FEATURES

MIKEBORDIN

MILTONSLEDGE

Faith No More's unique synthe-sis of rap, metal, and punk setthem apart from the crowd earlyon. And Mike Bordin's relentlessdrumming has been a key ingre-dient from the start. In this spe-cial story, Bordin sets the stagefor the band's latest sensoryassault, and traces the path thatlead there.• by Robin Tolleson 22

While albums like Ropin' The Windhave made Garth Brooks countrymusic's biggest sensation in years,Brooks drummer Milton Sledge hasbeen ropin' some major attentionhimself. Here Sledge discusses howhe makes it happen in the studiowith Brooks, Kathy Mattea,Alabama, and othercountry stars.

• by Robyn Flans 28

THE DRUMMERSOF JAMES BROWN

One reason James Brown'smusic is the funkiest known toman is his choice in drum-mers—simply some of the mostgrooving men who ever satbehind a kit. In this special MDstory, we trace the careers andcontributions of the three funki-est JB drummers. Plus: transcrip-tions of classic JBdrum grooves.• by Adam J. Budofskyand Harry Weinger

32GETTING

REPLACED INTHE STUDIO

Sure, when it happens, you thinkyou're the only one who knowshow bad it feels. In this uniquestory, though, session greatsAndy Newmark, Jeff Porcaro,Jim Keltner, Kenny Aronoff, andHal Blaine discuss how they'vedealt with rejection,and then turned it intoeducation.• by Rick Mattingly

36

VOLUME 16, NUMBER 4

COVER PHOTO BY JAY BLAKESBERG

Education

52 ROCK 'N' JAZZCLINICAlternative Funk-RockBY RODNEY LEDBETTER

54 SLIGHTLYOFFBEATTales FromThe Soviet UnionBY MATT NORTH

66 DRUM SOLOISTVinnie Colaiuta:"All Blues"TRANSCRIBED BYJEFF WALD

76 JAZZDRUMMERS'WORKSHOPNew OrleansDrumming:Part 2: ContemporaryRhythmsBY JOEY FARRIS

101 CONCEPTSDrum ContestsBY ROY BURNS

102 SHOP TALKHand-MadeDrumsticksBY HERB BROCHSTEIN

Equipment

40 PRODUCTCLOSE-UPSonor Symphony SnareDrums And AX-HatBY RICK MATTINGLY

Gibraltar Road SeriesRack SystemBY RICK VAN HORN

Danmar ProductsBY RICK VAN HORN

114 NEW ANDNOTABLE

News

8 UPDATEMax Weinberg,Russ McKinnon ofTower of Power,Herman Mathews,Tattoo Rodeo's RichWright, and DannyCochran of AnsonFunderburgh & theRockets, plus News

112 INDUSTRYHAPPENINGS

Departments

4 EDITOR'SOVERVIEW

6 READERS'PLATFORM

10 DRUMLINE

14 ASK A PRO

18 IT'SQUESTIONABLE

90 CRITIQUE

118 DRUM MARKET

Profiles

46 PORTRAITSPaul van WageningenBY CHARLES LEVIN

60 PERCUSSIONTODAYPat O'DonnellBY STEPHANIERENZO BENNETT

70 ENCORESpencer Dryden:Surrealistic PillowBY ROBERT SANTELLI

COLUMNS

41

42

E D I T O R ' S O V E R V I E W

MD's SupergalOver the years I've thanked many people who'veplayed an essential role in the success of ModernDrummer. Contributing writers, photographers,artists, Advisory Board members, and certainindustry people have all been praised. However, itrecently occurred to me that I've been remiss notto make special mention of one particular personwho has been incredibly important to MD on a day-

to-day basis for a long time. I'm referring to MD's office manager,Tracy Kearns, our own in-house Supergal who's given more than herfair share of devotion to Modern Drummer over the past eight years.

Starting out with the magazine as a part-timer, "T" (a nickname Isomehow initiated) worked her way up through the ranks of the cir-culation department, quickly absorbed enough about our business tobecome assistant office manager several years later, and was promot-ed to head office manager four years ago.

Tracy is what some busy executives call their gal Friday, or right-arm person. A person you can count on so many times in any givenweek that you sometimes foolishly take their contribution for grant-ed. The kind of person whose importance squarely hits home whenthey're out for a day or two, and suddenly you notice that somethingvery important in your daily business life is missing.

To fully describe her work day, and list all the challenges ourSupergal confronts every day, could take up another full page. Sufficeto say that besides my associate publisher wife, Isabel, to whom shealso directly reports, "T" is next in line in the MD hierarchy, andthere's hardly a single aspect of Modern Drummer that in one way oranother does not pass across her busy desk.

Though "office manager" would indicate someone in charge ofinter-office activity only, our Supergal's role actually extends wellbeyond that. Carefully watching over production schedules, monitor-ing the complexities of MD's worldwide distribution, and overseeingfinances are just a few of her responsibilities. Brought in on mostmajor decisions and policy changes, she's often required to move a"rush" job through in two days, or to research any possible area ofcompany operations and have it on my desk at a moment's notice. It'syour classic pressure cooker gig, and I doubt whether MD wouldfunction as smoothly as it does without her.

I'm certain there isn't an executive in the world who wouldn't givetheir own right arm for a manager like Tracy. I hope they're all aslucky as I've been. All I know is, I feel pretty fortunate that this par-ticular Supergal belongs to us.

EDITOR/PUBLISHER

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

MANAGING EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

ART DIRECTOR

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

SALES AND MARKETINGDIRECTOR

CONSULTANT TO THEPUBLISHER

Ronald Spagnardi

Isabel Spagnardi

Rick Van Horn

William F. Miller

Adam J. Budofsky

Karen Walsh

Scott G. Bienstock

Tracy A. Kearns

Bob Berenson

Joan C. Stickel

Crystal W Van Horn

Arnold E. Abramson

MODERN DRUMMER ADVISORY BOARD: Henry Adler, KennyAronoff, Louie Bellson, Bill Bruford, Roy Burns, Jim Chapin, AlanDawson, Dennis DeLucia, Les DeMerle, Len DiMuzio, CharlieDonnelly, Peter Erskine, Vic Firth, Danny Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, JimKeltner, Larrie Londin, Peter Magadini, George Marsh, Joe Morello, RodMorgenstein, Andy Newmark, Neil Peart, Charlie Perry, Dave Samuels,John Santos, Ed Shaughnessy, Steve Smith, Ed Thigpen, Dave Weckl.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Robyn Flans, Simon Goodwin, RickMattingly, Ken Micallef, Jeff Potter, Teri Saccone, Robert Santelli.

MODERN DRUMMER magazine (ISSN 0194-4533) is publishedmonthly by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc., 870 PomptonAvenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. Second-Class Postage paid at CedarGrove, NJ 07009 and at additional mailing offices. Copyright 1992 byMODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: MODERNDRUMMER Publications, 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ07009. Tel: (201) 239-4140.

MODERN DRUMMER welcomes manuscripts and photographic mate-rial, however, cannot assume responsibility for them. Such items mustbe accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

MUSIC DEALERS: Modern Drummer is available for resale at bulkrates. Direct correspondence to Modern Drummer, Dealer Service, P.O.Box 389, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. Tel.: (800) 334-DRUM or (815) 734-6013.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $27.95 per year; $49.95, two years. Single copies$3.95.

SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: Modern Drummer, P.O. Box480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0480. Change of address: Allow at least sixweeks for a change. Please provide both old and new address. Toll FreeTel.: (800) 551-3786.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Drummer, PO. Box480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054.

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R E A D E R S ' P L A T F O R M

I am writing in regards to the interviewwith Mark Brzezicki in your Januaryissue. I feel I must thank you for it,because it has been long overdue and Ihave been waiting for it forever. Brzezickiis, to say the least, incredible. Along withmany others, I have followed him and hisdrumming throughout the Big Countrydays (although I'm sure he doesn't wantto be labeled as Big Country's ex-drum-mer) and will continue to do so. His atti-tude and outlook are inspirational.Thanks, Mark!

Johnny WallDurham NC

There was a time when timekeeping wasmeasured by our inner clocks and theears of our fellow players...when "layingdown time" meant swinging—not negoti-ating your 16th notes with a machine...when the front line expected a steadytempo, but with a little pushme-pullyouto create and resolve tension, and enoughaccents, fills, and other variations to keepthe rhythm fresh and interesting.

Technology-bashing is bad, but carry-ing technology to illogical conclusions iseven worse. What we have now, accordingto Jeannine Davis in the January '92Readers' Platform, is the RussianDragon—a machine that not only helpsdrummers to keep a steady beat, butreveals if they "may still be drifting fromthe click"—measured in milliseconds, noless—and displayed so that "all the otherband members can see the result." In anad in the same issue, we learn that theBeat Bug rejects a click in favor of a digi-tal display "of your tempo with large,easy-to-read LEDs." Are you really a sillymillisecond off, like the bass player says?Settle those arguments scientifically, bylooking at the display. (Are we having funyet?)

From the beginner to the cutting-edgeprofessional, we all need to mind thetempo. But even the greatest drummershave rushed or dragged the tempo (oftenon record), in part because they wererisk-takers who refused to "play like amachine"—a phrase that used to be aput-down. Nowadays we have the ulti-mate in fail-safe rhythm: the wholly pro-grammed drum part (the percussiveequivalent of a dildo; live players need notapply).

This is a Pentagon, hypermedical,Rube Goldberg view of technology: "If acomplex device can be made, go aheadand make it." I think it's time to pull theplug, not on all electronic equipment, buton conceptions of musical growth thatvalue order and predictability over flexi-bility and invention.

Charlie SuhorSavoy IL

I am trying to locate an artisan namedRichie Selmer, maker of traditionalZimbabwean/Shona-style mbiras (some-times referred to as "kalimbas"). I am thelucky owner of one of Richie's spectacu-lar instruments and would like to consulthim about it. The last time I heard of hiswhereabouts, he was living in Alabama,but I have no further information.

Could you please print this request onyour letters page? Perhaps someone outthere will be able to point me in Richie'sdirection. I'd also enjoy hearing fromanyone else who enjoys playing and col-lecting mbiras/kalimbas. Finally, thankyou for being there, MD, on behalf of theobsessed percussaholics of the world.You folks never fail to entertain, educate,and inspire.

Beverly Louise SlaytonCambridge MA

In preparing and helping high school stu-dents select a college for their particularinterest, I found Robert Breithaupt's arti-cle "Training After High School"[December '91 MD] to be very helpful.Students should ask themselves the veryquestions that were discussed. Drum-mers/percussionists especially should beadvised to know basic piano and/or mallettheory before entering college. Also, forcertain degrees/careers in music technol-ogy, analytical subjects such as math andscience will be important. If available attheir high school, students would alsobenefit from business classes and train-ing on computers. Even good communi-cation skills will be called upon in manymusic careers.

Students today have access to a wealthof technology that they may apply to themusic classroom setting in order to bewell-prepared for a career in music. Iinstruct my percussion students not onlymusically, but also in how to function inthe music industry—giving them vitaltools to be applied. I hope MD readerswill put your article's valuable informa-tion to good use.

Gregg MartinAlumni Representative-

Berklee College of MusicEvansville IN

I wish to thank you for sending me yourModern Drummer magazine for all theseyears. MD has helped me so much in mycareer as a professional drummer. It hasinspired me in all the other works Ido—and to share my love for drums withall the rest of the drummers in the world.If I could be of any help to you here inItaly, just let me know. Keep up the very,very, good work, people. Ciao!

Paolo SburlatiTorino, Italy

Mark Brzezicki

We Got The Beat

Where's Richie?

Training After High School

The Italian Connection

U P D A T E

While Tower of Power is preparing a new album, Russ McKinnonrecalls that the last one, Monster On A Leash—the band's first insix years—was one of the most enjoyable experiences he's hadwith the group. "It was great to really get in the trenches and tryto pull things together for a new CD," says McKinnon."Everyone had equal say. If I said, 'I don't like this groove—let'splay it straight and shuffle the chorus,' then we tried it. Anythinggoes in Tower of Power, because it's such a unique band. You canget away with what I think is a little more musicality than most.

"Rocco [Prestia]would come in with a bass line, I'd put a drumgroove to it, and we'd write a song to it," Russ continues, citing"Funk The Dumb Stuff" as an example. "That track was sospontaneous. I had fun with that because I got to shift stuff

years I was with him meant not having thetime to explore other ideas and projects.But now I have the time, and I'm takingadvantage of it."

Weinberg's pet project has been KillerJoe, which, according to Weinberg, isn't aband in the traditional sense. "Actually, it's[keyboard player and long-time friend] JoeDelia and me and whatever musical flightsof fancy we take together. We don't plan totour, and we may or may not do futurealbums together. But I'm real proud ofthis record. The music we picked reallymade me stretch as a drummer. We pickedswing tunes and rhythm & blues thingsthat reflect the kinds of music we grew upwith. The album was made with the ideathat you could put it on at a party and just

let it play from start to finish."According to Southside Johnny, "I think

Better Days contains the best drummingI've ever heard from Max. He heard thesongs and knew exactly what they neededin terms of the drums. He is responsiblefor a big chunk of any success the albummight enjoy."

