Harold Cardwell

“Mad” Harold Cardwell (b. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1940 - d. December 2017) – Drummer. Drummer Harold Cardwell grew up in Buffalo, New York, and played with the famous Hank Ballard and the Midnighters at age fifteen. He later attended the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, Ohio. During the 1960s and 1970s he played with a number of soul bands and jazz musicians. He first came to Indianapolis in 1968 as a member of a touring soul jazz trio (later known as Wooden Glass) that featured Billy Wooten on vibes. From 1969 to 1971, Wooten’s group backed guitarist Grant Green. Cardwell played on two albums with Green, who gave Cardwell his nickname “Mad” (an acronym for “master at drumming”). Then, Wooden Glass returned to Indianapolis and became the house band at the 19th Hole and even recorded a live album there. Around the same time, Cardwell recorded some pre-production tracks for the O’Jays’ “Backstabbers,” which went to #3 on the pop charts and #1 on the Black Singles charts in 1972. Since 1974, Indianapolis has been Cardwell’s permanent home, where he has played with a plethora of the city’s leading jazz musicians. In addition, he led a group that played regularly at the Chatterbox in the 1980s. In 2000, he recorded – with the help of local trumpeter Clifford Ratliff – Mad Harold: Live at the Jazz Kitchen. Cardwell also played with the local Dave Helper Trio, with which he recorded two albums in the mid 1990s.