drumming-world

Chris Coleman Profile

2010-09-14T02:12:00.000-07:00

Christopher R. Coleman has been playing drums since the ripe old age of 2, sitting on his uncle's knee in church. He traveled with his father and uncles who performed together in a gospel ensemble. In his youth he practiced relentlessly with the aim of making it big as a drummer. In Junior high school he earned numerous awards in band competitions, including 1st place for instrumental soloist three years running.

He also took top honors in his hometown "Music Appreciation Awards" at the age of 14, and began traveling throughout the country with several gospel groups including Marvin Winans, Edwin Hawkins, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong - as well as performing with five jazz/variety/show bands.

In 1999, Chris graduated with honors from the Drummer's Collective. He was offered a scholarship to Berklee School of Music, was accepted into Manhattan School of Music, and received a recommendation from Ed Soph to attend North Texas State. He opted instead to return to his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan to start full-time ministry and ATW Global. He moved briefly to Cleveland to join the instructional staff at Christian Music Academy.

December 8, 2001, Chris was honored to win 1st place in the National Drum Competition sponsored by Guitar Center, which hosted 30,000+ drummers. He then came to Atlanta to study Bass guitar at AIM, where he was pleased to accept a position teaching drums. In addition to his teaching, Chris keeps a busy schedule touring. He has toured with Pastor Creflo A. Dollar Ministries throughout the country since June 2002, and has traveled to over 40 cities in 3 countries with praise and worship band "Israel and New Breed" since September 2003.

Chris has participated in several major gospel recordings, including Bishop Eddie Long, William Murphy Ministries and others. He plans to record with his band, "The Paradigm" in the very near future. Things have been on the up & up as of June 2006. Chris is now playing for R&B artist Rachelle Ferrell, as well as touring, promoting, & performing with his band.

Chris also participated in the 2005 & 2006 "Drummers 4 Jesus" events. He is recognized in the Modern Drummer Mag for the Sept'05' & June'06' issues.

2007 was ever exploding for Chris. He is on tour full time with "Chaka Kahn", as well as Rachelle Ferrell.

Aaron Spears...

2010-01-31T20:29:00.000-08:00

Winner of the 2006 Modern Drummer "Up and Coming" poll, Aaron Spears broke onto the national scene with the Washington, D.C. based jazz/R&B/rock group known as the Gideon Band (GB). From there, Aaron has gone on to work with artists such as James Brown, Alicia Keys, Usher and the American Idol tour.

Aaron also recognizes a host of great players thru the years who he has looked to as inspiration, including Jeff Davis, Gerald Heyward, Steve Smith, Billy Cobham, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd and Brian Frasier-Moore. Aaron hopes to inspire future drummers the way that he was inspired by all those greats that came before him.

Johnny Rabb...

2009-05-07T10:06:00.001-07:00

Clinician Johnny Rabb earned the distinction of "World's Fastest Drummer," as recognized by the Guinness World Records, by playing 1,071 single strokes in 60 seconds on a live broadcast of VH1's Rock and Roll Record Breakers.

Johnny Rabb received his first drum set at the tender age of three. With the support of his parents and the influence of live concerts and instructional clinics, Johnny began to excel at a tremendous rate. Johnny's dedication to his new love and eventual life's pursuit led him to the prestigious Berklee College of Music to pursue degrees in Education and Performance.

After the course of study and musical experimentation, Johnny relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he invented the award-winning RhythmSaw.

Playing with touring notables such as Tanya Tucker and Hank Williams III provided the excitement of live performances, along with the creative contribution of writing and developing children's books/videos and educational workshops.

Johnny was asked to participate in an event sponsored by the Nashville Percussion Institute by founder Boo McAfee. Johnny has the uncanny ability to play single-stroke rolls at an incredible speed. With the assistance of McAfee and a device named the DRUMOMETER, the first competition for The World’s Fastest Drummer was born. Johnny won hands down and, in doing so, came to the attention of the Guinness World Records committee. Johnny was asked to defend his title live at the Guinness World Records Experience in Orlando, Florida. The attempt was documented by VH-1 for a show called Rock & Roll Record Breakers. Johnny not only defended but broke the existing world record of 1026 to play 1071 single strokes in 60 seconds.

Johnny is featured in seven interactive displays at the Guinness World Attractions, including Orlando, FL, Gatlinburg, TN, Hollywood, CA, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Johnny is currently participating in a number of clinics throughout the world to outstanding reviews. He performed a memorable show to a capacity crowd at the Montreal Drumfest and also performed in France, Italy, and at the Musik Messe in Frankfurt, Germany... a tour together with Marco Minnemann and Thomas Lang.

Johnny has been a faculty member for the KOSA Festival for the past two years. He was honored to be able to play at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Nashville, TN.

He has published his own instructional drum videos, children’s books, and solo album. He has designed "The Rabb Pack," a Signature Series of cymbals for the MEINL Cymbal Company. Johnny believes that education is the most important element for the future and continues to find opportunities to share his knowledge with musicians worldwide.

Steve Smith...

2009-01-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

Steve Smith was originally drawn to the drums by hearing marching bands in parades as a child in his native Massachusetts. At age nine, in 1963, Smith began studying the instrument in earnest with local teacher Bill Flanagan, who played in big bands in the swing era.

Smith performed in the usual school band program and garage bands while in his teens, but also began to broaden his performing experience by playing in a professional Brockton concert band and even the big band at the local college, Bridgewater State. After high school, Smith began studying music at the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1972. There he received valuable instruction from such renowned teachers as Gary Chaffee and Alan Dawson.

In 1974 Smith's professional career began in full, at 19 years old, with his tenure in the Lin Biviano Big Band, which he toured and recorded with for the next two years. At that same time he also performed with bebopper Buddy DeFranco and was a member of free-jazz group The Fringe featuring George Garzone. In 1976, Smith began his association with jazz/fusion by joining violinist Jean Luc Ponty and recording the album "Enigmatic Ocean" (Atlantic 1977), which also featured guitarist Allan Holdsworth. However, it was while touring with rocker Ronnie Montrose a year later that Smith was asked to join the popular rock band Journey which brought his playing to the attention of a young rock audience.

With Journey, Smith toured around the world and recorded many successful albums including the immensely popular "Escape" (Columbia 1981) and "Frontiers" (Columbia 1983), both of which garnered the band many Top 40 hits. Smith's inventive timekeeping, stadium sized tom-tom fills and deep sense of the groove enabled him to produce some of the most critically acclaimed rock drumming while at the same time propelling the band to much popular success.

In 1985 Smith left Journey to pursue his original passion, jazz, and to continue his developing career as a session player. Over the past 20+ years, Smith has played on many hits with such diverse artists as Mariah Carey, Bryan Adams, Zucchero, Claudio Baglioni, Andrea Bocelli, Ray Price, Corrado Rustici and Savage Garden.

