Warren "Baby" Dodds (December 24, 1898 – February 14, 1959) was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

His mother, who died when he was nine years old, taught him valuable lessons about persistence and putting one's whole effort into endeavors, and he carried these with him through his career as a jazz drummer.

The band played in various venues around New Orleans, and Dodds recalled hearing many musicians along the way, including Buddy Bolden, John Robichaux, and Jelly Roll Morton.

Dodds describes this experience in his autobiography: "The jazz played after New Orleans funerals didn't show any lack of respect for the person being buried.

In 1918, Dodds left Sonny Celestin's group to play in Fate Marable's riverboat band.

At this time, the personnel in Oliver's band were Joe "King" Oliver on cornet, Baby Dodds' brother Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Davey Jones on alto saxophone, Honoré Dutrey on trombone, Lil Hardin on piano, Jimmy Palao on violin, and Eddie Garland on bass fiddle.

In 1922, the band, excepting Garland, Palao, and Jones, followed Oliver to Chicago, which would be his base of operations for several years.

[6] During the decade, he also performed with the Black Bottom Stompers, Chicago Footwarmers, Willie Hightower, and Charlie Elgar.

[1] During the 1930s, Dodds performed with Lil Hardin, Natty Dominique, and the Three Deuces's house band.

This band featured Mada Roy on piano, Noone on clarinet, Bill Anderson on bass, and Dodds on drums.

After playing with several outfits in New York, he joined Mezz Mezzrow's group on a tour of Europe in 1948 that lasted eight weeks.

The group ended up playing solely in France, and Dodds had a great experience, saying that Europeans "take our kind of music much more seriously than they do in our own country".

[9] They played at the Nice Festival along with Rex Stewart, Louis Armstrong, and several other American jazz musicians.

Dodds returned to Chicago after the European tour and while taking a trip to New York in April 1949, he suffered a stroke.

After his three strokes, Dodds tutored and played in public as much as he could, though he was unable to complete entire performances.

[1] He died on February 14, 1959, in Chicago, and was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

[13] In his introduction, Gara explains the interview process, which took place in 1953, every Sunday for about twelve weeks.

He, therefore, consulted jazz historian Bill Russell, who helped Gara check Dodds' interviews for details that historical findings did not support.

It was therefore difficult to hear Dodds' original style from early recordings, such as his 1923 sessions with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.

[14] Dodds did, however, begin recording again in 1940, and by this time, the technology was able to show his talent on the drum set.

[17] In 1954, he played for a Natty Dominique recording session which also featured bassman Israel Crosby and pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong.

Most of his contemporaries played a short buzz or press roll on the backbeats (the 2nd and 4th beats), but Dodds played a long roll that lasted till the following beat, which created a smoother time feel that he later developed into the jazz ride pattern most commonly used ever since.

The Veterans Committee specifically looks at jazz artists who are no longer living who were overlooked for one reason or another while they were alive.