Is there a chance Weinberg might oneday work again with Bruce Springsteen?"Anything is possible," says Weinberg."But truthfully, I don't know. I do knowthat working with him has always beenlots of fun. I guess we'll just have to waitand see what happens."

• Robert Santelli

around a little bit. Then there's the tune 'Miss Trouble,' where Iused two different snare drums. It has a straight kind of funkygroove in the verse, and then a big drum fill, and then a shuffle inthe chorus."

McKinnon says that the band spent a lot of time on the songsin rehearsal, so, "Once we went into the studio, I did 14 drumtracks in three days. Things were pretty much first takes, like theinstrumental, 'Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.' There are things on theCD that, if we had a budget that allowed more time, I would haveliked to redo. But you know what? If you listen to that oldMotown stuff, there's nothing that feels better. All that mattersis, 'Does it groove, or not?'"

• Robyn Flans

Last year Herman Mathews worked on thelate-night TV show Into The Night, as wellas with Kenny Loggins, a gig he's had forthe past couple of years. "The night Kennygave me a call," Mathews says, "you canimagine how the conversation went:'Herman, this is Kenny Loggins.' 'Sure,right!" He asked me to audition, so I wentdown and played. With auditions, I kind ofmake up my mind to have a good time. Icarried my own drums, while everyone else

came with cartage. This was before I knewwhat this whole thing was about.

"I had heard Chester Thompson's audi-tion," Herman recalls, "and I was wonder-ing why he was playing so soft. When I gotin the room, I saw why. Kenny was sittingright in front of the drums. So I said,'Kenny, you might want to back up a littlebit.' He moved back a couple of feet, and Isaid, 'No, no Kenny, you don't understand.'

"We had a good time," Mathews contin-

ues. "I was in there for about an hour, andit was great. We were playing songs I grewup with. i,

"Kenny thinks drums," Mathews says."I'm not saying he writes from the drums,but Kenny is very knowledgeable aboutdrumming and rhythms, so it's always achallenge to go in and give him what hewants. It's fun. I've never worked with any-one who has had that kind of insight."

• Robyn Flans

Russ McKinnon

Two years ago Bruce Springsteen toldmembers of the E Street Band that hewanted to make his next album withouttheir help. That left E Street Band drum-mer Max Weinberg unemployed—but onlytemporarily.

Weinberg used his new-found freedomwisely. In addition to rereleasing his book,The Big Beat, Weinberg also formed hisown record label, Hard Ticket Entertain-ment; joined the New Jersey-basedrhythm & blues band, Killer Joe; producedhis first album, Killer Joe's Scene Of TheCrime; and played drums on SouthsideJohnny's newest album, Better Days.

"It's been a matter of using my time todo things I've always wanted to do," saysWeinberg. "Being with Bruce for all the

Max Weinberg

Herman Mathews

"To me," says Danny Cochran, "playing a shuffle that's layin' inthe pocket just right is like sitting in a real good rocking chair.I'm in heaven playing that style of music." Which is a goodthing, as the Texas blues band Danny's with, AnsonFunderburgh Si the Rockets, do a whole lot of shuffles.

The son of a trumpet player who was a member of the TexasPlayboys, Danny got his start playing western swing. "That wasa great background," Danny says, "because the grooves are verysimilar to what I'm doing with Anson. This gig has given me alot of discipline. You can't play a lot of fills in this type of music;you have to concentrate on laying down very good time."

And Danny does just that on the band's recent album, TellMe What I Want To Hear, on the Blacktop label. "We did therecord in about four days," Cochran says. "Everything is eithera first or second take. It went fast because we've been on the

"When we did that song,"Rich continues, "the recordwas finished, but we were stillin the studio. My drums justhappened to still be set up, andthe rest of the guys were play-ing and singing this thing withthe producer with acousticguitars. I said, 'Man, what isthat? Let me go out and play abeat,' and that beat ended upbeing 90% of the track. That'ssomething I'm really proud of,and it ended up going on therecord."

Tattoo Rodeo hit the roadpretty hard following therelease of their album last year."Live, the band is real close tothe record," Wright says. "Wecome alive, though. I go crazy.I put on a show."

• Robyn Flans

road together for two years, so we were very prepared." Thealbum's title tune was written for China Moon, a movie due forearly '92 release, in which Anson & the Rockets appear per-forming in a club.

The band stays on the road a lot, averaging 240 dates a year."We're pretty strong through the Midwest and on the EastCoast," Danny says, "and our last trip to California was realgood. The best part of it is making new friends in the differenttowns we go to. I meet a lot of drummers, and it really is like abrotherhood. I always hear guitar players talk about trying toblow each other off the stage, but drummers have a close-knitfamily-type thing. If I were ever to quit playing, that's what Iwould miss the most."

• Rick Mattingly

News,Jimmy DeGrasso touring

with Lita Ford.Alvino Bennett on recent

LPs by Brenda Russell andCarol Duboc.

Hunt Waugh on the roadwith The Questionnaires.

Darrell Dwarf on KillerDwarf's new LP, Method ToThe Madness.

Wally Ingram on Timbuk

3's most recent album, BigShot In The Dark. He's beenon the road with them, as wellas doing scattered dates withJackson Browne.

Jim Blair on Tonio K cutsfrom a soundtrack for aShowtime special. Jim is alsostill working with HowardHewett and Spencer Davis.And congratulations to Jim

and his wife Kathryn on thebirth of their son Wyatt.

Michael Blair on tour withLou Reed.

William Calhoun on arecord with Billy Vera andNona Hendryx, the proceedsof which will go to the R&BFoundation. Will's also beenworking with Mick Murphy,with Marcus Miller, and in a

trio with Vernon Reid andMelvin Gibbs.

Zoro is currently on a worldtour with Lenny Kravitz.

Bob Dylan has purchasedthe movie rights to MelTorme's critically acclaimedBuddy Rich biography,Traps, The Drum Wonder.Could a film be far behind?

Rich WrightSeven of the tracks on Tattoo Rodeo'scritically acclaimed debut LP were actual-ly part of the original batch the grouprecorded independently before Atlanticever signed them. "We got a spec deal at astudio," explains drummer Rich Wright,"and we were able to pay that back oncewe got involved with Atlantic. We did tensongs, and it got us management and real-ly started abuzz."

Wright describes the band as a bluesy,straight-ahead rock band. "We hit a widespectrum," he says. "We love to go outthere and kick butt as far as playing heavy,going from 'Shotgun Johnny' to 'SweetLittle Vicky' to 'Been Your Fool' and 'LetMe Be The One.' The first two are aheavier groove with big drums and bigguitars. Then I love 'Let Me Be The One'because my experience with it was trulyunique. It's almost like listening to some-thing you've heard before by the Band orsome old rock 'n' roll.

Danny Cochran

D R U M L I N E

Send quick, proven tips that have saved you time,money, or effort to Drumline, c/o ModernDrummer, 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove,NJ 07009. Items can range from equipmentmaintenance, repair, or design tips to practiceand playing ideas. Please keep tips to 150 wordsor less, and be sure to include your name andaddress. We will pay $15 for every tip we publish.

I have a suggestion for locating and satis-factorily remedying imperfect bearingedges. While tuning, place a finger in thecenter of the head and tap (at an equaldistance from the rim) all around thehead. If a certain outer region of the headproduces a lower tone than the rest of thehead, apply additional tension to the near-est lug(s). If this does not solve the prob-lem, press with your fingers on the sus-pected area to see if the head is in contactwith the bearing edge. If the head does notproduce the necessary seal with the drum,note the location on the edge of the shelland remove the head. Then, using trans-parent cellophane tape, build up the bear-ing edge through successive overlappings.After smoothly blending the tape to thelevel of the edge on both sides of thedepression, replace the head and re-tune.

Although this technique is not perma-nent, it may be a worthwhile remedy forthose who have neither the time nor themoney to have their bearing edge profes-sionally refinished. It may also be appliedby working musicians and drum techs whoneed to make quick, temporary modifica-tions to tune up troubled drums.

Clarence Hoover IIIEaston PA

Does your cowbell slip or pivot from sideto side on its mounting rod? Have youtried tightening it with a wrench? Thiscan be very harmful to your cowbell andyour hardware, too. Here's a simple tipthat can stop this slippage: Wrap ducttape around the rod in a spiral manner,then mount the cowbell on top of thetape. The tape's thickness will hold the

mounting screw in place. There may stillbe a negligible amount of movement, buteven that will be no problem, because thecowbell will "bounce back" immediately.

Max SoongAndover MA

As drummers, because of the complexityand size of our instrument, we usuallydon't have the luxury of playing betweenrehearsals—unless the band plays in ourhome.

This problem inspired me with an ideato compensate for that limbo time. I gettapes of the material, sit down with mytrusty practice pad, and play the melody ofthe music. I use paradiddles, flams, dou-ble or single strokes, and any other rudi-mental stickings that fit the tempo, catch-ing all the stops and changes. Songs comeeasier at rehearsal, because I understandthe melody line. This allows me to bemore sympathetic (as we should be) towhat the other musicians are playing. Thesame technique is ideal for a better under-standing of foreign styles of music, suchas Latin, Brazilian, or reggae—and ithelps to keep my hands in shape, too!

S.R. PurdyPennsauken NJ

As the result of a skiing accident, I found agreat exercise for strengthening a "lazy"left foot. Take a bucket with a handle (oran old paint can) and put some stones orcans of food inside for weight. Then sit ona high table or counter so that your feetdangle. Let the handle of the bucket reston your foot just where your toes begin.Pivot your foot up and down, lifting thebucket as you do so. This exercise helpedme to perfect double strokes on my leftbass drum, and I still use it as a "chops-builder" before a gig. I hope it helps someothers with their foot technique.

Tracy MeschaChicago IL

I visit drum stores often to look for usedparts. When I do, I take the followinghelpful items, all attached to a key ring: a3' tape measure, a drumkey, a standard12-24 American thread lug screw, a 12-24nut, a 12-24 lug screw washer, and a smallpocket knife. With these items I canaccurately size used shells, rims, andheads, and ensure that lug screws (or theinserts in lug casings) are the size I need.(This is important, since some metricsizes are too close for me to tell by eyealone.) I can thus be certain of part sizesand suitability, and I minimize inconve-niencing busy store personnel.

Michael ChadwellDuluth GA

How many times have you needed a screw-driver to adjust your snares? Slottedscrews can easily strip out, and a screw-driver is an awkward tool to keep handy. Isolved this problem by replacing all theadjusting screws on my snare with socket-headed cap screws (available at most hard-ware stores for a few cents each). Then Ifound an allen wrench that fit the capscrews. The allen wrench can easily betaped to the side of your drum or the snarestand. I own a 7x14 metal snare drum, andI've had no problem with the wrenchtaped to the shell.

Jason ConwayMorristown TN

Note: The tips presented in Drumline are sugges-tions based on the personal experience of indi-vidual drummers, and are not necessarilyendorsed or recommended by Modern Drummermagazine. Modern Drummer cannot guaranteethat any problem will be solved by any Drumlinesuggestion, and cannot be responsible for anydamage to equipment or personal injury resultingfrom the utilization of any such suggestion.Readers are encouraged to consider each sugges-tion carefully before attempting to utilize anyDrumline tip.

Shopping Hint

Non-Slip Cowbell Mounting

Quick Fix For Bearing EdgesPractice On The Melody

Developing The Left Foot

New ScrewsFor Snare Strainers

ASK A PRO

Alan White

I was ten years old when I first heard Yes. Since thattime, I've been buying all your records. Now I'm 29 and

finally got the chance to see you live at the Miami Arena thispast summer. You and Bill Bruford were great! I'd like to know

Bun E. CarlosWatching some old videos I have of Cheap Trick, Inoticed you had to double the size of your drumkit

when Tom Petersson left the band in the early '80s. Is it neces-sary to do that if you feel your band needs a stronger rhythmsection but cannot get that extra sound from your bass player?

Also, from those same videos I noticed that you are able toswitch the side that the hi-hat is on. Do you do this for reasonsother than that you "just feel like switching" on any given day?How do you suggest I build up the coordination of my left handso that I might be as flexible as you are?

Jessica MuseCroton NJ

Thanks for your letter, Jessica. Starting in August of1980, for about 15 months we had a guitar player come

in and learn Tom Petersson's bass parts for live performances.

what type of Ludwig kit you were playing, and whether you weretriggering it along with the acoustic sound. Also, why didn't youand Bill both play the intro fill for "Owner Of A Lonely Heart,"considering that both of you great drummers were there onstage with all that wonderful equipment?

Orlando SchininiGuatemala City, Guatemala

It's a great pleasure to answer questions from someonewho is interested in the detailed aspects of music, and

is such a dedicated fan. The Ludwig kit I played on the 1991American tour is of the Super Classic series. The shells werehand-picked at the factory and shipped to me in Los Angeles. Ithen had the kit custom-painted by Bill Detamore (Pork PiePercussion) and fitted with May-EA internal microphones andtriggers from Reek Havok (Drastik Plastik). Most of the drumsounds at the concert were purely acoustic, but some sectionshad electronic samples incorporated. One of those sections wasthe beginning of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart," which was acous-tic drums with samples from the record added.