Smith began leading his own fusion band Steve Smith and Vital Information in 1983 while still a member of Journey. Vital Information currently features Tom Coster on keys, Baron Browne on bass and Vinny Valentino on guitar. Vital Information's release, Where We Come From, was voted Best Contemporary Jazz Recording Of 1998 by the Association For Independent Music.

Steve is also the bandleader of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy, a group carrying on the tradition of many of the great drummer-led jazz bands: communicating with music lovers of all generations, striving for excellence and playing non-compromising, burning, straight-ahead jazz. Jazz Legacy features Andy Fusco on alto sax, Walt Weiskopf on tenor and soprano saxes, Mark Soskin on piano and Baron Browne on bass.

Smith has also maintained an extensive touring and recording career, appearing with many jazz luminaries such as Mike Mainieri's group Steps Ahead. This band, which included virtuosos such as Michael Brecker, Richard Bona and Mike Stern, was one of the most successful of the '80s electric jazz groups and Smith contributed greatly to their tight, energetic sound for seven years (1986-1993 and again in 2005). Other high profile jazz touring and/or recording gigs that have filled the drummer's schedule include such artists as Ahmad Jamal, Michael Manring, Stanley Clarke, Randy Brecker, Zakir Hussain, George Brooks’ Summit and the Buddy Rich Big Band, with whom he has performed in many tribute concerts to the late drumming idol. He also rejoined Journey in 1996 to record the reunion album "Trial By Fire" (Columbia 1996). Smith's calendar often includes many drum clinics in which he is able to display his phenomenal techniques and concepts to drumming students around the world.

Smith's drumming, while always decidedly modern, can best be described as a style that embodies the history of U.S. music. His original love of rudimental parade drumming is evident in his intricate solos. Likewise, his command of jazz, from New Orleans music, swing, bebop, avant-garde to fusion, is applied with his powerful rock drumming sensibilities and allows him to push the boundaries of all styles to new heights. His musical focus is committed to the exploration of improvised music incorporating styles as diverse as Blues, Jazz, R&B, Funk, Cajun and South Indian Carnatic.

In 1998, Smith began producing and playing on a series of driving electric jazz albums for the Tone Center label with a revolving cast of talented players such as Dave Liebman, Frank Gambale, Stu Hamm, Tom Coster, Larry Coryell, Jerry Goodman, Howard Levy, Steve Marcus, Scott Henderson and Victor Wooten.

Smith’s explosive solos and intricate timekeeping served to gain him much acclaim from sources such as Modern Drummer Magazine, whose readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row. In 2001 Modern Drummer Magazine named Steve as one of the Top 25 Drummer of All Time, in 2002 he as voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame and finally in 2003 his Hudson Music DVD "Steve Smith Drumset Technique - History of the U.S. Beat" was voted #1 Educational DVD of 2003. Also in 2003 Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies -- the Buddy Rich alumni quintet -- released two CDs on the Tone Center label that were record live at the famous London jazz club Ronnie Scott's; "Very Live at Ronnie Scott's Set One and Set Two."

In 2004 Vital Information released their tenth recording, "Come On In." That year Steve also toured with Soulbop, and all-star group featuring Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, David Kikoski, Victor Bailey and Hiram Bullock. In 2005 the group released a live CD entitled "Soulbop Band Live." 2005 saw the release of another all-star project Steve produced and played on for Tone Center Records, "Flashpoint," featuring Steve with Dave Liebman, Aydin Esen and Anthony Jackson.

Steve Smith play Sonor drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth "Steve Smith" Signature Sticks and Tala Wands, Remo Drum Heads, Shure Microphones, DW Bass Drum Pedals and Puresound Snare Wires.

Pat Torpey...

2009-01-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

Pat Torpey is the former drummer of the hard rock band Mr. Big.
Mr. Big was Atlantic Records biggest selling act in Japan until their breakup in 2002.
Because of their popularity in Japan and Asia, Pat released 2 solo albums overseas, Odd Man Out and Y2K in 1998 and 1999.
Pat also has 2 instructional videos overseas, Big Drums with Billy Sheehan and Rock Groove Drumming.
Pat plays Tama Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Promark Sticks.
Pat is currently an independent artist that is playing with the Knack and David Lee Roth.
In 2004 he toured with Richie Kotzen as drummer for his UK club tour and he played with Billy Sheehan in Johnny Hiland's first album; the album is simply called "Johnny Hiland".
He also played the Now & Zen Tour with Robert Plant.
He played also for Impellitteri.
In the end of 2006 he joined "The Exile Social Club", a particular kind of band that proposes old rock'n'roll hits. This band is formed also by Chuck Wright, from Quiet Riot, Jason Hook and David Victor.

Tony Royster Jr.

2009-01-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

Tony Royster Jr. is only 21 years old and has been playing drums since the age of 3. Often referred to as a "prodigy" by his fans, he has participated in numerous drummer events and contests worldwide including the 1995 Guitar Center National Drum-Off competition in Hollywood, CA which he won at the ripe old age of 11!
Tony is becoming accustomed to high-profile performances that include TV's Nickelodeon House Band (lead by Paul Shaffer of the David Letterman show), the Jenny Jones show, the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards show, and an international tour in 2001 backing #1 selling Asian artist, Hikaru Utada. Additionally, he is regularly invited to perform at prestigious events worldwide such as PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention), Modern Drummer Festival, the Montreal Drumfest, and the Florida Drum Expo.

Proficient in numerous styles, Tony excels at Funk, R&B, Latin, Rock, and Jazz. He has performed alongside such notable drummers as Dennis Chambers, Billy Cobham, Steve Smith, Sheila E., and veteran drummer Chester Thompson. He has also graced the stage with legendary musician's Branford Marsalis, Paul Shaffer, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, among others.

Tony Royster Jr. was voted #1 Up and Coming Drummer by Modern Drummer magazine 2000 readers' poll and has been voted #2 in the UK 2001 readers' poll. He has appeared on the cover of the millennium issue of Modern Drummer magazine with Dennis Chambers and continues to receive high marks that earn him endorsements with companies such as DW Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Evans drumheads, LP percussion, Drumframe, Shure microphones, Warner Bros. Publications, HQ percussion products, Drumometer, and Specialty Cases.

Tony's talents have carried him across the globe to Europe, Japan, and Asia but in 2001 he achieved substantial international acclaim with the Warner Brothers video release of, "Common Ground", featuring Tony with his mentor, and favorite drummer, Dennis Chambers.

Most importantly, Tony is a positive role model for all kids. His motto is "Be cool, stay in school" and he sets the standard for personal achievement among his peers.

Mike Portnoy...

2009-01-15T05:12:00.000-08:00

Mike Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967 and raised in Long Beach, New York, where his interest in music started at an early age. "My father was a rock n' roll disc jockey, so I was always surrounded by music constantly. I had this huge record collection when I was real young and loved the Beatles and then later on Kiss. It was inevitable that I'd become a musician."

