the drummer a while to realize with his band that drum solos were not required on every song! Such fine players as Vido Musso, Milt Raskin, Floyd OBrien, Sam Donahue, Shorty Sherock and the excellent singer Irene Daye were assets to Krupas Orchestra and Drum Boogie was a popular number but it was not until 1941 when he had Anita ODay and Roy Eldridge that Krupas big band really took off. Among his hits from 1941-42 were Let Me Off Uptown, After Youve Gone, Rockin Chair and Thanks for the Boogie Ride. Krupa made several film appearances during this period, including a very prominent featured spot in the opening half hour of the Howard Hawks comedy Ball of Fire, performing an extended version of Drum Boogie (with Roy Eldridge also featured), and William Dieterles faux jazz history, Syncopation. Unfortunately Krupa was arrested on a trumped-up drug charge in 1943, resulting in bad publicity, a short jail sentence and the breakup of his orchestra.In September 1943 he had an emotional reunion with Benny Goodman (who happily welcomed him back to the music world). Krupa also worked briefly with Tommy Dorsey before putting together another big band in mid-1944, one that had a string section. The strings only lasted a short time but Krupa was able to keep his band working into 1951. Tenor-saxophonist Charlie Ventura and pianist Teddy Napoleon had a trio hit in Dark Eyes (1945), Anita ODay returned for a time in 1945 (scoring with Opus No. 1) and, although his own style was unchanged (being a Dixieland drummer at heart), Krupa was one of the first swing big bandleaders to welcome the influence of bebop into his groups arrangements, some of which were written by Gerry Mulligan (most notably Disc Jockey Jump). Among the soloists in the second Krupa Orchestra were Don Fagerquist, Red Rodney, Ventura, altoist Charlie Kennedy, tenorman Buddy Wise and in 1949 Roy Eldridge.After breaking up his band in 1951, Krupa generally worked with trios or quartets (including such sidemen as Ventura, Napoleon, Eddie Shu, Bobby Scott, Dave McKenna, Eddie Wasserman, Ronnie Ball, Dave Frishberg and John Bunch), toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic, ran a drum school with Cozy Cole and had occasional reunions with Benny Goodman. In 1959, Columbia Pictures released The Gene Krupa Story, a biographical drama based on Krupas life starring Sal Mineo in the title role and Red Nichols in a supporting part. Gradually worsening health in the 1960s resulted in him becoming semi-retired but Krupa remained a major name up until his death. Ironically his final recording was led by the same person who headed his first appearance on records, Eddie Condon. Gene Krupas pre-war big-band records are gradually being released by the Classics label.