Working with Bill Bruford in a two-drummer setup within theframework of Yes was certainly a great experience, and I person-ally hope we will work together again. Several concerts wererecorded live, so you may see an album and video of that tourcome out in the near future.

(For recording, Rick Nielson would play bass—because the guyreally wasn't too good on bass.) I liked Keith Moon; I used toplay double-bass in the '60s, and I kind of needed to fill in thebottom of the band, so that's why I expanded my kit to thathuge 11-drum configuration. But then in 1982 we hired a realbass player named John Brandt, and I went back to a smaller kit.

To answer the second part of your question, I'm left-handed,but I play on a right-handed kit. I like to play "backwards"because it's a challenge and its good for my chops. I try to learnall my new licks forwards and backwards, but I lead most of myfills left-handed on the right-handed kit. The way I play is kindof a mess, but it works for me. I started doing it because I sawDennis Wilson, of the Beach Boys, playing left-handed on aright-handed kit back in the '60s and it made sense to me.

For exercises, I simply warm up both hands evenly, and makea point to learn all my licks both left- and right-handed. Thathelps when I want to "mess around"—like switching the side ofthe kit I put the hi-hat on.

IT'S Q U E S T I O N A B L E

I recently read Rick Mattingly'sarticle on "Buying Drums" in the

October '91 MD. It was interesting how hesaid one should establish a relationshipwith the drum dealer at the local musicstore. I am a beginning drummer. I reallyenjoy my drum lessons, and I would like toknow how to get the right set for me. I'dlike Mr. Mattingly's opinion regardingwhat a good beginner set would be, andwhat I should be looking for in such a set.Also, should I buy new or used? Finally, ifused drums are a good idea, should I buythem from a store or a private party?

Larry ChaHerndon VA

Rick Mattingly replies: "Since youmention that you are taking drum

lessons, my first advice would be to askyour teacher for help in selecting the rightdrumset, since he knows you personallyand would be better able to address yourspecific needs. But I will be happy to offersome general advice. Buying used drumscan be a good way to buy a drumset that isof higher quality than a typical beginnerkit, but still pay a lower price. However,you have to know what to look for in a usedkit. There is no way a column such as thiscan educate you about how to evaluateused drums, so I would suggest that abeginner would be better off buying a usedkit from an established music store. Theywill be just as concerned about developinga good relationship with you as if you werebuying a new kit, because they will wantyour future business. You should be waryabout buying from an individual (throughclassified ads, for example) unless you canhave an experienced drummer (such asyour teacher) check them out with you. Inregards to new beginner sets, there areseveral good ones on the market, and againI would suggest that you seek advice fromyour teacher and the salesmen at themusic store. If you impress upon themthat you are serious about a continuing

I have pretty small hands. Despitemy seven years of drumming expe-

rience, I feel this gives me a handicapwhen it comes to chops and rudiments.My question has two parts: First, dounusually small hands give me a disadvan-tage, or is this all in my head? Second, arethere any accommodations that can bemade for small hands, such as stick sizesor special techniques?

Kevin BoilesenLincoln NB

Small hands are no particularhandicap when it comes to drum-

ming. Many very young players—who obvi-ously have small hands—display excellenttechnique. It's more a matter of practiceand development than it is one of handsize. As far as stick size goes, again thesize of your stick should be a matter ofwhat is comfortable for you. Young march-ing drummers often use "street model"sticks that are quite a bit larger than thoseused on drumsets, yet they accomplishstrenuous rudimental stylings comfortably.If you actually feel more comfortable witha smaller stick, there's nothing wrong withthat, either, and several stick models thatare slightly smaller than average are avail-able. If you can use sticks that are bothshort and small in diameter (depending onyour musical requirements), there are 7Aand MA models from a number of drum-stick companies. If you need a stick in amore standard diameter but quite a bitshorter than average, you might try thePhil Collins model from Pro-Mark, whichis 14 3/4 long by 19/32" in diameter. Anotheroption might be to use standard-sizesticks in maple, which is quite a bit lighterthan hickory. The lighter weight mightmake the sticks feel more comfortable.

I recently purchased a used set ofLudwig clear Vistalite drums. I

was surprised that the snare was made ofthe same material (I had expected a metalsnare), but it sounds great. Who came upwith the idea for the clear drums? Whatare they made of? When did the drumsfirst come on the market, and when wasthe last year they were made? And finally,in what colors were they available?

Mark DeemBelpre OH

William F. Ludwig, Jr. provided uswith this brief history of Ludwig's

Vistalite drums: "Clear drums, made ofLucite acrylic material, were originated bythe Zickos Drum Co., of Kansas City, Mis-souri. Mr. William Zwicks was the inven-tor. In about 1970 or '71, we at LudwigDrum Co. thought it a good enough ideato follow through with not only clear plexi-glass models, but with a variety of othercolors as well. This was the birth ofVistalite drums. We initially offered drumsin blue, yellow, amber, red, black, smoky,green, and clear. In 1973 we expanded thisinto a multi-color range, through a gluingprocess. We learned to issue them instraight stripes as well as spirals. Ouradvertising literature led off with the slo-gan, 'Strike Up The Band!'

"The plexiglass provided great reso-nance; the shells were hard as a rock. Asmany people know, Led Zeppelin's JohnBonham played a Vistalite kit for much ofthe band's career. However, in spite of ourbest efforts and promotions, these finedrums never really caught on in a big way.They were very fragile and needed carefulattention during transport. Even so, theprogram proved profitable until the oilembargo of the early '70s drove the cost ofoil and oil by-products (including plexi-glass) through the roof. The line was dis-continued by the mid-'70s."

Are Used Drums A Good Idea?

Are Small Hands A Problem?

involvement with drumming, they willwant to cultivate a long-term relationshipwith you and will, therefore, steer you inthe right direction."

What's The History OfVistalite Drums?

B y R o b i n T o l l e s o n P h o t o s b y J a y B l a k e s b e r g

"It's true," I urgedthe slightly startled voice on the

other end of the phone. "They want you to beon the cover." "I'm a little surprised," he answered.

"I've never done a drum solo, and I don't twirl my sticks."What 28-year-old Mike Bordin has done for the last seven years with

drive and flair is patrol the vast rhythmic terrain explored by SanFrancisco rockers Faith No More. Since signing a record deal with Slash in

1985, FNM has brought punk, new wave, metal, fusion, and rap to the table, andBordin, his waist-length dreadlocks flying, has proven to be one of the most

adaptable and powerful drummers on the current scene.When we spoke at the drummer's San Francisco south-of-Market Street apartment,

Bordin and the band were working on the follow-up album to 1989's highly successfulThe Real Thing. The fellas had recently returned from a tour of South America and Japan,and Bordin's head was still spinning with visions—a boat trip 80 miles up the AmazonRiver, a samba school in Brazil, and performances in some very non-traditional stops suchas Belem, Manaus, and Curitiba. "Everybody's a great drummer in Brazil, and that justjacks me up." Bordin says. "When everybody's clapping along with you at a gig, they'reall clapping with you, really. The only problem was, when we got to Japan I spent allthe money I'd made in Brazil on jazz records."

If you're looking for Bordin around town, don't try the favorite live musicclubs or watering holes. You'd be better off prowling the stands at

Candlestick Park during a Giants homestand. Or try the baseball cardshops around the Bay Area, where he might be looking for a 1960

Topps Roberto Clemente, or a '62 Mays. Mike's been anavid sports fan since growing up across the San

Francisco Bay in Hayward, just south ofOakland.

MB: The first gig Iever did, the very first thingthat happened was that I hit the edgeof the ride cymbal with my hand. You can still see the scar.Opened up a big flap of skin, blood squirting everywhere.Just off target, I guess. But most of the problems with thehands now just come from routine—from callouses openingup or from the butt of the stick hitting your leg.RT: So even going back to pre-Faith No More days, you'vealways played pretty hard.MB: Yeah, I try to play pretty much as hard as I can, exceptwhen it's not appropriate. My teacher taught me two things.One was to sit straight when you play. When you sit upstraight you're using the spine as well as the weight of youranchor—which is your seat—to drive, to push into the drum.Then you have more strength back there. Sit straight, anddon't play like Karen Carpenter. Hit 'em hard. TonyWilliams, Art Blakey, John Bonham—you can go down theline. Vic Firth as a percussionist. And it's not just a rock,meathead phenomenon. Tony Williams plays a lot harderthan a lot of meatheads. It's exciting to really hit 'em and getthat explosive sound. I get into that.RT: It's a matter of bringing the tone out of the drum.MB: Exactly, especially when you're not blessed—orcursed—with a giant PA, soundman, and effects. If it's justyou, playing at some small joint or even in practice, you are

Michael Schenker was kind of huge at thattime...Robin Trower, whoever. I had a friend who

wanted to play bass, and I said, "Okay, I'll play drums." Ireally don't know why I said that.RT: Why did you guys want to get a band together?MB: He was obsessed by stuff like KISS at the time. Eversince I was nine or ten, all I ever wanted to do was listen tomusic. Music has always been there, even when my parentswere making me dress up and torturing me with symphonyand opera at a young age. Even when I couldn't rememberschool work, I could always remember the words to a song.One day in fifth grade, I was sick, and they brought the radiointo my room. I turned it on, and the radio never left myroom after that. For me it's therapeutic, but I have no ideawhy I really started playing. Probably because I'm not patientenough to learn how to play the guitar.RT: When you did decide to get into it, did you pursue itseriously?MB: Absolutely. I was doing stuff that I really shouldn't havedone back then, getting into trouble. It was nothing for thesedays, but it wasn't so good. It made for some static. So Istopped doing everything that I shouldn't have done, and Istarted taking lessons once, sometimes twice a week for ahalf an hour. And between lessons, for the first couple ofyears, I would just practice putting the stick on the pad. I'mleft-handed, and I was an experiment. It was the ChuckBrown technique taught by one of his farm students named

your own PA You've got to get over everybody else.In some ways that's half the battle. And I'm

confident I can get over just about anybody,[laughs] I did for a long time. But it's

like you say: You bring the tone out ofthe drum. You get different tones

hitting it in the middle of theskin, or halfway in. Then it'sdifferent when you're hittingit as hard as you can in themiddle of the skin, and adifferent tone again whenyou're hitting part of therim and the skin as hardas you can. That drumover there [he points to ahand drum]—you couldpick it up and get a mil-lion different tones out ofit. There's as much as youwant. That's what I love somuch about the drums.

RT: When did you start play-ing?

MB: When I was 13. The crazything is, I wasn't even particularly

drawn to drums. As a kid I was intoEast Bay dirt-head rock music, and

all my heroes were guitar players. RichieBlackmore...Tony lommi was the guy...

Bordin will venture out for aNeil Young or Guns N' Roses show, but

he seems to have little appetite for the limelightaspect of his job. He appreciates the series of accolades

that have come the group's way: Spin 1990 Artists Of TheYear, Rip 1990 Readers' Poll Band Of The Year, Outstanding

Group at the 1991 Bay Area Music Awards—where Bordin himselfpocketed an Outstanding Drummer award. But Bordin's clearly in it for

only one reason—he loves playing drums. He has steadily pursued his goalsin drumming, never letting himself get into a rut. He enrolled in an Africandrumming class at one point to broaden his horizons, and that influence hasremained strong in the composition of Faith No More's rhythmic patterns.

At press time, the band was still in what management calls the "pre-production" stage of recording, but the drummer could give this much of ahint about their upcoming release: "There are some smooth songs, somedriving songs, some slow, real thudding songs, some really smoky cabaret,and some that sound like Faith No More—real heavy rhythm with the

toms. It goes all over the place, as well it should." One other thinghe could promise is no drum solo. "The solo escaped me. It's

intimidating; it's just not for me. I hope I can do somethingthat pushes the ensemble along, makes it more

exciting. That's my job—to stoke the fire alittle bit."

Jim Eaton. It's the matched grip, sit-up-straightthing. That was it for about five years—pret-ty much every day, three, four, or fivehours a day. And it got to be just play-ing with records on a practice padset. I've still got the books:Podemski's Snare DrumMethod, a Vic Firth book, anda Charles Gallen book.RT: Basically you workedon getting a good stroke?MB: Well, like I said, Icouldn't go straight overthe top with bothhands, like "bounce,bounce, release, pickup." I couldn't do itwith my right handfor some reason. So Itook lessons andreally worked at it toget it started fromthe very beginning. Iliked it. I found out itwas something I coulddeal with.RT: At the Bammies lastyear you said drummingwas all you ever wanted todo.MB: I've caught a lot of shitfrom the band members aboutthat, but it's true. It makes me feelgood, you know. I'm not in it to havea social life, I'm not in it to get intoclubs for free. I'm not even in it to traveland see the world, which is a phenomenalbonus. When I'm on tour I like to play drums,and I like to make sure that I don't do other shit thatgets in the way of that, like getting drunk or being hung-over, or being tired even. I feel like people depend on me. Idepend on me. That's what I want to do, and I stick with it.RT: What kind of music did your teacher like to listen to?MB: He was into progressive stuff. Steve Gadd was justcoming up, and had played on a Chick Corea record, Lep-rechaun. That was a little intimidating for me. Looking back,I started getting really frustrated with that. But he turned meon to Tony Williams, who to this day I think is phenomenal.He just did a clinic in Redwood City, and I got to say fivewords to him. It blew me away, because I really like ArtBlakey, and at this clinic Tony said his favorite drummerswere Max Roach and Art Blakey. I thought that was beautiful.RT: So if the fusion stuff got frustrating for you, what musicwere you getting into?MB: Roxy Music's Stranded was one of the first records Iever played to. It's a wonderful record, with Paul Thompsonon drums—great drummer. It's got a mix of everything on it.

