Ginger Baker, who died Sunday at the age of 80, was an architect of rock drumming, spilling across tom-toms with both power and nuance. His work in the 1960s with the bands Cream and Blind Faith made him a defining figure of many basic rock band concepts: the “power trio,” the “supergroup,” the “drum solo,” “jamming,” “double-kick drumming” and — much to his trademark chagrin — an early thruway for “heavy metal.”

Baker was influenced by combustible, hyperkinetic jazz drummers like Art Blakey, Max Roach and Elvin Jones, along with the complex polyrhythms of Central Africa, shown to him by the British jazz drummer Phil Seamen. His playing was, in turn, heavy yet subtle, and Baker was quick to point out the differences between his work and the similarly influential bash of the Who’s Keith Moon and Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham.

Over a career that lasted more than 50 years, Baker found his pummeling sound leading or accompanying various strains of hard rock, jazz and Afrobeat. Here are 15 songs that show his influence and range.