Grady Tate, a crisp, swinging drummer who also enjoyed crossover success as a vocalist in a prolific recording career spanning more than 50 years, died on Sunday night at his home in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. He was 85. His death was confirmed to NPR by Wendy Oxenhorn, executive director of the Jazz Foundation of America, which provides a range of assistance to musicians. No cause was given.Tate was one of the most versatile and in-demand jazz drummers of the '60s and '70s, appearing on hundreds of albums. His first major appointment was with the Quincy Jones Orchestra in '62. Among the artists Tate backed were saxophonists Stan Getzand Stanley Turrentine, composer-orchestrators Oliver Nelson and Lalo Schifrin, and organists Shirley Scott and Jimmy Smith.