Louis Hayes was born May 31, 1937 in Detroit Michigan. He was always surrounded by music, first starting with the piano before his father gave him a set of drums at age ten. A cousin noticed his talent, took him under his wing and made sure that his approach to the instrument would serve him well. And well it did, for after developing his skills in the fertile musical ground of Detroit in the 1950s with the likes of Yusef Lateef, Kenny Burrell, Doug Watkins and others, Louis found himself at the tender age of 18 in New York as a member of the great Horace Silver Quintet. His first recording with Horace, the classic "Six Pieces of Silver," would introduce him to the jazz world as a new force to be acknowledged.

Louis continued to enhance his reputation with Horace from 1956 until 1959 when he joined Cannonball Adderley and propelled the quintet to joyous musical heights and timeless recordings through 1965. He joined piano master Oscar Peterson from 1965 until 1967 during which time he and bassist Sam Jones became known as the "dynamic duo." Louis would rejoin Oscar in 1971 for a year.

For the next decade or more he became leader or co-leader of a series of groups which included musicians such as Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Barron, Junior Cooke, Woody Shaw and Dexter Gordon. Louis also spent several years touring with McCoy Tyner. The Louis Hayes Group with Herald Mabern and Frank Strozier culminated four years of artistry with the album “Variety Is The Spice” which received five stars, truly an accomplishment during a period when his style of hard driving bebop was less popular. In 2002 he formed and led the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band and produced 3 successful CDs.

Louis has played and recorded with jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, J J Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Wes Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Cedar Walton, George Benson as well as Ravi Shankar, John Lee Hooker and others. His current endeavor is a project entitled "Serenade for Horace" which is a tribute to his friend and mentor Horace Silver and his debut as a leader on Blue Note Records.

[Information in this piece was excerpted from louishayes.net]
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Here is a link to a Louis Hayes drum solo while paying with Cannonball Adderley in 1964:

"BOHEMIA AFTER DARK"