I don't reallyremember what else I played to. After a while it was moreplaying with Cliff or some other guitar players, or jammingwith people. We jammed as much as we could.

I did a three-month period playing stuff like Rush andMahavishnu Orchestra, then started getting frustrated withthe "chops" thing, and even rock music. And after that, loand behold, I think punk and new wave came right in thedoor, and that was much rawer. I saw the Sex Pistols here.There were a lot of good shows around that time. Thatmusic was obviously stripped down. When everything elsewas collapsing under its own weight—too much pomp andcircumstance—that stuff was just like a double espresso. Soit started getting rawer like that—the Stranglers, KillingJoke, and Public Image.RT: So despite the fact that you didn't go for the licks-con-

Drumset: Yamaha Recording Customin black finish

A. 6 1/2 x 14 maple snareB. 13x15 rac k tomC. 14 x 16 rack tomD. 16x18 floor tomE. 14x26 bass drum

Cymbals: Zildjian1. 15" New Beat hi-hats

(older model, yet sturdy!)2. 19" K China Boy 3. 18" K crash/ride4. 21" Z light Power ride5. 19" K dark crash6. 18" K medium crash

Hardware: Yamaha, including theirrack system. Bass drum pedal is astrap-drive Drum Workshop model.

Heads: Remo coated Pinstripe on topof snare, coated Emperors on tops oftoms with clear Ambassadors on bot-toms. Clear Pinstripe on bass drumbatter head, with painted head onfront.

Sticks: Vic Firth Rock model, playedwith butt end. The sticks are shavedabout half way up the shaft for bettergrip (and splinters).

sleep in class—whatever they wanted out ofit, they could get. I went there and start-

ed listening, and it was like a revela-tion—seeing this man making

these incredible sounds. C.K.is a wiry, little man who can

get these beautiful, loudsounds out of drums. Ihope it doesn't soundinsulting to him, butthat's real primitive,playing real handdrums. If you'relooking to strip itdown, that is agood place tostart. And tohear C.K. talkabout thingslike rhythms inGhana — it ' slike the religionthere, it's every-thing. And interms of the earth

and the four mainbeats—every beat is

down, always towardthe earth, whether it's

implied or stressed—forme to hear that at 18 or 19,

it was like, "That's great." Andthen to just see how it works. At

that point I started getting off of justplaying kick-snare-hat. Charlie Watts

does that better than anybody—let him do it.I just started thinking about it, putting a little

more drive in it. If you're going to really make it emotion-al, not just sort of an after-thought, then do something, ordon't do it.RT: I can see that in your playing. You don't do some of theusual things that are almost expected.MB: I hope so. Everybody wants to be appropriate, though.

bordin'skit

faith in eightThough Mike says there are hundreds of albums he would put on a list of his"most inspiring," here are eight of the ones he says he listens to the most.

Album TitleOrgy In Rhythm

South Of HeavenSun, Moon & Herbs

"Incrivel Bateria"any

Money JunglePhysical Graffiti

Stranded

Art BlakeySlayer

Dr. JohnMarcal

Neil YoungEllington/Mingus

Led ZeppelinRoxy Music

Drummer

Art BlakeyDave Lombardo

Fred StaehleMarcal

Max RoachJohn Bonham

Paul Thompson

Blue Note 1554/1555Def American 24203-2

Atco AMC4232Polygram 835-123-2

Blue Note 46398Swan Song 55700-2EG/Reprise 26041-2

s c i o u sapp roach ,you didn't stopstudying the instru-ment or trying to pro-gress.MB: Never. But when I went through my Camco drums/BillyCobham period of setting up all these drums, I finally real-ized, "If you can't play three drums, how the hell are yougonna play fifteen drums? Try to learn and do somethinggood with what you've got." I didn't have very good meter, Iwas pretty unsteady—sameproblems as anybody. Butthrough everything, no matterwhat music it was, I wasalways playing.RT: When did the Africaninfluence come into your play-ing?MB: That started in a class atU.C. Berkeley, with a teachernamed C.K. Ladzepko. It's anAfrican drumming ensembleclass for jocks, yuppies, fratboys, people who want to

Our bass player, Bill Gould, is so percussiveand counter-rhythmic sometimes, andthen he also latches up with me andmakes it really drive. But it was goodthat I was able to show him someof the things I learned, and talkto him about this stuff,because now that's a heavypart of the band's founda-tion and a real solid force.You can't underestimatethe rhythm section, ifit's tight and has beentogether for a longtime. It expandedour minds a littlebit, and gave us aside door. Youknow, rock, punk,pop—there's an-other door, and it'sthe great escapefrom cheese orwhatever.RT: You're speakingof the African ap-proach.MB: Yeah, just learningsomething dif ferent .This isn't all there is. Dur-ing their solos, some rockdrummers might steal a partfrom John Bonham or GeneKrupa or Buddy Rich, and that'sthe most creative part of the nightfor them. Rather than doing so manyfills, it's more fun to build an interestingpattern that makes up the whole song. Thenyou don't have to complain about anything,because you're doing it. Hopefully that's what itis—not playing too much, but doing something that's inter-esting.

I could relate to King Crimson in the post-punk timebecause it wasn't so blindingly technical. They believed incool noises, and there was some emotion, not purely licks. Itwas wonderful. Echo & the Bunnymen were great aroundthat time, too. The drummer is dead now, but he was phe-nomenal, using the toms as a texture and a part of the beat.Amazing. That guy, and the drummer from KillingJoke—they're just totally overlooked in the scheme of things,but it was beautiful how they used the whole kit.RT: You got more tom-oriented around that time. Were youtrying to get more textures out of the drums ?MB: It was about not being afraid to use them, and "tex-tures" is the exact description of it. It also has to do withplaying on gigs and not feeling like you're getting your pointacross. I've always played as hard as I could. And if you hit

tomsit kicks it

up just anothernotch, and it's a little more exciting. I've always had a reallyloud snare drum, but the toms and the kick together are realdynamic and driving. For a long time I tried not to use anycymbals, either. I had a giant Zildjian Constantinople ridecymbal, and I'd hit it every once in a while and it would makethis "whooooosh," like a sound from the dub records withphasing or whatever. But I tried to pretty much take it allaway, strip it all the way back and just go with my good stuff.RT: You play left-handed on a right-handed kit?MB: Yeah, it was an experiment. The teacher I was talkingabout before said you wouldn't have any drive with the lefthand if you hit the snare drum with your arms crossed,because you can only get your arm up so high. So if you'retalking about matched grip, you can get a running start onthe snare drum if you play open. The only concession is you

By Robyn Flans Photos by Rick Malkin

itting at his drums at Jack's Tracks studio inNashville, Tennessee, recording Garth Brooks'Ropin' The Wind, Milton Sledge would neverhave predicted what would occur. Milton hadworked with Brooks before, but not evenSledge would have thought that Ropin' The

Wind would soon enter the Billboard pop charts atNumber 1, nudging down Guns N' Roses' mammothUse Your Illusion albums. Yeah, it was a great ses-sion, but like most studio musicians, Milton washired to play a date. So he showed up, did the bestjob he could, and left. But who would have guessedthat Brooks, with three releases in the last two years,would have sold over 11 million albums?

Milton Sledge was born in Athens, Alabama, andhis beginnings consisted of the normal high schooland rock 'n' roll bands. But after high school, he fig-ured he'd get a taste of the world by joining theArmy band. After three years touring the U.S., per-forming for military personnel, Milton returned toAlabama and signed up at Florence State Universityfor his first bout with college. In 1975, he left schoolto pursue the practical side of music, but in 1980, hereturned to study the business side of things. It waswhile he was in the Muscle Shoals area that Milton'scareer took a fateful turn.

Working at the studios in the area gave Sledgeexperience in session work. So in 1984, after record-ing Alabama's hit LP, Roll On, Milton was ready tomove to Nashville, where he has continued to workwith the likes of Kathy Mattea, Shenandoah, BarbaraMandrell, Crystal Gayle, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stu-art, the Statler Brothers, the O'Kanes, and, ofcourse. Garth Brooks.

RF: While you were cutting Garth Brooks, his first album, didyou feel like something extraordinary was happening?MS: I knew that would probably be a hit record, but I neverimagined it would become so big. The first track we did was"Not Counting You," and we cut it several ways. First we cut itwith a softer approach. It's an edgy kind of swing tune, whichis the way it ended up, but we tried it a little more traditional.RF: What does that mean, drum-wise?MS: From my standpoint, it would mean maybe not pushingthe beat so much, sort of laying back and letting it flow, maybeeven more of a folky approach. When we first ran it down, theproducer and the band were going, "Yeah, this might work,"and Garth huddled us all together and said, "Guys, this is notreally what I want. I want a little more edge, more of a liveenergy." It was more like what we would be doing if we were onstage. So we started playing around with it. There isn't really aleader on his session; everybody throws out their ideas, andthe other players elaborate on them. We loved it after we gotmore of the live energy, which is sometimes difficult in the

studio.RF: What did you do to get that energy?MS: I just sort of pushed the beat a little bit. It's really an atti-tude of that energetic, edgy, live thing. So Garth loved the feelof it, and I knew then that this guy had direction—not likesome artists who lay back and are told what direction to have.RF: I'd like to detail your work with Garth Brooks—the tracksthat come to mind as most fun or creative. Let's start with thefirst album.MS: "The Dance" was kind of a cool thing. That was one ofthose things where [producer] Allen Reynolds and I were talk-ing about it before we even charted the song. The question atthe time was whether or not the song even needed drums. Isaid, "I'm not really convinced it needs drums, either." Wewere thinking of more of an orchestral approach. So I sat in thecontrol room, and the guys ran it down, and finally I said, "Letme just go try some things." The drumming on that is realsparse. There are a lot of cymbals and light touches, but Ithink it helped the track. I guess that's my bottom line—if I

S

can help the song or the track without getting in the way. Withmost artists, I think the best job you can do is help promote thesong.RF: When you cut with Brooks, the rhythm section recordslive?MS: Pretty much. On some of the cuts they'll even bring in

steel guitar and fiddle all at one time. But for the most part it'sjust the basic section—rhythm guitar, electric guitar, bass,drums, piano.RF: What about electronics?MS: I think on one track on the first album I might have trig-gered a kick drum. I haven't used much at all.

RF: Whose choice is that?MS: Probably mine. I just never felt like it added that much.I'm not against electronics, but it's not something I concen-trate my efforts on. I look at it as a tool that's useful in certainsituations.RF: What about Brooks' second album, No Fences? What

stands out in your mind?MS: "The Thunder Rolls" was afun track just because of thedynamics of it. It goes from just awhisper to really kicking it out.There are a lot of cymbal splashesand things like that. It's just adramatic tune and a lot of fun toperform.RF: How was that presented toyou?MS: On most of his tracks, he'llusually sit down and play them forus on guitar. Then we'll chart outthe structure of the song, andtrim it down or add parts, say, if itneeds a solo. Or sometimes if it'stoo long, we'll need to restructurethe song, or offer those sugges-tions. We just scoped it out as wewent. Garth usually has somepretty definite ideas as far as per-cussion. Some of the cymbalchops on that were his idea.Believe it or not, he comes fromsort of a heavy metal background.He was telling me he was intoKISS and groups like that.RF: How does he communicateideas to you?MS: He'll say, "Give me somemetal here," which means to real-ly go for some cymbals, or he'llsay, "Really fill it up here," if hewants some big tom fills. As far asthe actual part, though, it's prettymuch left up to me.RF: You mentioned charting thesong while he's running it down.Is that common in Nashville?MS: It depends. Sometimes youmight do a session where there'sa definite leader, and the produc-er has gotten together with him inadvance and charted out the

songs they intend to do. It can be different every day. Someproducers have to get three or four tracks in a three-hour ses-sion, and other guys are more relaxed. If they get one or two ina session, they're really happy with that. A lot of times they'reunder pressure to get the job done as quickly as possible, espe-cially the basic tracks.

RF: When that happens, do you always leave feeling happy?MS: Not always. You really have to put a lot of faith in them.They hire you to give it your best shot. I usually don't make anybones about telling them if I think it can be done better. Ithink, "Hey, one more time is only going to take five minutes todo, and I think you'll be happier." Then there's that thing ofdoing it one too many times. I've seen that happen before, andthat makes you feel just as bad as their keeping one you didn'tparticularly like. But most drummers are probably their ownworst critics. I feel that way most of the time—"If I could havejust done it one more time."RF: Do you ever get disappointed when you hear it on theradio? Sometimes in country they mix the drums way back.MS: Oh, I know. My background is from Muscle Shoals, andthere the bass guitar and the kick drum are the loudest thingsyou hear. I'm exaggerating, but that's what I grew up listeningto, so it was a big adjustment for me to come here and hearthose kinds of mixes. I honestly don't understand why thathappens a lot. It's a big joke with me and a lot of the otherdrummers and bass players. We'll get a really good headphonemix and we'll say, "Hey, this isn't going to matter, becausewhen the record comes out they won't hear the bass and drumsanyway."RF: What else stands out on the secondalbum?MS: "Friends In Low Places" was a lot offun. That was kind of like a barroom song.I don't think we ran that song more than acouple of times. It was one of those thingswhere somebody said, "Let's go aheadand cut it before we really learn it." I likedoing that sometimes. I like going forsomething really quick, off the cuff. It hasthat feel of being a little sloppy. It has itsown characteristics. As far as the drums,it's pretty much straight-ahead. It startsout real slinky, and by the time it gets intothe song you realize it's some kind offunky barroom song.

