A: You only have to punch things into a drum machine once.

Ho ho ho. Drummers are the butt of many jazz jokes, but don't be fooled. In jazz, the role of the drummer is more central than in any other music.

In rock 'n' roll, the drummer is expected to wear sweat bands and keep time. Superfluous flourishes are frowned upon, as if to decorate the music or show any technical skill would be uncool. In classical music, the percussionists are banished to the back of the stage, hidden behind a row of tubas, and rarely called upon for more than the odd sound effect. As for trad, the bodhran player is as likely to elicit a groan as a cheer from his fellow musicians when he produces the goat skin .

In jazz, however, the drummer is king. He (and all too rarely she) drives the music forward, and controls the dynamics. The good ones, like the great Tony Williams with Miles Davis, or the even greater Elvin Jones with John Coltrane, profoundly altered and shaped the sound of the bands they were in, and thereby the entire direction of contemporary jazz.

So let's hear it for the drummers. One of Ireland's finest, Conor Guilfoyle, now looks set to have an influence far beyond these shores, with the publication of his new book by the prestigious musical publishers Advance Music in the US. Guilfoyle is the most influential drummer in Irish jazz . . . since his teacher and mentor John Wadham . . . as the driving force in many excellent local bands, as a first-choice accompanist to many senior visiting musicians and, above all, as a teacher and mentor to the next generation of drummers.

Booked out for years in advance, Guilfoyle's private lessons in Newpark Music Centre are some of the most sought-after slots in Irish musical education and he has taught masterclasses at schools and conservatories around the world.

Now, with the publication of Odd Meter Clave (for Drumset), the Dun Laoghaire-born drummer will be reaching out to drummers everywhere, hungry for ways to master time signatures beyond the regular four square of most western music.

Aside from his teaching, one of Guilfoyle's most important contributions to Ireland's musical culture has been his championing of Latin music and particularly Afro-Cuban music.

It's nearly 20 years since he returned from his studies in New York with conga master Frank Malabe and began playing Cuban music to enthusiastic Irish audiences. He now leads one of the hottest Afro-Cuban groups this side of the Atlantic, Havana Son, a meticulously authentic group that plays traditional Cuban son, the seed from which salsa was born.

There's a great opportunity to hear Guilfoyle in concert next weekend, when the drummer will be reunited with Cuban pianist Vladimir Karell. Karell is in town for tonight's 'Send a Piana to Havana' benefit in Vicar Street, and will stay on to play a special one-off concert with Guilfoyle in JJ Smyths on Aungier Street next Sunday night. Come armed with your best drummer joke:

Q: How do you know the stage is level ?

A: The drummer drools out of both sides of his mouth.