Choosing your own custom kit to reflect your individual style and personality: That’s what it’s all about. From a virtually endless combination of Exotic, Lacquer, Satin Oil, Hard Satin and
FinishPly™ finishes, to any one of four drum hardware color options, this is the chance to make a statement all your own. Whether you decide on a retro-style 7771 rail tom mount, heavy-duty
slide-track tom mount, or no mount at all, the decision is yours. Why not add a 770 bass drum-mounted cymbal arm or maybe a bass drum lifter for your smaller 18” kick? Whatever your needs,
our goal is to tailor a Jazz Series kit to your exact specifications.
Next, consider all of the standard features that make DW Jazz Drums a truly unique instrument. True, we hand-select only the finest North American hard rock maple and gum wood for our shells,
and yes, we painstakingly match our drums using our patented Timbre Matching process to ensure optimal tunability; but Jazz Series drums also come standard with a host of other features that
make them one serious set of drums. Case in point, each Jazz Series kit comes standard with die-cast hoops, a DW first. Next, each kit comes fitted with DW coated/crimped heads made by
Remo U.S.A. Even the floor tom legs are forged from aluminum to offer a lighter-weight option for working drummers. In short, no detail has been overlooked. Once you see and hear them for
yourself, we think you’ll agree: DW Jazz Drums are in a class all their own.
Jazz Drums® Artists
Peter Erskine on Jazz
Jazz. What is it? Trumpeter Louis Armstrong answered, “Man, if you gotta ask what it is, you’ll never know.”
Meanwhile, Duke Ellington taught us that, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Drummer Art Blakey
said, “Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that’s it. No America, no Jazz.”
I submit that we can all agree to the following truth: Jazz is an American music that has found its home everywhere
across the globe, influencing every style of modern music. It takes rhythm to play Jazz, and it takes an ear that
can hear The Blues. Jazz is passion. Jazz is restraint. Jazz is hot. Jazz is cool (the coolest thing about Jazz is that
it IS so cool). Jazz is life.
From Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock, Winton Marsalis to Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams is
undoubtedly one of the most influential and inspiring drummers of all time. His trademark yellow
drum set was his calling card, and his mastery of the instrument, combined with his signature
playing style, left an indelible mark on Jazz. In tribute to Tony, any DW Jazz Series kit can be
customized in “TW Yellow” Lacquer Custom, the exact color Tony hand-picked for his original DW
kit. Order any size or configuration and pay homage to this legendary Jazz Master.
He was one of a kind and will always be part of our family. We miss you, Tony.
The DW Custom Shell Shop in Oxnard, California, is a state-of-the-art shell-making facility.
There, DW Jazz Drum shells were born. The idea was to design a shell that offered different
tonal possibilities than our Collector’s Series® or Classics Series® shells – something that
was dark and warm, but still offered plenty of clarity and attack. Put simply, a shell that
would sing. After much experimentation, a thin 8-ply shell with a gum wood core was
born. It was no coincidence that this was the exact shell that had been so popular decades
earlier.
DW Master Drum Designer John Good then focused his efforts on the bearing edge. This
was going to be an edge that lended itself to high tuning without being choked, an edge
that provided a wide tuning range while remaining noticeably resonant despite the muffling
quality of die-cast counter hoops. You guessed it: The Jazz Series “Butter Edge” was
born. Finally, unlike Collector’s Series and Classics shells, Jazz Series shells have no
reinforcement hoops. This creates a less focused sound, but one that helps the instrument
resonate as a whole, the way Jazz drums should.
Let’s face it: There’s nothing more critical to drum construction than the shell itself. It’s the
very foundation of any drum design. With DW Jazz Series shells it’s all there – innovation,
quality and attention to detail. So why consider anything else?
Finally, unlike Collector’s Series and Classics shells, Jazz Series shells have no
reinforcement hoops. This creates a less focused sound, but one that helps the instrument
resonate as a whole, the way Jazz drums should.