One that stands out for me but that wasnever released is "Mr. Blue," that old song that someone likeBobby Vinton cut. It was really different and we ended up doinga real swing-y version. It was one of the first times I talkedGarth into letting me use a piccolo snare drum. Before, I'd pullout something thin and pop-sounding, and we'd wind up goingback to the wooden 6 1/2" snare. On this, just for the contrast, heloved it. Consequently, I have three or four snare drums on thisnew album. I like changing them around to suit the song.RF: Can you be specific about what would warrant a change?MS: The way I view it, on something that is up-tempo, I likethat really cracking, ring-y snare drum, where I don't muffle it.Let it honk. I like doing that, because when I first started inthe studio, it was duct tape hell. Now I don't put tape on any-thing. I just tune the toms, and the only muffling I do is a littlebit on the kick drum, and on the top of the snare. I put one ofthose rings on it. But on the piccolo and some of the othersmaller drums, I take that junk off and let it ring.

If it's a big ballad, I go for that big marching snare drum.Sometimes changing the heads can make the difference. Onmy 6 1/2" Pearl Free Floating snare drum, I've tried all kinds ofheads, and the only one that works is the Remo Legacy. That'sprobably my mainstay as far as snare drums. On the latestalbum, on "Rodeo," I used a 1967 Slingerland snare. I boughtthis thing in about 1975 for my nephew, who was enteringschool band. It's like a 5" practice drum. I gave it to him andfor five years, I coveted it. One day I bought him a brand newsnare and said, "I'll give you this brand new snare drum forthat funky old wooden drum." The day we cut "Rodeo," I hadjust had some readjustment done to it and had just picked itup, so I pulled it out. I have a clear Ambassador on it—which isstrange for me—and they loved it. I might have picked up thepiccolo first, but this particular drum's sound is in between myother drum and the piccolo. It has that midrange-y crack to it. Idid these little press roll things on it, some of that military junkthat I knew would come in handy one day.RF: What does Garth need from you?MS: What does he need from me? Not money, for sure.[laughs] I guess just a good, strong track. I mean "strong" inevery sense of the word. We don't cut much of his stuff with a

click track. We're not that much ofsticklers for it being exact. I know helikes a lot of emotion.RF: Is it unusual to not cut with aclick track?MS: Not as much as you might think.I know some players who just don'twant to cut without them. I was neverthat firm on metronomic time. I don'twant it to fluctuate, but sometimesyou can click the groove right out ofsomething. Sometimes people inter-pret the click differently, and thatmakes it even tougher. I think he justwants a good strong track from me.RF: Does he need somebody whocontributes a lot of ideas?MS: Yes, I would agree with that. I

think he wants a drummer to think musically. I think of thechord changes, where the song is going, what key it's in, whatsounds good in particular places.RF: Why do you think about what key it's in?MS: Just for the pitch of the song. I don't want to be playing abunch of weird things to distract what he might be singing. Ifyou're thinking of it musically and listening to everybody else,you can avoid that sort of thing happening.RF: What songs stick out on Ropin' The Wind besides"Rodeo?"MS: "The River." There was a lot of percussion. Kenny Mal-one did some percussion on that, too.RF: On the scratch vocal, did he sing with the same kind ofemotion on "Shameless" as he did on the record?MS: Yes. I was getting to that. That's a Billy Joel song. Billybrought it in. He and his band had been doing the song live.Liberty DeVitto did a real cool but busy drum part, so I con-

ot everybodyis playing onrecords. Ifeel reallyfortunate to

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Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched Over Your Grave,"which basically consists of Sinead singing over a loop ofthe "Funky Drummer" drum break, is a staple jukeboxtune in Irish pubs.

It all comes back to the BEAT—and for our purposes, tothe drummers themselves. We can point to JB as a rhyth-mic genius, but serious credit has to go to his drummers.They were able to translate Brown's ideas to the drumsetand were relied upon to drive anywhere from 6- to 40-piecebands for hours at a time. They were also able to articulaterevolutionary musical changes and survive the gruelinglifestyle that Brown required of his ensemble.

n the 35 years of JB's career, lots of drummers havecome and gone, some staying longer than others. NatKendrick and Clayton Fillyua were early pioneers.Jimmy Madison, Nate Jones, and Bill "Beau Dollar"Bowman made smaller yet still significant contribu-tions. Session musicians like Panama Francis, AllanSchwartzberg, Bernard Purdie, and Billy Cobhamplayed on some key tracks as well. (Schwartzberg's

opening riff in "Funky President" is a sampler's staple.)Tony Cook and Arthur Dickson joined Brown in the late'70s and arc still with him today.

But three drummers in particular—Clyde Stubblefield,John "Jabo" Starks, and Melvin Parker—made an indeli-ble mark on JB's most creative period. These are thedrummers who are sampled the most. These are thedrummers who were part of the classic JB bands thatcould burn up halls like the Apollo Theater hotter thanany band before or after.

Left to right: Bootsy Collins digs in as John Starks, percussionist Johnny Griggs,and Clyde Stubblefield keep their eyes peeled for JB's cues.

As Brown's music progressed into the late 60s, itmoved away from "soul" and towards "funk." Therhythm became the most important element. "James keptadding better musicians as time went on," according toMelvin Parker. "He started with the rhythm section, then

don't have to do no soloin', broth-er; just keep what you got. Don't turnit loose! 'Cause it's a mutha." If youwant to know the essence of the funkydrummer, those words, and the drumbreak they introduce, should beenough. You can keep your fancyfills—this is about the groove.

James Brown rapped those instructions to Clyde Stub-blefield on JB's 1970 song "Funky Drummer," and we'refeeling the effects more today than at any time in thetwenty years since. The band dropped out for eight bars,and Clyde was left to lay down what might be the mostsampled and imitated drum beat in history.

It's been estimated that samples of JB's beats, screams,and exclamations have appeared on two or three thousandrecordings, from cuts by Public Enemy and En Vogue toFine Young Cannibals and George Michael. That alonewould be cause for some serious investigation. Butthere's more to the story. The rhythm itself—sampled ormerely imitated on the kit—is the basis for the hip-hopand Manchester beats, the two most pervasive dancegrooves on the two sides of the Atlantic. That slinky, syn-copated, irresistible funk literally defines the genres.

It's easy to forget where it all comes from. But tounderstand the importance of the BEAT, you really haveto go to the source: James Brown. In the ten yearsbetween 1964 and 1974, James Brown set, broke, andreset the mold for groove music more times and withmore impact than anybody on the planet. Tunes like"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," "I Got You(I Feel Good)," "Cold Sweat," "I Got TheFeelin'," "Say It Loud—I'm Black And I'mProud," "The Payback," and "SexMachine" not only defined R&B and funk,but they documented and, one could argue,affected the social fabric of the time.Change was happening at a rate unheard ofin history, and JB's music and words werein the middle of it.

Pop and dance fans weren't the only peo-ple affected by JB's music, either. It's agood bet the fusion movement would havedeveloped quite differently if it weren't forBrown's funk. Take a listen to MilesDavis's Bitches Brew, and it's hard not tomake the Brown connection. Miles himselfacknowledged it. And other pioneers of thefusion movement, like the Brecker Brothersand Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, freelyused JB as a launching pad.

Today the music is still relevant. Recent-ly, Polydor's James Brown box set, Star Time, convincedLiving Colour to tackle JB's "Talkin" Loud & Sayin' Noth-ing." "We literally played that CD two months in a rowwhen we were on the road," says drummer William Cal-houn. "That's the funkiest music ever recorded." And

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built up to thehorns. [Band lead-er] Nat Jonesbrought a cleanli-ness to the band'ssound. The unitjust got better andbetter—we couldplay chases, any-body's music."

The band devel-oped into one ofthe tightestensembles around.Constant touringhoned their skills.According to AlanLeeds, who waspublicity and tourdirector for JamesBrown from '69 to'73, bands thenwere dependent onperformance rev-enues for income.The James Brownshow played are-nas, theaters, sta-diums, and night-clubs 51 weeks outof the year. "Theschedule soundsinhuman by today'sstandards," Leedshas said, "butunlike moderntours, we didn'thave tractor trailersfull of gear. We car-ried a single truckfor uniforms,instruments, amodest audio sys-tem, and a lonestrobe light. Theonly microphoneswere for vocals andhorns. None of therhythm sectioninstruments weremiked."

According toStubblefield, "Inthose days wedidn't use moni-tors, either. Iremember playing

Soldiers Field in Chicago once. We were down on the fieldand we had these little Vox EA. systems. I looked way up atthe top rows, and I'm trying to figure out how they'regoing to hear us. But they were up there rockin'! Myhands were bleeding. I couldn't stop, though. Blood waseverywhere from hitting those drums so hard."

Obviously, with this sort of touring schedule, therewasn't much time for official rehearsals—what little prac-ticing they did was on the bus, on stage, or in the studio.But tunes still came together quickly. In the studio, theband would set up so that James would be visible to theplayers the way he was on stage. This was for one simplereason: Playing in James' band required that you payattention to James, because song arrangements weren'tetched in stone; they were often ad-libbed.

You can hear it on the records: James' famous demand,"Take me to the bridge!", his directions to drop out and"give the drummer some." In addition, James would"conduct" the players to do certain things based on hisbody signals. "He would twitch, and I would catch it,"explains Jabo. "If he turned one way real quick, that was aparticular lick. Or when he went down on his knees dur-ing 'Please Please Please,' there would be a lick for that.You'd see him run his hand up by his face, and that wouldbe another lick. He would do other things and that meanta choked cymbal. Those were the things that added to theshow and made it more exciting."When songs were being worked up, Brown would ver-

bally describe what he wanted rhythms to sound like. Onouttakes from his records, you can hear James grunting orimitating the sounds of the drums, trying to get thedrummers to make often very subtle changes on accentsand such. One must remember that this was a very rhyth-mically advanced band at this time. It's not so much thatthey were playing technically complex parts. It was moreabout the band being like one big rhythmic ensemble, andthe balance of all the instruments (often including a fewguitars and several horns) was very delicate. Since Jamesdidn't read music, though—and since "you couldn't reallywrite that music out," according to Jabo Starks, "youcouldn't write that feel"—a lot was left up to the drum-mers to interpret. They had the delicate job of givingJames what he heard in his head, yet making it work with-in the rest of the tune.

Coming up with the right part wasn't always very easy.James Brown is a very strong-willed man, and his desireto have control over so much of his music and businessforced his musicians to use a bit of psychology in dealingwith him. Clyde: "When someone created something newthat James didn't understand, he'd be like, 'Wow, I gottasee if I can change this here,' you know, 'Make it be whereI created it.' But he couldn't change a lot of what I wasdoing," Clyde laughs, "because I didn't know what I wasdoing half the time.

"Sometimes he would have a bad day and take it out onthe drummers on stage," Clyde explains. "He would use amental attack type of thing, but I learned how he was

John "Jabo" Starks(Photo courtesy of William "Bootsy" Collins)

Maceo and Melvin Parker(Photo courtesy of William "Bootsy" Collins]

Clyde Stubblefield(Photo by David Loeb)

JB's GROOVESMelvin Parker, Clyde Stubblefield, and John "Jabo" Starks added anintangible that helped ignite James Brown's music. The following pat-terns, taken from some classic JB tunes, give a good example of howeach propelled the band in their own way. (These tunes all appear on thehighly recommended Polydor compilation Star Time.)

In listening to these three gentlemen, you can hear certain elementsin their playing that separates them from each other. Melvin Parker, withhis lighter touch, had a nice groove and a penchant for riding on the hi-hat and playing rimclicks, adding that "cool" element to the music.

Clyde Stubblefield, the funky drummer, had a heavier approach thanParker. That's not to say that he was overpowering—his dynamic rangewas terrific. Clyde's playing grooved hard—of course—and he added alot of excitement to the feel by playing on the front edge of the beat.Many of his patterns were two-bar phrases, based on straight 16th notes,and very syncopated. While keeping to the spirit of the original pattern,

he would embellish on them with many flams, ruffs, and tom hits. Hispatterns would become a churning rhythmic force that would grooveand punctuate the horn hits dropping in and out.

Of course all these men had a strong groove, but John "Jabo" Slarkshad one of the deepest "pockets." While not as subtle as Parker andmaybe not as rhythmically exciting as Stubblefield, Starks had an infec-tious feel that just worked. He didn't need to vary it up—he'd just sit ona pattern and create a solid pulse.

