Charlie Persip
Charles Lawrence Persip (July 26, 1929 – August 23, 2020), known as Charli Persip and formerly as Charlie Persip (he changed the spelling of his name to Charli in the late 1960s), was an American jazz drummer.
Also recorded as Charles Lawrence Persip · Charli Persip
Charlie Persip

Gretsch Drums · DownBeat Magazine · Public domain
- Name
- Charlie Persip
- Birth Name
- Charles Lawrence Persip
- Born
- 26 July 1929
- Birthplace
- Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
- Place of death
- New York City
- Occupation
- Drummer
- Full name
- Charles Lawrence Persip.
- Died
- 2020. · New York City.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Fields
- jazz, post-bop and big band music.
- Education
- West Side High School.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Charles Lawrence Persip (July 26, 1929 – August 23, 2020), known as Charli Persip and formerly as Charlie Persip (he changed the spelling of his name to Charli in the late 1960s), was an American jazz drummer.
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Note VALÉORINE
Charlie Persip (1929–2020) was an American jazz drummer, music educator and musician. Born Charles Lawrence Persip in Morristown, the jazz drummer died in New York City.
Charlie Persip studied at West Side High School. The jazz drummer was a member of Sam Rivers Quintet. Charlie Persip was active in big band music, jazz and post-bop. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q1066973 · wikipedia · Charlie Persip
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Charlie Persip • Birth Name — Charles Lawrence Persip • Alias — Charli Persip • Born — 26 July 1929 • Birthplace — Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. • Place of death — New York City • Genre — R&B, jazz fusion, jazz • Occupation — Drummer • Instrument — Drums • Years Active — 1945–2010 • Website — Charlie Persip
Biography
Biography
Born in Morristown, New Jersey, United States, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Persip attended West Side High School, preferring it over Newark Arts High School because he wanted to join the former's football team. He later studied drums with Al Germansky in Newark. After playing with Tadd Dameron in 1953, he gained recognition as a jazz drummer as he toured and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie's big and small bands between 1953 and 1958. He then joined Harry "Sweets" Edison's quintet and later the Harry James Orchestra before forming his own group, the Jazz Statesmen, with Roland Alexander, Freddie Hubbard, and Ron Carter in 1960. Around this time, Persip also recorded with other jazz musicians, including Lee Morgan, Melba Liston, Kenny Dorham, Zoot Sims, Red Garland, Gil Evans, Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Gene Ammons and the singer Dinah Washington. Persip was also the drummer on the "Eternal Triangle" recording, Sonny Side Up (Verve, 1957), featuring Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt. From 1960 to 1973 he toured as a drummer and conductor with Billy Eckstine. Along with his performing activities, Persip earned a reputation as an educator. From 1974, he was an instructor of drums and music for Jazzmobile, Inc. in New York City. As of 2008, he was an associate professor at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan. Persip led Supersound, his jazz big band that was started in the mid-1980s as Superband. Supersound's first album was recorded on the Stash label, and was titled Charli Persip and Superband. The group's second album, Superband II, and third album, No Dummies Allowed, were recorded on the Soul Note label. Their fourth album was Intrinsic Evolution.
Death
Death
Charli Persip died August 23, 2020, at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City at the age of 91.
As leader
As leader
• Gretsch Drum Night at Birdland with Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones (Roulette, 1960) • Gretsch Drum Night at Birdland Vol. 2 with Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones (Roulette, 1961) • Charles Persip and the Jazz Statesmen (Bethlehem, 1961) • Drum Night at Birdland with Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones (Roulette, 1974) • Charlie Persip and Gerry Lafurn's 17-Piece Superband (Stash, 1981) • In Case You Missed It (Soul Note, 1985) • No Dummies Allowed (Soul Note, 1989) • Charli Persip & Supersound - Intrinsic Evolution (2008 Charles Persip Productions & Cancrizans Booking & Management)