Although Mike taught himself how to play the drums, he did take music theory classes in high school. During that time he began playing in local bands Intruder, Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, the latter of which released their own album. Mike left the band after being awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee Music College in Boston.

An avid collector of many things, Mike has a vast array of Dream Theater memorabilia including bootlegs, posters, clippings and everything else under the sun with the band's name on it. He is also responsible for capturing everything the band does on video tape and DAT. His huge video collection includes favorite films as 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Jacob's Ladder and The Wall along with episodes of The Simpsons and memorable boxing matches.

Mike says his biggest influences are Rush drummer Neil Peart and the late Frank Zappa. Other favorites include drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, Simon Philips, John Bonham and Keith Moon and bands such as The Beatles, Queen, Yes, Metallica, Jellyfish, Iron Maidon, U2 and Jane's Addiction. He is also a fan of rap music.

Mike and his wife Marlene live in Rockland, NY with their daughter Melody Ruthandrea, new son Max John, dog Bongo and cats E.T. and Cypress.

Simon Phillips (TOTO)

2009-01-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

Simon Phillips is by far one of the world's most renowned and respected drummers, whose style not only reflects his technical gift but also his distinct musical sensibility. Whether it is Rock, Fusion or Jazz, Simon applies the same precision and intensity to his drumming, which is never lacking in emotion and feel.

Simon's professional musical career began at the early age of twelve, performing and recording with his father's - Sid Phillips - Dixieland band until he turned sixteen. With an offer to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, his path was marked and his career in full bloom. Simon soon became one of London's most celebrated session drummers. In his early twenties he was well on his way to having a musical career nothing short of brilliance. To date he has toured and recorded with many bands and artists, including: Mick Jagger, The Who, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce, Peter Gabriel, Joe Satriani, Tears for Fears, Judas Priest, Roxy Music, Michael Schenker, Nik Kershaw, Phd., Al DiMeola, 801, Pete Townshend, Russ Ballard, Robert Palmer, Stanley Clarke, The Pretenders, Jon Anderson, Whitesnake and Dave Gilmour... to name but a few.

In 1992 Simon decided to move to the USA, coinciding with being asked to join Toto for their world tour. He has remained a full time member ever since. After recording the Toto album "Tambu" in 1995, another year of touring followed in 1996, covering Europe, Japan, SE Asia and South America.
In 1997 Simon took a break from Toto in order to reach a personal milestone: He took his own band on tour, and for the first time he was the bandleader, and it was his music. This great year included tours of Europe, Japan and The United States, and a performance at The North Sea Jazz Festival.
1998 saw the recording of another Toto studio album entitled "Mindfields", followed by 2 years of touring around the world of which the live CD "Livefields" captures. The most recent Toto record "Through the Looking Glass" took the band in 2002/03 on extensive concert trips to Europe and Asia.

Expanding his career from drumming to writing solo projects, Simon recorded his first album "Protocol" in 1988, followed by "Force Majeure" in 1992. "Symbiosis", which he recorded in 1995, was as spirited but more inspired than ever, and showed a change of direction in the compositions. Simon likes to link his growth in songwriting and new artistic depth to his move to the States. The 1997 record "Another Lifetime" shows yet another layer of his tremendously resourceful playing and an even more motivated composing. "Out of the Blue", a live album, followed in 1998 and in 1999 another complete change of style took place in his latest record "Vantage Point", which is a pure, straight ahead jazz album.

Yet another expansion to Simon's musical career is producing and engineering, which he first started back in England with British composer Mike Oldfield, working on three albums with him. Aside from his solo projects, Simon also co-produced Toto's "Tambu" in 1995, followed by "Mindfields" in 1998. Simon was asked to engineer the latest Toto album, and spent a couple of months during the winter of 2001/02 recording "Through the Looking Glass" in his own studio. Simon is currently back in his studio mixing a recently recorded show for the next Toto DVD.

In 2000 Simon took a break from Toto and recorded with Derek Sherinian, formally of Dream Theater, as well as produced and engineered "Inertia". The following year included the recording of progressive band Planet X, "Moonbabies" and mixing a live CD "Live From Oz".

Simon's sympathy to the various styles of music and his interest in sound and arrangements will always drive him to expand his career.

Neil Peart (RUSH)

2009-01-15T05:09:00.000-08:00

Neil Peart is the most popular drummer today. When it comes to voting in Modern Drummer or Drummerworld - Neil Peart is always the No. 1.

Neil Peart (pronounced "Peert" not "Pert"), born September 12, 1952, near Hagersville, Ontario, is the drummer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band Rush. Rush is the most successful band from Canada, having played together for over 30 years, and selling over 24.5 million records (U.S.). Over the years, Rush has developed their own style of Progressive Rock, weaving together heavy metal, art rock, reggae, new wave, pop, grunge, and classical styles with thoughtful lyrics. The result has been 23 diverse albums, successful tours, and a loyal fan base.

Peart is known for his creative and intricate drum parts and extensive drum solos that delight both drummers and non-drummers alike. He's won many reader's poll awards from Modern Drummer, including 12 consecutive "best recorded performance" awards. In 1996, Peart became an Officer of The Order of Canada, the highest civilian decoration in Canada.

In 1997, following the death of his only daughter, Selena, and then his wife of 22 years Jackie Taylor (1998), Peart and Rush took a five-year hiatus. After he re-married in September 2000, Neil returned to Rush, and the band produced the critically-acclaimed Vapor Trails CD and subsequent tour, taking them to Mexico and South America for the first time. The final show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, became the multi-platinum DVD Rush in Rio. Rush toured again in 2004 as part of their 30th Anniversary celebration, and released a CD of Sixties cover songs, Feedback, to mark the occasion. After the tour, they released Rush - R30 - 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, a live concert from Frankfurt Germany.

On May 1, 2007, Rush released their twenty-third album Snakes & Arrows.

In addition to his job as a musician, Peart has written four non-fiction books, The Masked Rider, Ghost Rider, Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times, and Roadshow : Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle. Ghost Rider was nominated for a Canadian Literary award in 2003. He has also written many articles for Modern Drummer and other magazines. In all, his books have sold over 100,000 copies.

In his spare time, Peart rides BMW motorcycles, drives fast cars, snowshoes, bird watches, and hikes. His favorite drink after a concert or a long day on the road is The Macallan.

Peart currently lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife, Carrie Nuttall.

Peart's nicknames are "Pratt" and "The Professor."

Essential Rush recordings include: Fly by Night (1974), 2112 (1976), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981), Exit... Stage Left (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Power Windows (1985), Roll the Bones (1991), Counterparts (1993), and Vapor Trails (2002).

Thomas Lang...