The following patterns should give you agood idea of these excellent musicians' per-sonal style. They all have something worthchecking out. While looking at the notesmight tell you a bit about the playing, be sureto hear these tunes—it could change yourdrumming!

by William F. Miller

"I Got You"—recorded September 1964.Drums: Melvin ParkerNotable on this track is Parker's syncopated bass drum.

"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"—recorded February 1965.Drums: Melvin ParkerOn this huge hit for James Brown, Parker's signature rim clickand "cool" feel shine through.

"Cold Sweat"—recorded May 1967.Drums: Clyde StubblefieldHeavily syncopated using accents and ghost strokes, this is theclassic that contains JB saying, "Give the drummer some!"

"I Got The Feelin"'—-recorded January 1968.Drums: Clyde StubblefieldIn this incredible performance by Stubblefield, the two-barphrase just percolates, accentuating horn hits along the way.

"Funky Drummer"—recorded November 1969.Drums: Clyde StubblefieldWith constant 16ths on the hi-hat, Clyde locks the band in tight.

"Sex Machine"—recorded April 1970.Drums: John "Jabo" StarksStarks slightly swings the 16ths on this one, creating a deep

"Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing"—recorded October 1970.Drums: John "Jabo" StarksThis pattern looks simple, but the feel is undeniable.

itting in a plane on his way to L.A. in 1976, drummerDanny Cochran thought he had it made. "A friend ofmine who I had played with in Texas was doing a recordwith Dave Mason," he recalls, "and they called me. Ipacked up my drums, went out there, set them up, andstarted playing. Right away, the producer came running

out and said, 'I can't record those drums. They sound awful.'So he sent someone over to S.I.R. to get some drums thatwere tuned properly for recording."

Not knowing how to tune for the studio was just the begin-ning of Cochran's problems. Eventually he was dismissedand Jeff Porcaro was brought in to finish the album. "Thatwas a crushing blow," Cochran says. "But I was just a kid andwasn't really prepared. I guess you have to go through thosetypes of situations to find out that you're not there yet."

About a year and a half later, Cochran got another shot atthe studio. "I had moved to LA. with a songwriter friendnamed Jerry Williams, who had a deal with Warner Bros.,"Cochran says. "We had a great band, and we were rehearsingto do Jerry's album. But when it came time to go in the stu-dio, the people at Warners wanted a big name on the record,because it was Jerry's first release. So theygot Jeff Porcaro." By Rick Mattingly

One can imagine how Danny must have felt to be so closeto getting on a record and then being told that this famousstudio player was going to do it instead. And to have it hap-pen twice. Most guys would probably give up and go home.

But not Cochran. "Sure," he admits, "it was a big disap-pointment, but I didn't take it as a slap in the face. Jeff is agreat drummer, and he was one of my big influences. So Iwent to the studio every day and watched Jeff record. He wasreal professional, and watching him work was an unbeliev-able lesson. At one point they were doing this fast samba,and a stick flew out of Jeff's hand. But if I hadn't seen it, Iwould never have known it happened because he grabbedanother stick from his stick bag without messing up the feelat all. If that had happened to me, I would probably havestopped playing and ruined the take.

"I was able to ask Jeff questions about various things, andhe was super nice. He even let me sit behind the drums hecut Silk Degrees on, which blew me away. So it was a biglearning experience for me. I took something bad that hap-pened and kind of turned it around."

Cochran went on to record a couple of tracks with DelbertMcClinton, and he recently did all thedrumming on the latest album by

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Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets. [See this month'sUpdate.] He feels that in the long run, watching Porcaro inthe studio may have been better for his career than if he haddone the album himself, in terms of how much he was ableto learn.

But still, what happened to Cochran on those first twooccasions confirms a lot of drummers' worst nightmare: thatthey will never make it onto a record because a select fewstudio players get to do all the work. And it seems to be aCatch-22 situation in which the drummers are told thatsomeone "more experienced" is needed—but how do you getthat much-needed experience if no one lets you do that firstsession?

Veteran studio drummer Hal Blaine says that the first stepis to do exactly what Danny Cochran did. "A drummer whogoes in the studio and ends up getting replaced by a heavy-duty studio guy should be thankful," Blaine contends. "Youcouldn't buy that opportunity. You can't hire Jeff Porcaro tocome and teach you how to play drums on a session. So youshould be grateful that you can watch and listen and learn

year before, Andy did Simon's entire Anticipation album, andhe had been touring with her for over a year.

"The reason I did Anticipation," Newmark explains, "wasthat the producer, Paul Samwell-Smith, liked the vibe andintimacy of Carly's little band. He was looking to make thebest record he could exploiting that particular sound andgroup of players. But before we even went to England to dothe album, Carly was the first to tell us, 'Look, I have no con-trol over what the producer wants to do. If he feels stronglyabout using other players, I'll go with that.' It just so hap-pened that the guy she chose as producer wanted to try itwith her band.

"When No Secrets came around a year later," Newmarkcontinues, "it was the same situation. She told the band, 'Ican't guarantee that we're all going to make the recordtogether. I'm not going to alienate myself from a producer byinsisting on certain players. I just want to make a greatrecord. If it can include you guys, great. If not, don't beoffended.'"

Newmark had no problem with that. "There were a lot of

When The Big Break BecomesThe Big Disappointment

exactly what goes on."It's like a kid who has learned

to fly a single-engine Piper Cubairplane," Hal continues. "Hedoesn't go straight from that toflying a 747. First he has to spendsome time sitting in the cockpitnext to an experienced pilot. Theworst thing you can do is go in anddo a bad job, because people willremember you more for screwingup than for doing it correctly. Bet-ter to let a pro do it while youwatch, listen, and absorb as muchas you can."

That's exactly what Andy New-mark did early in his career whenhe was in the studio with CarlySimon and was told that Jim Gor-don was going to be brought in fora couple of tracks on the albumthey were making, No Secrets. Itwasn't as if Newmark had neverbeen in the studio, either. The

good drummers around, andI could understand a produc-er wanting to work with oneof them. And Carly wassigned as a solo artist. Theband was not essential towhat the record companywanted."

Richard Perry was hired toproduce No Secrets, and hetold Simon to bring her bandwith her. But he also told herto inform the band that heprobably wouldn't use themon everything. "Perry wantedto make a very different kindof record than Anticipation,"Newmark says. "That wasbasically a folk record with adrummer playing brushesand trying not to get in theway too much. Perry wanteda slick, American-soundingrecord with a big sound and

"I felt like I had failed miserably," recalls Jim Keltnerof the first time he was replaced in the studio.

Jeff Porcaro had the gig with Steely Dan,but for The Royal Scam they only wanted his drums.

heavy bottom end."So we went in and played through all the songs over the

course of about three weeks. Maybe five of them worked withme to the point where Perry felt he could make a record outof it. But the other four or five songs, in his opinion, were nothappening. And as I began to understand the kind of recordhe was trying to make, I could see where my drummingwasn't up to scratch in that context. It called for a certainstyle of open drumming that guys like Jim Gordon, Jim Kelt-ner, and Russ Kunkel did really well, but that wasn't in mybackground. I knew about playing funky with all the little16ths, but I didn't know how to empty out enough notes togive it air to breathe properly.

"One day Perry told me that Jim Gordon was in town, andhe was going to bring him in for some of the tracks. So Iasked if I could come to the sessions. Being offended was thelast thing on my mind. I was just gassed to meet Jim Gordonand listen to him play, because he was in his prime at thattime. They cut 'You're So Vain,' which was the big hit fromthat album, and that was really Jim Gordon at his best. Heput all that air between the 8th notes on the cymbal, andthere was no funky edge on it. It was just an attitude thing,but it wasn't part of my heartbeat yet. I hadn't experiencedthat certain thing in my playing."

Newmark decided to take his learning experience a stepfurther than just watching Gordon. "I asked if I could playsome little percussion things, like shakers or congas, just tomake myself useful," Andy remembers. "What I really want-ed was to be part of Jim Gordon's groove—feel it through theheadphones and lock in with it so I could get a handle on itmyself. I don't even know if they had my mic' on. I just want-ed to be in the room and watch Jim play and hear the conver-sations between him and Richard Perry. I was full of ques-

tions and was checking everything out. I noticed how deadhe tuned the drums and how mashed up all the heads wereby the time he was finished. I realized that even though itdidn't look like he was hitting hard, he was really laying intothose drums.

"So that was a great experience," Newmark says. "I wasn'tdisappointed because, A, I was told upfront that it may hap-pen; B, I could hear that I wasn't able to do what the produc-er was going for; and C, I was replaced by one of the all-time

Andy Newmark had the right attitudewhen he was replaced by Jim Gordon on

Carly Simon's No Secrets album.

great rock drummers."And when Perry brought Jim Keltner in to do a couple of

the other tracks, it was the same thing all over again. "Kelt-ner and Gordon were both very nice," Newmark says, "and itwas great getting to talk with them. When you get to knowsomeone as a person, you understand where the notes comefrom. Especially a guy like Keltner. You talk to him for halfand hour and you see that he looks at things opposite fromthe way everyone else does. And that's in his playing. Hedoes quirky, bizarre things that would sound corny if most ofus tried them. But Jim manages to do it because he believesin it."

The fact that Jim Keltner was one of the drummers whoreplaced Newmark on Simon's album is a testament to thefact that those who get replaced can end up being those whodo the replacing. Keltner himself had been replaced by JimGordon early in his career.

"It was 1968," Keltner recalls, "and I had just joined aband called MC

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, which Warner Bros, had big plans for.They were good songwriters and had been given a bigenough budget to use really good musicians on the demosthey made for their two or three most important songs. SoJim Gordon was on drums for those demos.

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"When I heard those demos for the first time at rehearsal,I thought the drumming was fantastic, and I figured, 'This isgreat. I'll be able to cop those drum fills and that drumsound and everyone will love me.' So when we started torehearse I made sure that I learned all the bits Jimmy hadplayed. I thought it was working pretty good, but then thenews was delivered to me that I wouldn't be playing on thosethree songs. They were going to bring Jim Gordon in.

"I felt real slighted," Keltner admits. "I felt like I hadfailed miserably, that I didn't measure up, and all my confi-dence drained. I remember distinctly that I was verydepressed.

"But it was never in my mind not to go to the sessionswhen they recorded those songs. When I got there, Jimmyimmediately put me at ease. He told me that he had seen meplay at the Troubadour one night, and that he liked the way Iplayed. That made me feel good right off the bat. I told himthat I really liked the way he had played on the demos, andasked if he would mind if I sat in the room with him while heplayed. He said he wouldn't mind at all, so I literally sat on

Beach Boy Dennis Wilson was happyto have Hal Blaine replace him in the studio,

especially when surf was up.

the floor right next to him. I was fascinated by the control hehad and his fabulous feel. Hal Blaine was my idol at thatpoint, and Jimmy had a lot of Hal's stuff down. But Jimmywas taking it a step further, in that he played a little strongerthan Hal. I found out later that Jimmy had been a disciple ofHal's, and had been on a lot of dates with Hal, playing per-cussion.

"I was also curious as to how he was getting such a greatdrum sound, and I picked up on the drumheads he wasusing, which at the time were Remo Sparkletones. So I putsome Sparkletone heads on my drums and, sure enough, I

got a pretty similar sound."But I would never have been aware of any of that had I not

showed up at the session and tried to learn from the situa-tion. Jimmy Gordon was one of the first guys, along with HalBlaine, that I got to sit next to and see play, and it affectedme deeply. For a long while I was pretty heavily influenced byJimmy, and I utilized that as part of my growth."

Although Keltner's feelings were hurt when he was firsttold that he was going to be replaced, still, everyone wasupfront about the situation and he, like Newmark, was ableto attend the sessions and learn from them. Not all drum-mers are so lucky. Jeff Porcaro wasn't, but he still managed toturn a negative situation into a positive one.

"Yeah, here we go," Porcaro says, taking a deep breath. "Iwas with Steely Dan. I had done two tracks with them on thePretzel Logic album, I had toured with them for a year and ahalf, and when we got off the road we did the Katy Liedalbum, on which I played all the tracks but one. I was reallyproud of my playing on that album, and I couldn't wait forthe next one.

"Walter Becker called me one day and told me they weredoing demos for the next album, and asked if he could bor-row a set of my drums so that he could work out some ideasat home. So I got all excited because I figured that in a fewweeks I'd be in the studio doing the next Steely Dan record.A few weeks went by and I didn't hear a word from anybody.

"Then a friend of mine told me that Steely Dan was in thestudio doing an album. I was like, 'WHAT?!' So I called theproducer and, sure enough, they were recording The RoyalScam with Bernard Purdie. And they were using my drumsand cymbals," Jeff adds, laughing at the irony, or audacity, ofthe situation.

By swallowing his pride, Kenny Aronoff a c t u a l l ysaved his gig with John Mellencamp.

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P R O D U C T C L O S E - U P

Sonor SymphonySnare Drumsand AX-Hat

By Rick Mattingly

These drums are part of the SignatureSeries, and are offered in two sizes: TheSY 1407 MS measures 7 1/4 x l4, while theSY 1405MC is 5 3/4 x l4. I'll start with sev-eral features that are identical on bothdrums, and then discuss each one indi-vidually. Both have brass shells, die-castrims, 24-strand stainless-steel snares,and ten tubular tuning lugs (each ofwhich is attached to the shell with a sin-gle screw). The tension rods areequipped with Sonor's Snap Lock sys-tem to prevent slippage. Each drumcomes fitted with a Sonor CN calfskinbatter head.

