Ray Bauduc was a jazz drummer best known for his work with the Bob Crosby

Bob Crosby

George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...

 Orchestra and their band-within-a-band, the Bobcats, between 1935 and 1942.

Bauduc was born in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. He was the son of the cornetist Jules Bauduc and his elder brother Jules was also a professional musician, a banjoist-bandleader. Ray Bauduc's youthful work in New Orleans included stints in the band of Johnny Bayersdorffer

Johnny Bayersdorffer

Johnny Bayersdorffer was a New Orleans jazz cornetist and bandleader.Bayersdorffer was a popular bandleader at the Spanish Fort resort on Bayou St. John by Lake Pontchartrain. He is best remembered to later generations for his 1920s recordings for Okeh Records...

 and early radio broadcasts. In 1926 he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to join Joe Venuti's band. His other work in the 1920s include recording sessions with the Original Memphis Five and a stint in the Scranton Sirens which also included Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...

 and Jimmy Dorsey

Jimmy Dorsey

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

.

His stint with the Bob Crosby Orchestra brought him national fame. He co-composed, together with bassist Bob Haggart

Bob Haggart

Robert Sherwood Haggart was a dixieland jazz double bass player, composer and arranger...

, the two big hits that the Bob Crosby orchestra achieved: "South Rampart Street Parade" (a pseudo New Orleans parade-type number first recorded in November 1937), and "Big Noise from Winnetka" (a bass and drums duet with Haggart, recorded in 1938).

His style, making use of woodblocks, cowbells, the China cymbal and tom-toms, marked him out from most drummers of the swing era, and made him one of the few white drummers (the others being George Wettling

George Wettling

George Wettling was an American jazz drummer.He was one of the young white Chicagoans who fell in love with jazz as a result of hearing King Oliver's band at the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago in the early 1920s...

, Dave Tough

Dave Tough

Dave Tough was an American jazz drummer associated with both Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s...

 and Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...

, but they were not so obvious) to be directly influenced by Warren "Baby" Dodds

Baby Dodds

Warren "Baby" Dodds was a jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana."Baby" Dodds was the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds. He is regarded as one of the very best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers...

.

After the break-up of the Crosby band, Bauduc organized his own small groups (often in a swing or even bebop style), rejoined Bob Crosby for occasional reunions, worked with Jimmy Dorsey

Jimmy Dorsey

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

 (1948) and Jack Teagarden

Jack Teagarden

Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...

 (1952–55), before joining fellow ex-Bobcat Nappy Lamare

Nappy Lamare

Joseph Hilton "Nappy" Lamare was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and vocalist.Lamar's nickname isn't based on a given name of Napoleon; its true origin was revealed by his son:...

 in a highly successful dixieland band that lasted until 1960, after which Bauduc went into semi-retirement in San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

.