2009-01-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

“To play the unplayed” - that is the self-proclaimed lifelong aspiration of drummer/producer Thomas Lang. Given his astonishing independence of limb and his stalwart dedication to improving his craft – Lang’s aspiration is more than well on the way to reality. Thomas Lang has dedicated his life to the exploration of all things drum. In addition to his relentless touring, recording and performing schedules, Lang’s instructional DVD “Creative Control” (Hudson Music) is now the biggest-ever selling instructional DVD of all time and he has managed to find time to lend his expertise to Meinl Cymbals, the Remo Corporation and Sonor Drums to help develop new and exciting gear and drums accessories.

A native of Vienna, Austria, Lang took up drums at the tender age of five. Inspired by a televised performance of a heavy metal band, Lang assessed (quite rightly!) that he wanted to be a drummer when he grew up because, “the drummer looked like he was the boss – AND he got to sit down!”

In addition to years of private tuition, Lang was formally educated at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. As the youngest student enrolled at the legendary institution, early on Lang received a diverse education in a multitude of styles including Jazz, Classical, Fusion and Big Band.
After leaving the conservatory, Lang began working professionally – slowly working his way through the European Pop, Rock and Jazz scenes. Working obsessively (sometimes with up to 15 projects simultaneously) Lang earned his stripes by working with some of Europe’s most
demanding recording and touring outfits including Falco, John Wetton, Bonnie Tyler, and many others (go to "tour history" for a complete list of credits).

In addition to his work with other artists, Lang’s 1995 solo release, “Mediator” topped the charts in Europe and garnered rave reviews for its innovative Jazz/Dance/ProgRock sound.
Despite his grueling touring and rehearsal schedule, Lang remains committed to a rigorous daily practice schedule. “I religiously follow a constantly-evolving practice routine. It’s not glamorous, but for me daily practice is a principle source of growth and inspiration in my playing,” says Lang.

Lang’s daily practice regime eventually became the basis for his 2-part series of instructional videos, “Ultamatives Schlagzeug I & II” which were originally released in 1995. Due to overwhelming demand, these videos were re-released on DVD in 2004 by Hudson Music (www.hudsonmusic.com).

In his quest to, “play the unplayed,” Thomas has worked cooperatively with the research and development team at Meinl Cymbals to create, “Tom’s Becken” – a pitch-matched range of contemporary crash cymbals that provide acoustic and electronic drummers with modern sounds that resemble artificially engineered cymbal samples. Launched in 2002, “Tom’s Becken” were so well received that in 2004 Thomas Lang worked with Meinl once again to design the “Fast Hats” (www.meinlcymbals.com).

In 2002, Meinl approached the Remo Corporation to produce the “Thomas Lang Practice Kit” -- a totally silent, completely portable practice kit. “When I travel its hard for me to keep up with my practice because I worry about disturbing people in hotel rooms, or backstage. Then, it occurred to me that tons of drummers must give up playing because it’s too expensive or not feasible to keep up practicing. I took my idea for a totally to the guys and Remo – and the rest is history,” says Lang. (www.remo.com)

Thomas Lang currently plays Sonor drums, Meinl cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo drum heads, Roland electronics, Gibraltar hardware, Hardcase road cases, AKG microphones

Presently, Thomas Lang lives in Los Angeles with his wife and identical twin boys. He is presently working on the highly anticipated follow-up DVD to “Creative Control” which is scheduled for release by Hudson Music in late 2006. Thomas is also working on various solo projects and is launching a music-inspired clothing line.

Joe Jordison Profile...

2009-01-15T05:06:00.001-08:00

Full name: Nathan Jonas Jordison
Date of Birth: 26th April, 1975, Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa
Plays: Drums (and Guitar!)
Height: 5"5
Status: Single
Wears: His mask is a white japanese expressionless kabuki mask, now painted with black scars and fake Blood. He has long black hair with vivid red-steaks.
He's the most talkative member of the group
He is also the creator of the tribal S symbol for the band.
Joey is Known for being one of the fastest drummers in metal history.
He was one of the original members of Slipknot, and drummed for MFKR
Rip's off the arms and legs of his suit, because its easier to drum.
He's talkitive, diminutive, and just really down to earth.
He writes a lot of their songs, including Scissors.
He mixed the self titled album.
He created the term "Maggot" for a slipknot fan...
Doesn't do drugs
First Record Ever Bought: 'Kiss Alive'
Musical Heroes: Fantomas, KISS, Slayer, Venom, Mercyful fate, Misfits, Mike Patton,Melvins.
The First concert he ever saw was Kiss on the "Asylum" tour
BAND WOULD MOST LIKE TO TOUR WITH: the Melvins.
Is a big fan of Fleetwood Mac...actually he listens to Fleetwood Mac every night before going to sleep
Joey's first job was as sales associate at a retail record store in West Des Moines.
Before Slipknot, Joey played in a band called Modifidious with Craig.
When asked to describe himself in three words, he replied: "Introvert, quiet and attentive", yet others say he is quite talkitive...
In his opinion, Black Sabbath was the most heavy metal band ever.
Hobbies: "It is pretty much covered by music 24/7. Aside from that, maybe video games, sleeping and sex"
Bands played/plays in: "Anal Blast","Modifidious", "The Rejects"

Joey worked at a record store called "Music Land" and a gas station called "Sinclair's" he worked at the garage 4 nights a week for 10 hours after being tempted by a friend to get a job there. Joey likes to wear a black hood that says on it "Little People Kill People". The Tribal "S" that is now the slipknot logo, was originally drawn by Joey, Joey also drew the main Slipknot logo, and the big "K" and "T" may come from the fact that at that time he was a HUGE KoRn fan.

Akira Jimbo...

2009-01-15T05:03:00.000-08:00

International drumming sensation Akira Jimbo recently completed a clinic tour of Sam Ash Music stores. Participants got an "up close and personal" audience with the drumming legend, who displayed his dynamic playing style and signature technique, playing to triggered "accompaniment" and fielding questions from the audience on topics ranging from musical influences to equipment choices.

"My best advice to drummers, beginners or veterans, is to always remember the basics," Jimbo stressed in the Q&A session. "When you practice, pay attention to your timing, especially the quarter-note feel. From that, everything else will follow."

Gary Fulton, general manager of Sam Ash Music in New Haven, CT, stated, "We feel honored to host an artist of this caliber. Akira is respected in both the U.S. and in Japan, and our customers were stoked when they found out he’d be here." Drum manager Eric Wagnblas added, "We had an all-ages audience of over 130. This is one our best clinics in recent memory."

Joe Testa, artist relations manager, Drum products, Yamaha Corporation of America, stated, "Yamaha is proud to sponsor such an event - it’s both educational and entertaining. Clinics bring artists like Akira Jimbo to the public, and let them share their knowledge."

Akira started playing drums at the age of 18 at Keio University in Japan, where he became a member of the school’s Light Music Society Big Band. In 1980 he joined the group Casiopea, releasing over a dozen albums and touring internationally. As a solo artist, he has released over 10 albums and four acclaimed instructional videos: Pulse, Metamorphosis, Independence and the latest, Evolution (DCI Music Video/Warner Brothers). His setup includes Yamaha Beech Custom and Signature Snare Drum, the Yamaha DTX Drum Trigger System, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drum heads, and Vic Firth Sticks.