The 5 3/4." drum has chrome-platedhardware and a standard lever-type snarethrowoff. It also contains an internalmuffler, which is the one item of thedrum that seemed a bit old-fashioned.

Internal muffler notwithstanding, it'shard to find fault with a drum thatsounds this good. It has a dry, crispsound characteristic of a good symphon-ic snare drum, even with the mufflercompletely disengaged (probably in large

part due to the calfskin batterhead). It handles the full range ofdynamics with ease, from thunder-ous triple fortes to delicate pianissi-mos. Snare response is excellent tothe very edge of the batter head.For general-purpose orchestralwork, this drum could cover a lot ofground.

The 7 1/4" drum is better suited asa tambour militaire. In fact, when Ifirst put it on a stand and played it,I was so astounded by its soundthat I checked the underside of thedrum to see if it had been fittedwith gut snares. It had the samestainless-steel snares as the smallerdrum, but they were controlled by aparallel-throwoff mechanism. Thisdrum's shell was unencumbered byan internal muffler; instead, a clip-on external muffling device wasprovided—which is a step in theright direction. Also, all of thehardware on this model was brass-plated to match the shell.

The drum had a deep, full, "mili-

Photos by Rick Mattingly

Having a set of hi-hatcymbals mounted on aholder instead of a pedalis nothing particularlynew, but Sonor has comeup with a device to makeit more versatile. Theproblem with most auxil-iary hi-hat holders is thatyou can't vary the pres-sure on the cymbals veryeasily. If you want a tightsound, you generally haveto push down hard onthe top-cymbal clutchwhile you tighten it. Ifyou want a sloshy sound,you must loosen theclutch and let the topcymbal simply rest onthe bottom one.

Sonor has added someadjustment possibilitiesto their new Z 3044 AX-

Symphony Snare Drums

Sonor has recently added some newitems to their already impressive line ofdrums and hardware: two Symphonymodel snare drums and their AX-Hatattachment for mounting a pair of auxil-iary hi-hats.

German engineeringhas created two classicalmasterpieces and onenifty gadget.

AX-Hat

tary" sound with tremen-dous projection. Whereasthe smaller drum wasequipped with a thin bat-ter head, this one had themedium-weight CN calf-skin model. Between thatand the extra depth ofthe drum, the snareresponse was not quite assensitive as on the thin-ner model. But since thisdrum is better suited formore rudimental-styleplaying, that's not amajor problem.

Both drums are ofhigh quality throughout,and would be excellentchoices for symphonypercussionists. Again, the5 3/4." drum is the mostversatile, and some setplayers might find itappealing. It lists for$1,070, while the 7 1/4"drum retails at $1,340.

Hat. First, beneath the bottom cymbal isa seven-position tilter that lets you anglethe bottom cymbal (anywhere from notat all to quite a bit). When you have aloose top cymbal over it, that extra anglecan add quite a bit of "slosh" to thesound. The tilter rotates and drops intoplace via several slots, so once you have itset where you want it, it isn't likely toslip—the way conventional hi-hat tiltersare prone to do.

Second, at the bottom of the unit thereis a spring and two counter nuts withwhich you can adjust the tightness of thetop cymbal. You can leave it completelyloose, or you can really press the twocymbals together. I tried it with an oldpair of hats that were slightly warped,and was still able to get a tight, crispsound.

For those who use auxiliary hats, or fordouble bass players who aren't always in

a position to vary the pressure on theirhi-hats by using a hi-hat pedal, thisSonor attachment can offer a degree ofcontrol previously lacking on suchdevices. One other nice feature is thatthe unit is only 14 3/4" long, so you shouldbe able to fit it into even the tightestsetup. (You will need some type of clampto mount it, though, as one is not includ-ed.) The AX-Hat is priced at $60.

GibraltarRoad SeriesRack System

by Rick Van Horn

Drum rack systems and their componentparts have undergone quite a bit ofdevelopment since they were introduceda few years ago. You might say that we'realready seeing the "second generation"of racks. This is especially true with theGibraltar Road Series, from Kaman Cor-poration, since it represents a step upfrom their very popular and market-proven Power Rack Series. While thatseries serves the needs of many drum-mers very well (and will be continued),Kaman's intention with the Road Seriesis to offer something a bit more heavy-duty for drummers working with larger,heavier drums—or who simply need rackcomponents that can take a heavier beat-ing. As a result, while the Road Seriesrack utilizes the same steel pipes as arefound on the Power Rack Series, it fea-tures beefier clamps and more flexibleconnections.

The Road Series rack system consistsof various lengths of 1 1/2" chromed steel

tubes and a wide variety of connectorsand clamps. Each rack is created of T-style legs and one or more horizontalcrossbars. The tubular bars allow forinfinite positioning of mounting clamps,and the adjustability of the various bar-connectors permits a lot of flexibility inthe positioning of the bars them-selves—including their height, whichmay be different from bar to bar. All ofthis adds up to a rack system that is veryuser-friendly.

Road Series racks are available in threedifferent package configurations. TheGRS 400 is thebasic rack, featur-ing two T-legs anda 50" horizontalcrossbar created bytwo 24" pipes con-nected by anadjustable angleclamp. The GRS400C uses a single46" curved pipe forits crossbar. GRS100 and GRS 100Cside extensions(one crossbar andone leg) are avail-able for either ofthese systems. TheGRS IOOOC is athree-sided, dou-ble-bass configura-tion employing twocurved bars (oneover each bassdrum) connectedat a center post,

and a two-piece horizontal bar on eachside. Each of the packages above comesequipped with a supply of multi-clampsand memory locks, and at least oneGibraltar clip-on logo badge. The biggerthe system, the more clamps and badges.

The folks at Kaman realize, however,that the real beauty of rack systems ishow they can be tailored to suit individu-al needs. So they wisely offer all the com-ponents necessary to create one's owncustomized rack through their Percus-sion Service Center. You can start with apackage and add on, or you can "order aBigger isn't always better

—but sometimes it is.

la carte" from the outset. In accordancewith this concept, the configuration Iused to test the Road Series rack wassomething I custom-created out of partscontained in the GRS 1000C package wewere sent.

I was mainly concerned with the flexi-bility of the system, the functionality ofthe various components, and the easewith which it could be set up, used, bro-ken down, and transported. In a nut-shell, I was impressed on all counts. Theparts fit together smoothly, could beadjusted easily—even in minuteamounts—and stayed where they wereput. Once I had figured out how best tobreak it down (which amounted todeciding which items to leave on whatbar), that breakdown was quick and easy.I carried all the bars with the variousclamps left in place, and was able to fitthem into a 36" duffle bag. (The longestbar I used was 30".) It wasn't light, but itwas manageable. If you were using morebars than I did, or longer ones, you'dprobably want to use two containers tosplit the load.

The potential problem with any tubu-

lar-style drum rack is clamp slippage.The heavier the drums—and the harderthey're hit—the greater the risk of thisproblem occurring. Aware of this fact,Kaman designed the Road Series clampswith a tremendous amount of surface-contact area, and fitted them with hard-ened-steel bolts and oversized T-screws.I was able to tighten the clamps downfirmly—without any hand discomfort,and with no discernable marring of thepipes. I mounted drums of a variety ofbrands, working up to the heaviest I hadavailable (a 16x16 suspended "floor"tom). I never had any problem with adrum slipping, no matter how far out itwas extended on a holder arm. Thesame was true of cymbals on booms, andeven a small—but fairly heavy—monitoramplifier. I set the clamps once, mount-ed each item, and pounded away. Nary ajiggle!

I must say that the size of the hingedmemory locks seemed like a bit ofoverkill. They weren't necessary as back-ups against slippage; the Road Seriesclamps were simply too efficient to needthe help. They were much bigger than

they needed to be to simply mark thepositions of those clamps, and, as such,added a bit of carrying weight that wasunnecessary. They did blend with theother oversized components cosmetical-ly, though—giving a consistent look to allthe parts of the rack. And speaking ofcosmetics, the clip-on logo badges are anice touch. They give drummers thechoice of whether or not to prominentlydisplay the brand of their rack. (TheGibraltar name is quite visible on thefaces of all the clamps, although it'ssmaller.)

According to John Roderick, Kaman'spercussion product manager, theirintention with the Road Series rack sys-tem was to offer drummers "a high-quality, user-friendly, totally professionalrack system at reasonable prices." I canattest to the first three attributes; I'll letthe prices speak for themselves. TheGRS 400 lists for $399.50, the GRS 400Cis priced at $395.50, and the GRS 1000Cgoes for $899.50. Extension packages areavailable for $199.50, and all componentsmay be purchased separately.

DanmarProducts

by Rick Van Horn

Recent responses to a question posed inMD's Liaison department indicated thatmany drummers are interested in hard-ware that is lighter and easier to carrythan current high-end models—yet stilldurable and of high-quality construction.Danmar Percussion Products, a companywell-known for its wide variety of acous-tic percussion instruments and handyhardware items, offers a stand specifical-

ly targeted toward those drummers.The flush-base design of Danmar's

311 stand is undeniably old-fashioned. Infact, Frank DeVito, Danmar's president,states that it harks back to the classic1960s-vintage Camco and Slingerlandstands. For those of you too young tohave been exposed to this design, the"flush base" means that the legs are notcreated from an A-frame tripod thatslides up and down the shaft of thestand. Instead, three individual legs areeach hinged to the bottom of the shaft. Alarge wing bolt tightens or loosens aneven larger washer, which, in turn,secures or releases the hinged ends ofthe legs. When tightened, the legs slopeup only slightly, creating a base that isalmost "flush" with the floor. (Thisdesign facilitates close placement aroundthe set.) When loosened, the legs simplyswing up, parallel to the stand's central

311 Cymbal Stand

Danmar's 1027 Stick Holder is simplyan 8 1/2" length of 2"-diameter black PVCpipe, with a red plastic cap at one end.It's fitted with a clamp that allows it tobe attached conveniently to any verticalstand pipe and angled toward you foreasy access. It's designed to be function-al, not fancy, and I found it to be justthat—as well as durable and versatile.

A versatile stick container? Yup. If youbreak a lot of sticks and simply needaccess to replacements in a hurry, theStick Holder has the capacity to containup to six sticks (depending on theirsize). One Holder on each side of yourkit would provide you with a prettyhealthy supply of spares. But the StickHolder also serves another helpful func-tion. I often need to switch back andforth between sticks and brushes, mal-lets, Multi-Rods, or other such itemsduring a song. I found it very convenientto have these items pre-placed in theStick Holder (mounted on my hi-hatstand under the cymbals), and thenquickly swap them for the sticks I had inmy hands. The Stick Holder's, largediameter made an easy target to toss thesticks into as I grabbed the new items.Smaller stick containers and traditionalstick bags don't offer this particular con-venience.

The Danmar 1027 Stick Holder issimple, well-made, and convenient. Whatmore should such a device be? Well,affordable would be nice. And at a listprice of $18.75, it is!

1027 Stick Holder

shaft, for easy pack-up.This is definitely a light- to medium-

duty stand. Its effective height range isfrom a low of 2 1/2' to a high of 4 1/2', andthe stability limitations of the base wouldnot make it practical for a 20" Chinacymbal that you planned to mount highand beat to death. However, if you thinkyou could use a stand that is well-made,light in weight (only 3 1/2 pounds!), andmoderately priced ($65), the Danmar311 stand is one to check out.

P O R T R A I T S

Paul van WageningenDutch Master With A Global View

As a teenage drummer growing up in Amsterdam and raisedmostly on jazz, Paul van Wageningen could not have imaginedhimself one of the first-call players in the San Francisco BayArea for authentic Brazilian and Cuban styles—nor would heguess that he would some day be playing and recording withBay Area musicians like Pete Escovedo, steel drummer AndyNarell, guitarist Ray Obeido, Narell guitarist Steve Erquiaga,and the Machete Ensemble. To these artists Paul brings a lop-ing, smooth samba, an infectiously funky songo, a solid back-beat, and more.

On Narell's last album, Little Secrets, Paul's abilities as amulti-cultural drum stylist shine. But the album's titledeceives. Paul's talents are no secret around the Bay Area. HowPaul VW (just try saying "von-fog-eh-ning-un) became a"Dutch Master" of the world beat is a tribute to dedication,spontaneity, and decision-making in the right place at the righttime.

Paul's fascination with music and drums began at home. Hisfather was an avid photographer of American jazz musicianswhose pictures of Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins gracedalbum covers. He took Paul to clubs and concerts at an earlyage (only possible because of the lack of age restrictions inHolland).

American jazz musicians like Ben Webster became occasion-al house guests. Michiel De Ruyter, a close friend of Paul'sfather and a leading jazz DJ for Dutch radio, possessed anenormous record collection—from which Paul's dad madetapes. One day, while listening to a Coltrane record featuringElvin Jones, they noticed young Paul attempting to drum along."It somehow grabbed me, I guess," says Paul.

