Pola Roberts

Paula 'Pola' Roberts (1938) is an American jazz drummer. Roberts is an autodidact who started on the bongo and finally started playing drums on her 17th.

Gloria Coleman, a female band leader, organist and spouse of George Coleman, discovered Roberts and hired her to play in her band that consisted entirely of women. In 1963, organist Gloria Coleman regularly played with her in a quartet in a bar (Branker’s) in upper Harlem. The presence of two female musicians in a small group also gave the title to the album Soul Sisters (Impulse). Later she moved to New York and played with Art Blakey, Stanley Turrentine, Max Roach, Art Blakey, George Benson and Jack Mc Duff.

Discography