Horacio Hernandez...

2009-01-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

Few percussionist have done as much to further the marriage of jazz, rock and Cuban music as Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez.

Through his work with jazz luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Michel Camilo and Latin rock icon Carlos Santana, Hernandez has become Afro-Cuban music's most visible drummer. Growing up in a house filled with music in Cuba, Hernandez was exposed to the traditional music his Grandfather loved, the progressive jazz sounds of his father and the American rock music his brother tuned in from nearby Miami radio stations.

U.S. rock music being outlawed at the time, Hernandez was detained at the age of thirteen for being caught playing Cream covers with friends from music school. El Negro worked his way up in the Cuban recording and performance community, playing with artists like Rubalcaba, and recording better than 300 records during his time in Havana. As the resident session player for two Havana studios, he kept a mattress in one of their spare rooms, sometimes not returning home for a week or more.

Having built an international reputation via his work with Rubalcaba, Hernandez defected to Italy in hopes of transitioning from there to New York. He spent three years there, teaching at a conservatory and performing regularly in Rome's busy club scene.

When the opportunity arose to relocate to NY, Hernandez took it, playing club gigs for $50 a night until he was legally allowed to work. Once able to travel he was offered a gig with Latin jazz piano master Michel Camilo. Through his work with Camilo, Dave Valentin and the TropiJazz All-Stars, Hernandez played on the most influential Latin jazz recordings of the '90s. He was introduced to mainstream audiences in 1997 as part of Carlos Santana's touring band with whom he played the biggest venues of his career.

Hernandez earned his first Grammy with Michel Camilo's Live at the Blue Note, which took Best Latin Jazz Album in 2003.

El Negro's debut as a bandleader came a year later with the Grammy nominated Italuba, followed two years later by Italuba II.

Steve Gadd Profile...

2009-01-15T04:59:00.000-08:00

No doubt: Steve Gadd ist the most influental drummer of our time.

Steve Gadd, b. Rochester, New York, April 9, 1945. Uncle, a drummer in the army, encouraged him. Drum lessons from age seven; sat in with Dizzy Gillespie at 11. Studied music at Eastman College, Rochester, playing in wind ensemble and concert band, and at nights in a club with Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Joe Romano and Frank Pullara.

After college, drafted into army and spent three years in a military band. After the army, gigged and worked with a big band in Rochester. 1972, formed a trio with Tony Levin and Mike Holmes, going to New York with it. The trio fizzled out, but Gadd began to work extensively as a studio musician.

He also played with Corea's first Return to Forever. 1970's and 1980's, toured internationally, recorded with Paul Simon and with Al Di Meola's Electric Rendezvous Band. By the end of the 1970's Gadd was the most in-demand and probably the most imitated drummer in the world.

In Japan transcriptions of his solos were on sale, and all the leading Japanese drummers were sounding like him. Chick Corea commented, "Every drummer wants to play like Gadd because he plays perfect... He has brought orchestral and compositional thinking to the drum kit while at the same time having a great imagination and a great ability to swing."

In September 2003 Gadd was honored by Zildjian with an American Drummer Achievement Award.

In 2007 Steve Gadd moved from Rochester to Arizona....

Jack DeJohnette...

2009-01-15T04:55:00.002-08:00

Born in Chicago in 1942, Jack DeJohnette began formal piano training at age four. The radio brought young Jack a variety of sounds – broadcasts from Russia and Europe, the Grand Ole Opry and local blues. His uncle, Roy I. Wood, was a popular local DJ and he (and his record collection) would have a tremendous impact on Jack, exposing him to the world of jazz. But as a youngster, Jack made all kinds of music – performing in Doo-Wop and blues groups. At fourteen, he began playing drums with his high school concert band and taking private piano lessons at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. In his early years on the Chicago scene, he led his own groups and was equally in demand as a pianist and as a drummer.

“One of the things I never did was put music into categories,” he explains. “I was fascinated by how music could be so diverse, and that has always stayed with me.”

Jack DeJohnette has collaborated with most major figures in jazz history. Some of the great talents he has worked with are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Jackie McLean, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Ron Carter, Lee Morgan, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter and Eddie Harris, who is responsible for convincing DeJohnette to stick with drums because he heard DeJohnette's natural talent.

In 1968 DeJohnette joined Miles Davis's group in time for the epochal upheaval marked by "Bitches Brew," an album that changed the direction of jazz. In his autobiography, Miles Davis said, "Jack DeJohnette gave me a deep groove that I just loved to play over."

It was also in 1968 when he recorded his first album as a leader on the Milestone label, called “The DeJohnette Complex”, where Jack played melodica along with his mentor Roy Haynes on drums. In the early 70's he recorded “Have You Heard” in Japan and two albums for Prestige, called “Sorcery” and “Cosmic Chicken.” These early sessions united Jack with Gary Peacock, Bennie Maupin, Stanley Cowell, Miroslav Vitous, Eddie Gomez, Alex Foster and Peter Warren.

Jack began to record as a leader for ECM, with each of his successive groups Directions, New Directions, and Special Edition making important contributions to the evolution of jazz. The New Directions band featured two musicians who would have long-term associations with DeJohnette: John Abercrombie and Lester Bowie. A friend from Chicago days, Bowie played intermittently with DeJohnette until the end of his life. Most notably, Lester and Jack collaborated on a duo album called “Zebra,” which was a world beat influenced video soundtrack and CD. Abercrombie continued to work with DeJohnette in the Gateway Trio, along with Dave Holland. Special Edition, with its rotating front line, helped introduce the sounds of David Murray, Rufus Reid, Howard Johnson, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, Greg Osby, Michael Caine, Lonnie Plaxico, Gary Thomas and John Purcell to a wider audience. DeJohnette has also recorded as a leader on Columbia, Landmark, MCA/GRP, and Toshiba/EMI/Blue Note.

2004 was an exciting year of performing and recording for DeJohnette – including work on two Grammy nominated projects “The Out of Towners” (with Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock) and Don Byron’s “Ivey Divey”; and the release of Rarum, Vol. 12: Selected Recordings, a compilation of highlights from his ECM catalog, for whom he still records. In 2005, Jack will tour with a variety of high-profile outfits, such as the Standards Trio with Keith Jarrett & Gary Peacock; his own, the Latin Project, with Don Byron, Giovanni Hidalgo, Jerome Harris, Edsel Gomez and Luisito Quintero; with Bobby McFerrin; Celebrating Tony Williams, a tribute to the late drum master that will feature John Scofield and Larry Goldings; and the new Jack DeJohnette Quartet, featuring Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Jerome Harris (which kicked off the year with a week of sold-out shows at Birland in NYC).

Billy Cobham...

