Drummer Talk

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert - Oct 18, 2008

Carter — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:17:37 +0000

Looks like there’s another Buddy Rich Memorial event in the works. Some of modern drumming’s biggest names are slated to appear. Plus bassist Will Lee!

From www.buddyrich.com

Drucker Labs and Scabeba Entertainment presents the 2008 Buddy Rich Memorial Concert.

When: October 18, 2008

Where: Hammerstein Ballroom
311 W. 34th St.
NYC, NY 10001

Special Guest: Neil Peart, John Blackwell, Terry Bozzio, Nick Rich with The Buddy Rich Band and featuring Will Lee

For tickets call: 212-307-7171 or www.ticketmaster.com

Drum Show Pictorials by Ronn Dunnett

Carter — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:38:50 +0000

Drum maker Ronn Dunnett (Dunnett Classic Drums, George Way Drum Company, www.drumsmith.com) is also an accomplished photographer. Check out his pictorials of many drum expos and shows (NAMM, Musik Messe, Chicago Drum Show, Hollywood Drum Show, and many others) here.

The one catch is you have to register. But I highly recommend becoming a part of the site. Good people and good discussions!

Lenny White Article from Traps

Dave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:28:47 +0000

Man, Drum! just loves giving it away! They’ve just offered a free PDF download of the excellent Lenny White article from the Summer 08 issue of Traps.

For fusion fans, the prospect of Return To Forever getting back together again after all these years (the group dis-banded in 1976) is akin to a Beatles reunion, and for the past few decades seemed about as unlikely. Corea was the lone holdout in recent years. While Clarke, Di Meola, and White had been lobbying for an RTF reunion, the three were unable to persuade Corea to take up the cause, until now.

DVD Review - Simon Philips: Complete

JABB — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:30:15 +0000

Simon Philips: Complete is another case of two older videos being merged and resold as a single DVD. Its two individual parts being Simon Philips and Simon Philips Returns.

The thing about this DVD is that it doesn’t really reveal to you what you are getting into when you buy/rent it. Certainly there’s no hint as to the nature of the content in the title of the DVD. So I’m going to tell you what you’re getting into. Mostly you’re getting performance and breakdown of music Simon Phillips wrote, along with a couple of solos and some sections on general drumming topics. Some of the general drumming topics include double bass drumming and double bass tuning, timekeeping, coordination, snare drum tuning, and snare drum playing.

The advice he gives is pretty good in many of the areas he talks about and not so good in some of the others. Usually when the advice isn’t satisfactory it’s because he didn’t go in-depth enough as opposed to the advise just being bad. Also, as with most older DVDs, lots of the ideas and advice he give have been done again but better in newer DVDs. You can tell this stuff was big news back in the old days but today much of it has been improved on. I’m searching and failing to say something else about this DVD which means it’s time for the break down.

For content I’m giving it one and a half mics. The majority of the DVD is him talking about his music and how to play it so there’s not way too much in terms of general instructional material.

For presentation I’m giving it half a star. it suffers from a lack of focus and that hurt it’s presentation score.

For extras I’m giving it half a star. There is a printable interview, a performance only mode. Nothing fancy but it’s something.

so it’s a total of two and a half mics.

The word that comes to mind when I think of this DVD is meh.

Rent it if you want but there is better stuff out there.

John Blackwell Clinic Tour Blog

Dave — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:00:49 +0000

Wanna follow John Blackwell on his clinic tour? Well, now you can on his clinic tour blog hosted over at Zildjian. Keep in mind that Blackwell moved to Zildian just a couple of months ago. It looks like Z is putting him to good use right away!

DVD Review - Steve Smith’s Drum Legacy

JABB — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:34:11 +0000

Steve Smith, shiny headed drummer extraordinaire has done it again! Standing on the Shoulder’s of Giant’s is Steve’s tribute to all the greats that came before him (and he does them justice.) Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy was originally Buddy’s Buddies, a tribute band to the work of Buddy Rich. As they went on, they started expanding to the work of other jazz drumming greats. Eventually the name was changed to Jazz Legacy because they had left the realm of a Buddy Rich tribute band and became something more.

This video contains the entire 2006 Modern Drummer Festival performance of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy and after each song there is a long discussion about it between John Riley and Steve Smith. John Riley’s presence does help make the DVD much better and I’ll explain how. If you remember my review of Steve Smith’s Drum Set Technique & History of the U.S. Beat, my one criticism was that Steve Smith was very stiff when he was talking to the camera. Well, because John Riley is there, Steve has an actual person to talk to. The effect being, Steve is much more personable and easier to watch. But Riley is more then just someone for Steve to bounce conversation off of. He is a Jazz scholar in his own right and adds much insight and a different perspective to Steve when they discuss the performances and the artists to which the performances are tributes.

