Admired by colleagues and the public alike, Billy Gladstone was the featured percussionist at New York's Radio City Music Hall for 18 years after its opening in 1932. He was also a consummate inventor, with more than 20 US patents to his name, not the least of which was the famous Gladstone snare drum. This book examines the man and the remarkable instrument he conceived, with great color photos in the “Gladstone Gallery.”

“My roll is probably the best roll in the world outside of one other drummer, and I'm not modest. The greatest drummer that I have heard in my life as far as rudiments and the roll are concerned is Billy Gladstone.”

– Buddy Rich