2009-01-15T04:55:00.001-08:00

Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings -- including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. At his best, Cobham harnessed his amazing dexterity into thundering, high-octane hybrids of jazz complexity and rock & roll aggression. He was capable of subtler, funkier grooves on the one hand, and awe-inspiring solo improvisations on the other; in fact, his technical virtuosity was such that his flash could sometimes overwhelm his music. After debuting as a leader with the classic Spectrum in 1973, Cobham spent most of fusion's glory days recording for Atlantic; briefer stints on CBS, Elektra, and GRP followed, and by the mid-'80s, Cobham was de-emphasizing his own bands in favor of session and sideman work. Even so, he continued to record for various small labels with some regularity.

William C. Cobham was born May 16, 1944, in Panama, where as a very young child he became fascinated with the percussion instruments his cousins played. When Cobham was three, his family moved to New York City, and at age eight he made his performance debut with his father. He honed his percussion skills in a drum-and-bugle corps outfit called the St. Catherine's Queensmen, and attended New York's prestigious High School of Music and Art, graduating in 1962. From 1965 to 1968, he served as a percussionist in the U.S. Army Band, and after his release, he was hired as the new drummer in hard bop pianist Horace Silver's band. Cobham toured the U.S. and Europe with Silver in 1968, and also moonlighted with Stanley Turrentine, Shirley Scott, and George Benson. After eight months with Silver, Cobham departed to join the early jazz-rock combo Dreams in 1969, which also featured the Brecker brothers and guitarist John Abercrombie. From there, he landed a job in Miles Davis' new fusion ensemble, and played a small part in the seminal Bitches Brew sessions; he also appeared more prominently on several other Davis albums of the time, including more aggressive classics like Live-Evil and A Tribute to Jack Johnson.

Cobham and guitarist John McLaughlin split off from Davis' group to pursue a harder rocking brand of fusion in the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which debuted in 1971 with the seminal The Inner Mounting Flame. With Mahavishnu, Cobham's fiery intensity was given its fullest airing yet, and his extraordinary technique influenced not only countless fusioneers in his wake, but also quite a few prog rock drummers who were aiming for similarly challenging musical territory. The 1972 follow-up Birds of Fire cemented his reputation, and by this time he had also become something of an unofficial in-house drummer for Creed Taylor's CTI label, known for a smoother, more polished style of fusion; here Cobham backed musicians like George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, and Grover Washington, Jr. Unfortunately, the volatile group chemistry that made Mahavishnu's recordings so exciting also carried over into real life and the original lineup disbanded in 1973.

Deciding to make a go of it on his own, Cobham formed his own band, Spectrum (which initially featured ex-Mahavishnu cohort Jan Hammer on keyboards), and signed with Atlantic. His debut as a leader, also called Spectrum, was released in 1973, showcasing an exciting blend of jazz, funk, and rock that benefited from the presence of guitarists John Scofield and Tommy Bolin (the latter better known for his rock recordings); it also found Cobham experimenting a bit with electronic percussion. Spectrum is still generally acknowledged as the high point of Cobham's solo career, and holds up quite well today. Cobham followed Spectrum with a series of LPs on Atlantic that, like fusion itself, grew increasingly smoother and more commercial as the '70s wore on. For his second album, 1974's Crosswinds, ex-Dreams mate John Abercrombie joined the band, as did keyboardist George Duke, who would become a frequent Cobham collaborator over the years; that same year's performance at Montreux produced the live Shabazz. After Total Eclipse, Cobham moved more explicitly into commercial jazz-funk with 1975's A Funky Thide of Sings, which featured an expanded horn section. He pared the group back down for the improved Life and Times in 1976, and also played Montreux again, in tandem with Duke.

In 1977, Cobham switched to the CBS label, which set him firmly on the path of commercial accessibility. In addition to his records as a leader, he'd remained highly active as a session drummer, and began to focus on that side of his career even more in the late '70s. By 1980, he was done with CBS and began pursuing side opportunities, playing live with the Grateful Dead and Jack Bruce, as well as the Saturday Night Live band. He drummed for the Grateful Dead side project Bobby & the Midnites in 1982, and recorded three albums for Elektra in the early '80s with his new quartet the Glass Menagerie. During the mid-'80s, he cut three commercially oriented LPs for GRP, and spent the next few years stepping up his international touring and absorbing a healthy dose of world music. He played Peter Gabriel's 1992 WOMAD Festival, and the following year recorded The Traveler, inspired by a sojourn in Brazil. In 1996, he formed a more acoustic-oriented quartet called Nordic with three Norwegian musicians; the following year, he also started a German-based fusion outfit called Paradox. In 1998, Cobham began playing with a group called Jazz Is Dead, which devoted itself to jazz reinterpretations of Grateful Dead material; their album Blue Light Rain proved fairly popular among Deadheads. As Cobham maintained his touring, session, and bandleading activities, Rhino released the excellent two-CD retrospective Rudiments: The Billy Cobham Anthology in 2001.

Jim Chapin

2009-01-15T04:52:00.000-08:00

By Rick Mattingly

You'll rarely see Jim Chapin without a pair of sticks and a practice pad. Part of it is his sheer love of playing; part of it comes from when his book Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer was first published in 1948 and he was frequently challenged to prove that the patterns and exercises in the book could actually be played.

"A lot of my inspiration came from guys who played the shuffle, like Lou Fromm, Cozy Cole, O'Neill Spencer and Arthur Herbert," Chapin says. "My approach was to start with the shuffle rhythm in the left hand and then leave notes out of it while the right hand maintained the standard swing ride-cymbal pattern. A big misconception is that the book came out of what the bebop drummers were doing, but all the exercises that showed how to play dotted-eighth/sixteenths, straight eighths, triplets and sisteenth notes against the cymbal pattern were written in 1941 - long before bebop. "By the time I put the book out in 1948, the bebop era was in full flower, so I wrote some exercises with a lot of the phrases I heard the bop drummers playing. But those drummers didn't play independently. When they would play those phrases, they would stop the cymbal or play it in unison. All I did was notate the mechanics and show how to play those phrases while keeping the swing pattern going on the ride cymbal."

The bop drummers were quick to take notice. "He beat a lot of drummers up with that book," says Max Roach. "We were all stumbling on it. But he made a significant contribution to conceptualizing what the drumset is all about, explaining it so clearly in his book."

For well over four decades, "the Chapin book" has been considered the definitive study on coordinated independence as applied to jazz drumming, and generations of drummers have struggled to master it. "I started studying from Advanced Techniques when I was about thirteen, and it was the first really frustrating thing I had encountered," says Dave Weckl. "That book definitely put me through changes. It was helping both my reading and my coordinated independence, and it brought me to a new level of concentration and ability. I went through it again with Ed Soph in college, and Ed had some different approaches using the same material, so it was the same thing all over again at a higher level. I always recommend that book."

