When Drummers Speak of Chick Webb, They Use Tones of Reverence Finally, we have a much-needed cradle-to-grave narrative of this elusive but crucial figure in jazz history, who died in 1939 at age 34.

Hundreds of people show up on June 22, 1939, for the funeral of noted jazz drummer Chick Webb, who was born in Baltimore and died at age 34.