George Wettling

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George Godfrey Wettling (November 28, 1907 – June 6, 1968) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, and grew up in Chicago, where he fell in love with jazz after hearing King Oliver’s band at Lincoln Gardens in the early 1920s. Oliver’s drummer Baby Dodds left a lasting impression on him.

Wettling played with big bands led by Artie Shaw, Bunny Berigan, Red Norvo, Paul Whiteman, and Chico Marx, but he was at his best in small groups led by Eddie Condon and Muggsy Spanier, as well as in his own band. He also appeared in Condon’s ensembles with players like Wild Bill Davison and Pee Wee Russell. In 1957, he toured England with a Condon band. Toward the end of his life, Wettling took up painting, inspired by the American cubist Stuart Davis, and he believed rhythm in jazz drumming shared a craft-like quality with abstract painting. He died in New York City in 1968 at age 60.