Chapin stresses that his intent was never to develop technique for the sake of technique. "The idea behind the exercises was to teach independence, not that drummers should use those patterns all the time when they play," he explains. "Independence is a very appealing thing, and it's like anything else: If you have it, you want to use it. But that's not necessarily the best way to play music. Rather than overplaying, someone would be better off underplaying, like Mel Lewis did - doing something that doesn't require any technique, just a nice feel."

Chapin admits that much of his early preoccupation with developing the exercises in the book could be seen as overcompensating for not having started drumming until he was eighteen years old. "I started in the spring of 1937, and in the summer of '38 I went out with a band. I was terrible," he laughs.

Several people, including Gene Krupa, suggested to Chapin that he study with Sanford Moeller. "Moeller made you play things with a continuous motion," Chapin said in a 1981 Modern Drummer article. "The motion was the message. You made the motion and the stick played it. After a while, it almost played itself.

"Moeller analyzed everything and stressed taking everything apart. If you played a paradiddle, you would learn what each hand did by itself. So from the time Moeller showed me that, I was able to think in terms of doing one thing with one hand and one thing with the other. That was the reason I got into the things that later developed into my book."

Chapin was also watching other musicians. "Pianists and organists as far back as Bach had used independence to play a line with one hand and a counter-line with the other," Chapin says. "So why did drummers have to play everything hand-to-hand?"

While Chapin was writing out independence exercises in the early 1940s, he was playing at New York's Hickory House jazz club with Flip Phillips at night. Chapin was drafted during World War II, and after he got out of the army he worked jazz gigs in Greenwich Village and with big bands at Roseland and the Acadia ballrooms. He went out with the Casa Loma orchestra for a time, and worked in Atlanta for a spell before returning to New York.

Putting the needs of his growing family (the late singer Harry Chapin was one of his sons) before his jazz career, Chapin settled into a life of teaching and playing mostly dance jobs, with an occasional jazz gig here and there. He released a Music Minus One album based on Advanced Techniques, as well as other MMO productions featuring big band, jazz, rock and combo arrangements. He also released two albums on the classic jazz label: Skin Tight, which featured big band drumming, and The Jim Chapin Sextet, which featured the group that Chapin used on Monday nights at Birdland in the mid-'50s.

In 1971 Chapin published his second book, Independence - The Open End. Innovative in design, it featured removable pages that could be superimposed over each other to create seemingly endless patterns, and it was generally agreed that one could never really "finish" the book. Expensive to produce, the book has only been published sporadically in limited quantities, and is somewhat of a collector's item.

Today, Chapin is still as enthusiastic as ever, and is a familiar sight at PAS conventions and NAMM shows where he never tires of demonstrating "the Moeller stroke" or astounding people with displays of speed and independence. Perhaps his greatest gift as a teacher is his ability to infuse students with his own excitement about drumming.

"Once you meet Jim you understand why he was ahead of his time, because he's an innovative person who has tremendous passion for his craft," says rock drummer Kenny Aronoff. "It was inevitable that he would come up with something like that book, because he had to do something with that passion."

I'm Dennis Chambers...

2009-01-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

My name is Dennis Chambers. I started playing drums at the age of 4, and by the age of 6 I was playing in night clubs. I had no former education in music. All my musical training came from playing in night clubs. At the age of 18 I went from high school to a band called "Parliament and Funkadelic". I joined the band in 1978 and played with them until 1985. Starting in 1985, I did a lot of session work in New York and was the house drummer for "Sugar Hill Record Company". After that, I joined "Special EFX" in 1985. In 1987 I joined the "David Sanborn Band" and the "John Scofield Band" which ended in 1989. Shortly afterwards I joined the "Mike Stern/Bob Berg Band". Since then I have been playing in various other bands such as: Randy Breckers Band and Michael Breckers Band/Mike Urbaniak's Band/Bill Evans Band/CTI All Stars/George Duke/Stanley Clark's Band/Steve Kahn's Eyewitness Band/John McLaughlin Band. I have also recorded my own record called "Getting Even" on Pioneer Records, and an instructional video on DCI.

2005 till now: Santana - 2007: Tower Of Power

Travis Barker

2009-01-15T04:48:00.000-08:00

Travis Barker is quickly becoming one of the more influential musicians on the Rock scene today. Travis began studying drums and taking lessons at the age of four. He studied with a jazz teacher and was exposed to many different styles of music. While in High School, Travis played in the jazz ensemble and marching band. He subsequently gained much experience performing at regional competitions and festivals. His senior year, Travis passed up drum corps tryouts for touring with a rock band. He gained more experience as a rock drummer in a few early bands such as Feeble, The Suicide Machines, and The Aquabats.

In 1998, Travis replaced Blink 182's first drummer and came to the band’s rescue at one show by learning over twenty songs in just a few hours and performing with them later that evening. Travis quickly became a much respected and popular member of the band and solidified his position as the timekeeper with his professional attitude, rhythmic skills and talent.

Blink-182 won a Teen Choice Award, a Blockbuster Music Award, and appeared on the MTV Awards 2000 where they performed "All The Small Things" and won Best Group Video. In Europe, they received an MTV Europe Award for Best New Act. They have performed on Saturday Night Live and the Tonight Show (twice), appeared in the hit movie American Pie and opened the Billboard Music Awards. The band has also graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Alternative Press (twice) and Teen People. At this point, Blink-182 is a worldwide phenomenon, with their recordings reaping multi-platinum status and their concert tours selling out everywhere. The band's popularity has only increased since their formation in '93. In 1994 they released their first full-length album, Cheshire Cat, on Grilled Cheese (a division of Cargo Music). In 1996, they signed a joint-venture record deal with Cargo Music and MCA Records, with their first MCA release Dude Ranch (1997) setting the stage for their current success. By the end of 1998, they had emerged as one of the most popular pop-punk bands of the year.

Worldwide sales of Enema of the State are now over seven million copies, not to mention the fact that the album has been on Billboard's Top 200 for over a year. The album's three singles, "What's My Age Again," "All The Small Things" and "Adam's Song" have dominated MTV, alternative, rock and Top-40 radio. Travis will be on tour in support of Blink’s latest release and follow-up to "Enema of The State", "Take Off Your Pants And Jacket".

Box Car Racer, Barker's collaboration with Blink bandmate Tom DeLonge, David Kennedy and Anthony Celestino, filmed their second video recently with director Alexander Kostas (Filter, Andrew W.K.).

April 7, 2005
Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker of Blink 182 have started a new group named Plus 44, which features vocals from Carol Heller of Get The Girl.

The band are aiming to have a record released this year, with Hoppus telling MTV: "It's very exciting, like a breath of fresh air. It's all very electronic right now. We have a girl singing - she and I are trading off vocals.”

Barker also commented: "If Blink was the daytime, Plus 44 is the night time. It's such a departure from Blink, but it's amazing. I play all the drums, but they're electronic drums, plus I play piano and keyboard on it. And I've been making beats for it... I am just going to keep working on stuff. Everything's A-plus."

Blink 182 announced that they were to go on indefinite hiatus in February, citing a desire to spend more time with their families, however rumours surfaced that the trio had in fact fallen out.