As sideman
As sideman
With Ernestine Anderson • Moanin' Moanin' Moanin' (Mercury, 1960) • My Kinda Swing (Mercury, 1960) With Bob Brookmeyer • Stretching Out (United Artists, 1958) with Zoot Sims • Portrait of the Artist (Atlantic, 1960) • Jazz Is a Kick (Mercury, 1960) With Cándido Camero • In Indigo (ABC-Paramount, 1958) • Latin Fire (ABC-Paramount, 1959) • Conga Soul (Roulette, 1962) With Harry Edison • The Swinger (Verve, 1958) • Mr. Swing (Verve, 1958) • Harry Edison Swings Buck Clayton (Verve, 1958) • Sweetenings (Roulette, 1959) With Don Ellis • How Time Passes (Candid, 1961) • New Ideas (New Jazz, 1961) With Art Farmer • The Aztec Suite (United Artists, 1959) • Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra (Mercury, 1963) With Frank Foster • Bursting Out! (Denon, 1978) • Shiny Stockings (Denon, 1979) • Twelve Shades of Black (Leo, 1979) With Dizzy Gillespie • More of the Dizzy Gillespie Stan Getz Sextet (Norgran, 1954) • Afro (Norgran, 1954) • Jazz Recital (Norgran, 1955) • Dizzy and Strings (Norgran, 1955) • World Statesman (Norgran, 1956) • Diz and Getz (Verve, 1957) • Dizzy Gillespie at Newport (Verve, 1957) • Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band Jazz (American Recording Society, 1957) • Duets (Verve, 1958) • Birks' Works (Verve, 1958) • Dizzy in Greece (Verve, 1958) • The Greatest Trumpet of Them All (Verve, 1959) • Sonny Side Up with Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins (Verve, 1959) • A Portrait of Duke Ellington (Verve, 1960) • Perceptions (Verve, 1961) With Red Garland • Bright and Breezy (Jazzland, 1961) • Rojo (Prestige, 1961) • When There Are Grey Skies (Prestige, 1962) • Soul Burnin (Prestige, 1964) With Benny Golson • Benny Golson's New York Scene (Contemporary, 1958) • Pop + Jazz = Swing (Audio Fidelity, 1962; reissued as Just Jazz!, Audio Fidelity, 1965) With Quincy Jones • This Is How I Feel About Jazz (ABC-Paramount, 1957) With Rahsaan Roland Kirk • We Free Kings (Mercury, 1962) • The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man (Warner Bros., 1976) • Kirkatron (Warner Bros., 1977) With Hank Mobley • Newark 1953 (Uptown Records, 2012) • Hank Mobley Sextet (Blue Note, 1957) • Peckin' Time (Blue Note, 1959) With Lee Morgan • Lee Morgan Sextet (Blue Note, 1957) • Dizzy Atmosphere (Specialty, 1957) with Al Grey and Billy Mitchell • Lee Morgan Vol. 3 (Blue Note, 1957) With David "Fathead" Newman • Straight Ahead (Atlantic, 1961) • Fathead Comes On (Atlantic, 1962) With Joe Newman • Soft Swingin' Jazz (Coral, 1958) • Joe Newman with Woodwinds (Roulette, 1958) With Cecil Payne • Performing Charlie Parker Music (1961) • The Connection (1962) With Jerome Richardson • Roamin' with Richardson (New Jazz, 1959) • Midnight Oil (New Jazz, 1961) With George Russell • New York, N.Y. (Decca, 1959) • Jazz in the Space Age (Decca, 1960) With Sonny Stitt • The Saxophones of Sonny Stitt (Roost, 1958) • A Little Bit of Stitt (Roost, 1959) • Soul Summit with Gene Ammons and Jack McDuff (Prestige, 1962) With Randy Weston • Little Niles (United Artists, 1959) • Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1961) • Highlife (Colpix, 1963) • Volcano Blues (Verve, 1993) with Melba Liston With George Williams • Swing Classics in Hi-Fi (United Artists, 1959) • Put on Your Dancing Shoes (United Artists, 1960) With others • Cannonball Adderley, African Waltz (Riverside, 1961) • Joe Albany, Portrait of an Artist (Elektra/Musician, 1982) • Don Bagley, Jazz on the Rocks (Regent 1959) • Bill Barron, West Side Story Bossa Nova (Audio Fidelity, 1969) • Aaron Bell, Richard Rodgers' Victory at Sea (Jazz Lion 1959) • George Benson, Benson Burner (Columbia, 1976) • Cindy Lee Berryhill, Naked Movie Star (Rhino, 1989) • Kenny Burrell, Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965) • Donald Byrd, House of Byrd (Prestige, 1976) • Ron Carter, Where? (New Jazz, 1962) • Eddie Chamblee, Chamblee Music (EmArcy, 1958) • Ray Charles, The Genius of Ray Charles (Atlantic, 1959) • Jimmy Cleveland, Cleveland Style (EmArcy, 1958) • Al Cohn, Son of Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1961) • Johnny Coles, The Warm Sound (Epic, 1961) • Albert Dailey, Renaissance (Catalyst, 1977) • Kenny Dorham, This Is the Moment! (Riverside, 1958) • Buddy Emmons, Steel Guitar Jazz (Mercury, 1963) • Gil Evans, Out of the Cool (Impulse!, 1961) • Curtis Fuller, The Curtis Fuller Jazztet (Savoy, 1959) • Erroll Garner, Feeling Is Believing (Mercury, 1970) • Charles Greenlee, I Know About the Life (Baystate 1977) • Johnny Griffin, The Big Soul-Band (Riverside, 1960) • Lionel Hampton, Hamp's Big Band (Audio Fidelity, 1959) • Slide Hampton, Slide Hampton and His Horn of Plenty (Strand, 1959) • Craig Harris, Black Bone (Soul Note, 1984) • Milt Jackson, For Someone I Love (Riverside, 1963) • Harry James, Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (MGM 1959) • Budd Johnson, Let's Swing! (Swingville, 1960) • Etta Jones, So Warm (Prestige, 1961) • Louis Jordan, Somebody Up There Digs Me (Mercury/Wing, 1962) • Taft Jordan, Mood Indigo!!! Taft Jordan Plays Duke Ellington (Moodsville, 1961) • Irene Kral, SteveIreneo! (United Artists, 1959) • Melba Liston, Melba Liston and Her 'Bones (MetroJazz, 1959) • Pat Martino, Baiyina (The Clear Evidence) (Prestige, 1968) • Ken McIntyre, A New Beginning (Passin' Thru, 2001) • Hal McKusick, Triple Exposure (Prestige, 1957) • Blue Mitchell, Smooth as the Wind (Riverside, 1961) • Oliver Nelson, Joe Newman, Main Stem (Prestige, 1962) • Mary Osborne, Now and Then (Stash, 1982) • Sonny Phillips, I Concentrate on You (Muse, 1979) • Pony Poindexter, Pony's Express (Epic, 1962) • Bill Potts, the Jazz Soul of Porgy & Bess (United Artists, 1959) • Gene Quill, 3 Bones and a Quill (Vogue, 1959) • Frank Rehak, Jazzville Vol. 2 (Dawn, 1987) • Dizzy Reece, Asia Minor (New Jazz, 1962) • Johnny Richards, Live in Stereo 1957-1958 Broadcasts (Jazz Hour, 1991) • Sam Rivers, Zenith (Archive Series Volume 2) (NoBusiness, 2019) recorded in 1977 • Sonny Rollins, Tenor Titan (VSP 1966) • Howard Rumsey, Double or Nothin (Liberty 1957) • Sal Salvador, The Beat for This Generation (Decca, 1959) • Hal Schaefer, Ten Shades of Blue (United Artists, 1959) • Bobby Scott, A Taste of Honey (Atlantic, 1960) • Archie Shepp, Ballads for Trane (Denon, 1977) • Clark Terry, Everything's Mellow (Moodsville, 1961) • Big Joe Turner, Big Joe Rides Again (Atlantic, 1960) • Dinah Washington, Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller (Mercury, 1959) • Ernie Wilkins, Here Comes the Swingin' Mr. Wilkins! (Everest, 1960) • Kai Winding, Dance to the City Beat (Columbia, 1959) • Leo Wright, Blues Shout (Atlantic, 1960) • Mal Waldron, The Quest (New Jazz, 1962) • Phil Woods, The Young Bloods with Donald Byrd (Prestige, 1956) • Phil Woods, Bird Feathers (Prestige, 1957)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2020
Charlie Persip died on 23 August 2020.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Morristown.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Charlie Persip”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1066973: Charlie Persip
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness Publishing. 1940. 1992. 0-85112-939-0.
- 2.Wood, Ben (September 26, 1968). "Kauai Surf Crowd cheers Billy Eckstine, Bobbi Martin". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. D-11. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- 3.Williams, Lance A. (September 14, 1972). "Billy Eckstine Utilizes Hong Kong's Confines". The Los Angeles Times. pt. IV, p. 21. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- 4.Wilmer, Valerie (1977). As Serious as Your Life : The Story of the New Jazz. pp. 171, 261. .
- 5.Charli Persip. Allaboutjazz.com.
- 6.Al Germansky Recalls 25 Years as Drum Instructor. Germansky.org.
- 7.Alyn, Shipton. Charli Persip – 26/07/1929-23/08/2020. Jazzwise. 2020-08-27.
- 8.Yanow, Scott. Charlie Persip: Biography. Allmusic.
- 9.Chinen, Nate. Charli Persip, Virtuoso Drummer Who Cut a Swath Through Modern Jazz, Is Dead at 91. Wbgo.org. 2020-08-24.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Charlie Persip was recorded at birth as Charles Lawrence Persip. The authorities additionally record the headings Charles Lawrence Persip and Charli Persip. His recorded language was English. Recorded as music educator, jazz drummer and musician.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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