Some of the songs and artists featured include: Moment’s Notice (Buddy Rich), Soulful Drums (Joe Dukes), Night in Tunisia (Art Blakey), & Sister Cheryl (Tony Williams). The songs are all excellent but you can see them on the Modern Drummer Festival 2006 DVD. What you’re really paying for with this DVD is the discussion and demonstration. They really couldn’t have picked two better people to feature in a DVD about the great jazz drummers. Billy Ward accomplished something similar to this DVD with his DVD “Voices in my Head,” but this DVD is far more in depth and specific about the great jazz drummers, than “Voices” was. The great thing about this DVD is the amount of transcription they did. Whenever Steve demonstrates something (like the infamous Tony Williams lick) it appears fully transcribed at the bottom of the screen, and all the transcriptions appear in either the booklet that comes with the DVD or the ebook that’s on the second DVD. All the stuff on the DVD is advanced/intermediate material. If you still have the training wheels on then you might want to hold off on it till you’re a little better. Or maybe you could just enjoy the material that you can grasp. Either way, the point is that there is some heavy stuff in here so be forewarned.

The package also comes with a CD of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy performing live 9 tracks including the 12 minute journey “Night in Tunisia.” I’ve already uploaded it to my computer and am currently listening to insubordination on itunes (insubordination is my favorite tune on the whole thing by the way.) Tons of bonus footage including a drum workshop Steve did in Australia, four extra live performances in NYC, the ebook, the physical book. Yeah, we got extras.

I don’t even have to do the breakdown because this thing gets full marks in every category.

5 mics. Ding!

This is one you buy. Don’t rent it, buy it. If you’re an aspiring jazz drummer, you just owe it to yourself to own this thing.

DCI Athletes

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:00:53 +0000

Here’s a great video from ESPN talking about the rigors and athletic demands of Drum Corps players.

Drum Corps to Allow Electronics

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:00:22 +0000

Source: StarTribune.com

Starting in 2009, the activity’s governing organization, Drum Corps International (DCI), will allow not only electronic instruments such as keyboards to augment the marching performances, but it also will let more performers be amplified by microphones. Brass soloists and ensembles may be miked beginning next year, in addition to the vocalists (narrators and singers) and sideline percussionists who can already be amplified.

The changes have led to heated debates in online forums such as Drum Corps Planet among those who see the expansion of electronics as a necessary and inevitable change in modern drum corps and those who long for the tradition of “the glory days.”

I don’t know how I feel about this. On one hand, this will open the door to whole new possibilities in terms of texture and sound, but there’s just something artificial about it. So we won’t allow clarinets and flutes, but a Korg Triton is just fine??

I guess DCI went through the same kind of debate when they brought the mallet instruments and timpani onto the sidelines …

Matt Sorum Gives Back

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:00:29 +0000

Source: 93x.com

One wouldn’t normally associate MATT SORUM with charity events in Third World countries. But on July 6th, the notoriously hard-partying drummer for THE CULT, GUNS N’ ROSES and most recently VELVET REVOLVER will take part in a special all-star benefit concert in Kenya, Africa. The concert will close out a weekend-long event organized by the Kenya Believe It Committee, which distributes funds to various community projects focused on maintaining sustainability. Sorum says, “This is an experience I am truly honored to be a part of. I feel at this time in my life, I want to give back and help people in need.”

Jason Bonham Talks Zep

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:12:52 +0000

Source: MusicRadar.com

Many kids dream of following in their fathers’s footsteps, but for 41-year-old Jason Bonham, the imagery is more literal than figurative. His late dad, John “Bonzo” Bonham, is generally regarded as the ultimate drummer for the world’s ultimate rock band, Led Zeppelin. And last year, Jason had a unique opportunity to step in for Bonzo when Zeppelin performed their rapturous reunion at London’s O2 Arena.

“It was like the penalty shoot-out at the World Cup, but you’re taking everyone one,”Bonham tells the Musician’s Union Musician magazine. “I had to shoot 16 times and get the goal every time.”

Read the full story …

Drummer Talk

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert - Oct 18, 2008

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Drum Show Pictorials by Ronn Dunnett

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