September 2008:
Travis was hospitalized following a plane crash on September 19. Four others died in the crash. Barker was admitted to a Georgia burn center to treat third-degree burns to his lower body and returned home ten days later.

Bill Bruford Profile

2009-01-15T04:40:00.000-08:00

“The feats of coordination that they achieved, and the apparent symmetry of the instant arrangements that they hit upon, were astounding.”
- The London Times

British drummer Bill Bruford and Dutch keyboard master Michiel Borstlap are two of the leading lights in progressive improvised music. Since their first meeting at the Nijmegen Festival in Holland in 2002, the duo have recorded on both CD and DVD, and gone on to play major Festivals and concerts in Japan and Europe.

By the tender age of 27, Bill Bruford’s musical character had already been forged in the fiery furnace of four of the biggest progressive rock groups of the 1970s; Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and UK. This early success propelled Bill, by nature a restless innovator uncomfortable with the well-worn path, into a fascinating 30-year search for the innovative, the unusual, and the unpredictable with groups such as Bruford, Earthworks, and the Bruford-Borstlap Duo.

Pianist Michiel Borstlap graduated Cum Laude from Hilversum Conservatory in 1992. He has had his music recorded by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and has released eight albums, including ‘Every Step a Dance, Every Word A Song’, and the DVD ‘In Concert In Holland’ with Bill. He may appear one day in a duo improvising instant compositions with Bruford, the next in concert with the Ankara Symphony Orchestra, and a third day behind his Yamaha grand improvising over techno and house beats with the group Soulvation.

‘In Two Minds’, the second CD to come from this pairing of fine musicians, will no doubt be hugely anticipated by the large and dedicated fan base built up by these two artists in addition to their own separate respective fan bases who have witnessed them in concert since the Duo’s first formal collaboration back in 2002. Recorded in 2007, ‘In Two Minds’ features eleven intimate and conversational tracks of new, original material, and a stand-out reading of the Miles Davis classic ‘All Blues’. Released February 2008 on the Summerfold imprint, the Bruford-Borstlap Duo will again be playing selected live dates through Summer 2008.

Kenny Aronoff

2009-01-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

Kenny Aronoff is one of the world's most influential and in-demand drummers. The list of artists he's worked with reads like a who's who of the music industry, and includes John Mellencamp, The Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Seger, Melissa Etheridge, Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alanis Morissette, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Avril Lavigne, John Fogerty, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Raitt, Ricky Martin, Santana, Trey Anastasio, Michelle Branch, and many others. With a style of playing that combines power and finesse, Kenny was named the #1 Pop/Rock Drummer and the #1 Studio Drummer for five consecutive years by the readers of Modern Drummer Magazine, and in addition has played on over 30 Grammy-nominated recordings.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Kenny joined his first band at age ten. A self-taught drummer, he played in local bands throughout junior high and high school. At 16, he decided to focus on classical music and began to study seriously with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study at the University of Massachusetts and at Indiana University, where, among other honors, he was awarded the school's prestigious Performer's Certificate. During summer breaks he participated in the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals.

After graduating from IU in 1976, Kenny was offered timpani positions in several symphony orchestras, but instead decided to head to the east coast, where he studied drum set in Boston and New York. During this time he began to concentrate on jazz and fusion music, and in 1977 he returned to Indiana and spent several years in a popular local band, playing throughout the Midwest. In 1980 he joined the John Mellencamp band, recording 10 albums and touring with him over a 17-year period. Kenny's innovative style and solid backbeat became the driving force behind Mellencamp's long run of definitive hit records in the '80's and '90s, a list that includes "American Fool", "Scarecrow", "Uh Huh", "The Lonesome Jubilee", "Whenever We Wanted", "Dance Naked", "Big Daddy", "Human Wheels" and others.

In the mid-80s, Kenny began to develop an enormously successful career as a studio musician. Today he is among the world's most in-demand session drummers, having played on hundreds of records. Recent recording projects include Rod Stewart, Avril Lavigne, Meat Loaf, John Fogerty, Tony Iommi and Melissa Etheridge. He has also performed live and toured worldwide with many artists including The Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Seger, Melissa Etheridge, John Fogerty, Joe Cocker, Willie Nelson and Michelle Branch.

From 1993 to 1997, he was Associate Professor of Percussion at Indiana University. The Aronoff Percussion Scholarship is awarded annually to a percussion student enrolled at IU.

Whether it's recording, touring, drum clinics or his instructional DVDs and books, Kenny brings tremendous drive, enthusiasm and creativity to everything he does.

Virgil Donati Profile

2009-01-15T04:21:00.000-08:00

Virgil Donati was born in Melbourne Australia, and got his first drumset at age 3.

He started playing right away with his fathers showband, and kept on doing these shows until he was around 6 years old. He began taking lessons at age 7 with Brian Czempinski and later Graham Morgan,- now a legend in the Australian drumming community.

Joining his first rock band at age 15 was surely the right choice for the young drummer. The band was called `Cloud Nine`, later to become `Taste`.

Donati left school when he was 16, focusing mainly on the drums, but also piano, and practicing hard every day!

Playing 6 nights a week with `Taste` was what really “got his chops together”. Australia was very isolated as far as instructional books and big international tours, so he had to rely on self-motivation and listening to records.

With his fathers choice of records, including Louie Bellson and Buddy Rich albums, Virgil quickly became a fan of those great jazz drummers, trying to emulate their solos.

The first rock drummer to make a big impact on him was Ian Paice of `Deep Purple`. Donati was “blown away by his clarity and power”,- something for which he later would become famous himself.

Practice became a way of life for Virgil, who tried to learn as many different styles as possible, enabling him to cope with any musical situation he was confronted with!

At age 19 Virgil travelled to the U.S. to study with Philly Jo Jones, and at Dick Groves School in L.A. He also took lessons from snare drum specialist Murry Spivak.

Returning to Australia at age 21 was where Virgils career took off! Playing jazz with Alan Zavod and Brian Brown,- and rock with Peter Cupples band, he was a busy touring and session drummer Down Under.

His own pop band, `The State` turned into `Southern Sons`, which led to Virgils first taste of international fame.

The big break came in 1995 where Virgils first solo album `Stretch` was released to a stunned community of drummers worldwide, not knowing what had hit them!

Donati revealed a new approach to double bass drumming, doing stuff no one had ever done before, like doublestrokes on double bass at uncanny tempos!

Virgil moved to the U.S. in 1996 to take his career one step further, and it paid off! Recording and touring with the likes of Tina Arena, Steve Walsh, Tribal Tech and Steve Vai, is now his daily standard, as he continues to push the limits of the instrument to new unbelievable levels. His own band Planet X is arguably the most advanced fusion group, setting new standards for other musicians to follow!

Virgil Donati has not only taken doublebass drumming to alien levels, but the combined experience of this amazing player has to be seen to believe it!