Big band drum charts don’t spell out many details at all to drummers… unless they have done a lot of listening to the great big band drummers and know how to interpret the minimal info on a chart.
By listening to the drummers in the Count Basie Orchestra the aspiring drummer can start to get ideas for how to set up the horn section’s hits in different ways. If a drummer can get their hands on a chart for a professional arrangement and listen, copy, and pocket those ideas for their own bag of tricks that’s the way to really master the style.
Here’s a playlist with a few great Count Basie pieces that highlight the interaction between the drummer and the horn sections. Note the different kinds of “set ups” and try to replicate them – transcribe, transcribe, transcribe! The video further down the page is an excellent tutorial to play along with and maybe even take some notes of the various set ups he demonstrates.
This video is absolute gold for non-dummer band directors and all drum students
Note at 1:43 there is a great view of him doing cross-stick snare playing
Try and copy each of his example fills and you might like to consider grabbing the PDF on his website for $1.99 US (ask your parents) – I just grabbed it for my own reference.
Go back and listen to the Count Basie tunes above (over and over) and see if you can hear examples of the different fills presented in the drum lesson video.