Drummer Ed Shaughnessy was born across the Hudson River from Manhattan in Jersey City, New Jersey on January 29, 1929. Many people will remember him as the long-time drummer with Doc Severinsen’s Tonight Show band during the years that Johnny Carson hosted that program.

Shaughnessy worked in the 1940s with pianist George Shearing, trombonist Jack Teagarden and tenor saxophonist Charlie Ventura. During the 1950s he played in the big bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and in the 1960s he spent time with the Count Basie Orchestra before joining the Tonight Show Band.

Ed Shaughnessy was best known for his work with big bands but also did considerable work in small group settings. He played and recorded with Roy Eldridge, Gene Ammons, Billie Holiday, Shirley Scott, Horace Silver and Charles Mingus. In his many clinic appearances and workshops he spoke about the differences between combo and big band drumming. Like Gene Krupa he sometimes appeared in “drum battles” with Buddy Rich. Shaughnessy did not always confine his drumming to jazz settings and appeared on records with Maria Muldaur, Stephen Bishop, and with the band that played on the PBS television show Sesame Street.

Active until his death from a heart attack, Ed Shaughnessy passed away in 2013.

Here is a link to a 1978 “drum battle” featuring Ed Shaughnessy and Buddy Rich on the Tonight Show:

"DRUM BATTLE"