The public schools in Holland had no band programs, so atthe age of 12 Paul started taking private lessons with a localdrummer. When he was 13, Paul's father took him to a Sundayafternoon session at the Bohemia Jazz Cafe in Amsterdam,where he was able to sit in with a band. "I was panic-stricken,of course," Paul says, laughing at the recollection. "I thought Iwas awful, but I started getting some work right away."

Moving along at a precocious speed, Paul was invited to makehis first album at age 14—with saxophonist Hans Dulfer andformer Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman. The recording was pre-dominantly Latin/jazz.

"At that time I didn't know anything about that kind ofmusic," says Paul. "One tune was one of those typical Cuban6/8 grooves, and I'd never heard a rhythm like that before. I

didn't know what to play. Here I am in the studio with theseheavy guys who were much older than me, and they want to dothis tune with a rhythm that I've never heard. But the bassplayer was real smart. He had played with me before and knewI was completely into Elvin Jones. He said to just play likeElvin."

The results were great. While critics praised the recording,The Morning After The Third, they didn't believe that Paul wasonly 14. They insisted that the recording could have stood onits own merits without the company's having to "exploit" hisage.

In those early years, Paul's listening influences includedlocal Dutch drummers Martin van Duynhoven, John Engles,and Han Bennink, as well as healthy doses of Elvin Jones.Besides jazz, Paul also immersed himself in Jimi Hendrix, LedZeppelin, and James Brown.

"Ironically, I started listening to bands from here [East Bay]without realizing it," says Paul, "like Sly & the Family Stone,Larry Graham, Tower of Power, and all those Latin/rock bandslike Azteca—which was really Coke Escovedo's band."

Through his high school years, Paul played with garage rockbands and jazz groups, and after graduation, he enrolled at theAmsterdam Conservatory to study with Jan Pustjens, percus-sionist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He also began play-ing gigs for American jazz musicians like trumpeter ArtFarmer, pianist Tommy Flanagan, and trombonist FrankRosolino—as well as doing local projects—and could notalways make classes as a result. So he left school after two yearsand continued to gig around Amsterdam, as well as picking upa teaching job in the Dutch school system.

In 1976, Paul decided to take a one-month vacation in NewYork City, at the suggestion of Al Scotti, an American bass play-

by Charles Levin

er he was gigging with. "Man, I just went crazy in New York,"says Paul. "I would pick up the Village Voice, and every daythree of my favorites were playing somewhere." Though Paulhadn't planned on staying in New York, Scotti's Dutch girl-friend talked him into staying and trying his luck in the BigApple.

Paul took anything he could—show gigs, cabaret jobs, off-Broadway musicals, a Top-40 gig at the Empire State Build-ing—as long as it was music.Apart from a couple of lessonswith Tony Williams and FreddieWaits, the highlight of this peri-od was playing a short tour withthe John Payne—Louis LevinBand, a fusion group out ofBoston. With a record deal and amodest retainer, it was a step upfrom his previous gigs. Aftertouring with them, Paul began tosub in the Broadway show LetMy People Come in the fall of1977. When an offer to go to SanFrancisco with a road productionof the show came up, he took it.

Immediately upon arriving inSan Francisco, the show's NewYork band began to jam withlocal musicians during off-hours. Amongst them wasBerkeley-based keyboardistSteve Carter, who introducedPaul to several other musiciansin the area, including the lateCoke Escovedo. Introductions to keyboardist Mark Soskin andguitarist Ray Obiedo followed shortly. Then the show closed aweek early and the band was stiffed on their last week's pay-checks, as well as their plane tickets back to New York.

"Here I was in the Bay Area with no ticket back to NewYork," says Paul, "and these guys were telling me I should stay.I really liked the way they were playing. I could relate to it. Itwas fun."

So Paul decided to stay, and one gig led to the next. In CokeEscovedo's band he met Coke's brother Pete and Pete's daugh-ter Sheila. From there, he began to play with Pete's band, BillSummers' band, and Ray Obiedo's group, Kick, where he metAndy Narell. Paul looks back at the sound in most of thosebands as a distinct Latin-oriented funk. "I feel like the EastBay sound is different from anywhere in the world," he says."And it's still going on now. Oakland has a certain thing goingfor it. Some of that stuff still sounds great to me—like Tower ofPower. To me, that's real Oakland."

Paul's move to the Bay Area stimulated a strong growth peri-od and a desire to listen to the originators of the music he was

now playing on gigs. Paul found himself listening to the drum-ming of Roberto Silva with Milton Nascimento, and PaulinhoBraga with the late singer Elis Regina. By studying authenticBrazilian playing, he discovered the concept of partidoalto—the rhythm that governs much samba playing, as the con-cept of clave does for Cuban music.

"When you play with Brazilians, it's a completely differentthing than playing with Americans," says Paul. "With Ameri-

cans, I have to play more like ajazz player playing a sam-ba—which is not bad at all.But when you're playing withBrazilians, they have that par-tido alto rhythm that they arerelating to all the time, withtwo sides like the Cubanclave. It has a certain feel,which I like to play becausethe samba starts to soundmore authentic. You automat-ically start playing solid 8thnotes on the ride cymbal,because the guitar and key-boards are stating the partidoalto. It swings and takes onthat character.

"You definitely have tostudy," Paul continues. "Youhave to listen to the guys whodo it in Brazil. I started learn-ing from playing it night afternight—being with these peo-ple and assimilating it. I don't

think I sound like a real Brazilian, but I try to come close."Discovering songo—the groove that has enabled drumset

players to be a more integral part of Cuban music ensem-bles—was a major turning point in Paul's career. It came tohim from listening to Changuito—the timbale player from theCuban band Los Van Van and the originator of songo. Paul hasliterally been obsessed with Changuito's playing for the lasttwo years—especially after receiving a tape of the band made inCuba with the mic' positioned right behind the drums.

"All you hear is cowbells and timbales, with the band in thebackground. Nobody else can listen to it," says Paul with alaugh, "but to me, it was the perfect mix. I would listen to it ona plane and people next to me would complain to the stew-ardesses because all they could hear were cowbells and drumscoming from the headphones."

Referring to Changuito as the "Elvin Jones of Cuban music,"Paul studied his ideas incessantly, at first finding them difficultto integrate because of the difference in setups. Changuitouses timbales, a bass drum, and a floor tom—as opposed to aconventional five-piece drumset. However, in time, Paul found

Paul van WageningenSelected Discography

Andy NarellLight In Your Eyes (Hip Pocket Records HP-103)

The Hammer (Windham Hill Jazz WH-107)Little Secrets (Windham Hill Jazz WH-0120)

Ray ObiedoPerfect Crime (Windham Hill Jazz WH-0115)

Iguana (Windham Hill Jazz WH-0128)

Steve ErquiagaErkiology (Windham Hill Jazz WH-0127)

Pete EscovedoThe Island (Esgo EG-001)

Yesterday's Memories,Tomorrow's Dreams (Esgo EG-002)Mr. E (Concord Jazz CR-5005)

Bill SummersCall It What You Want (MCA MCA-5176)

On Sunshine (Prestige P10107)

the ideas seeping into his style andinspiring his own creativity—with Cubanplaying as well as other musical idioms.

His main outlet for this has been theMachete Ensemble, a Bay Area group ledby percussionist John Santos and devot-ed to Afro-Latin jazz. The group fea-tures former Santana percussionistOrestes Vilato. "Orestes is a master,"Paul says. "Playing in that band, I learnso much—not only from Orestes, butfrom John Santos too."

Santos has nothing but complimentsfor Paul's contribution to the group:"When Paul joined, he didn't have a greatdeal of experience in the authentic Afro-Cuban style. But because he's super-fast, learns rhythms immediately, andthen makes up his own thing with them,he became an excellent drummer in thisstyle. He's spoiled me. I'm hard-pressedto find a sub now, so I cancel gigs if he'snot available."

It wasn't until his experience with theMachete Ensemble that Paul was con-fronted with a real appreciation for theimportance of clave. "Clave was a littlebit of a mystery for me," says Paul. "I

would hear people talk about it as somekind of religious thing."

While Paul was familiar with clave inits two-three format from working withPete Escovedo's band, he never had toplay from the other side: three-two.Because Pete's band was more of apop/Latin/funk sound, it never strayedfrom the two-three format. Using amodernized approach to traditional Afro-Latin folkloric styles, adherence to theclave formats was imperative inMachete's music.

Paul admits that dealing with the basic6/8 Afro-Cuban patterns was a wholenew ball game. "I never thought of 6/8 asbeing in clave and capable of beingturned around also," says Paul. "I alwaysthought of it as some kind of rhythm, butnever in terms of clave. Starting 6/8 fromthe other side was difficult at first. Afterdoing fills I would inadvertently turnmyself around."

Santos praises Paul's versatility andadaptability to be able to blend and sup-port a player like Orestes. "Orestes isspontaneous and unpredictable," saysSantos. "Yet Paul is never clashing with

him. He has an equilibrium where he'sreal transparent and real solid at thesame time."

Working with Andy Narell allows Paulto really show his multi-cultural chops.Paul had known and played with Andysince arriving in the Bay Area. Herecorded Ray Obiedo's tune "La Samba"on Andy's Light In Your Eyes LP in 1983.When William Kennedy decided tovacate the drum chair in Andy's band tomove on to the Yellowjackets, Paul wasthe logical choice for the job.

"He allows me to be specific aboutplaying in a real authentic way," saysNarell. "Paul's a true student of differentworld styles, such as Afro-Cuban, Brazil-ian, calypso, or soca [the contemporarycalypso sound of Trinidad]."

Even though many of Narell's compo-sitions reflect more than one style, thewriting always emphasizes understand-ing each idiom from its authentic ori-gins. Narell sees Paul's ability to bringauthenticity to his compositional style asan important asset. With rare exceptions,Paul gets free rein in creating parts.

The tunes of Little Secrets demon-

strate Paul's musical encyclopedia ofworld drumming styles. "Armchair Psy-chology" flows quite naturally from funkcha-cha, to a half-time funk backbeat, tosongo, and finally to soca. "LittleSecrets" moves between reggae (includ-ing a 5/4 section) and a partido alto forthe head, then shifts to a gentle sambafor the solo sections.

When it comes to equipment, Pauluses a Yamaha Recording Custom Seriesdrumkit with a 14x22 bass drum, 8x10and 10x12 rack toms, and a suspended12x14 "floor" tom. On the toms, he useseither clear Emperors or Pinstripes ontop with clear Diplomats on the bottom.On the kick he's got a Pinstripe with ablanket inside for a little muffling. Paul'ssnare collection includes a Yamahabrass-shell piccolo, a Remo piccolo thathe used for Little Secrets, and a SonorHiLite, all with coated Ambassadors ontop. His Paiste "Signature" cymbalsinclude a 20" Sound Creation Dark Ride,along with a 17" Full Crash, a 14" FastCrash, a 10" splash, and 14" medium hi-hats.

For Erquiaga's band, which does notinclude a percussionist, Paul augmentshis setup with an Akai S900 sampler thathe plays from a Roland Octapad for per-cussion sounds.

The future looks bright as Paul getsmore recognition beyond the Bay Area.Narell's gigs take him all over the coun-try—and frequently to the Caribbean, toplay music festivals in Martinique,Guadalupe, Puerto Rico, and Curacao.His visibility has been further increasedby Obiedo's Iguana album, which madethe Top-10 of the Billboard Contempo-rary Jazz Charts, and Erquiaga's Erkiolo-gy, which reached number four on theGavin jazz report, the industry standardfor radio airplay.

At 36, Paul has achieved a degree ofsuccess that is not easy to come by—aresult of perseverance and dedication."You almost have to be obsessed in thisbusiness," says Paul. "There are so manyhassles you have to deal with to be amusician. If you really want to pursue it,you have to do it all the way."

R O C K ' N ' J A Z Z C L I N I C

Alternative Funk-Rockby Rodney Ledbetter

The funk grooves that are presented inthis article are in more of an "alternativefunk-rock" approach, which has been pop-ularized by the likes of Fishbone, RoyalCrescent Mob, Urban Dance Squad, and24-7 Spyz. Many of these grooves and feelsoriginated from pre-disco era music popu-

larized by George Clinton and James Brown. Let's face it, if itweren't for them, where would popular music be today?Although the '70s got a bad rap as far as pop music goes, muchof the music presented in that decade was the most creative inmusic history.

Most of these grooves are characteristic of a driving 8th-notehi-hat and/or an open and closed off-beat hi-hat. Though thereis an underlying backbeat, most of them contain a somewhatbusy yet subdivided pattern between the bass drum and snaredrum. Credit should go to Carlton Smith, Fish, Magic Stick,and Anthony Johnson for the grooves they have come up with.

The first example is taken from Royal Crescent Mob's Mid-night Roses. On "Ramblin," there's a very relaxed groove thatshould be played at about 100 beats per minute.

This example is also taken from Midnight Roses. The groove,from the song "I'm Sayin'," is a little faster than the last oneand should be played at about 132 beats per minute.

This example is taken from Urban Dance Squad's 1990release, Mental Floss For The Globe. "Big Apple" has a relaxedgroove, and should be played at about 88 beats per minute.

Fishbone is quickly becoming one of the most popular alter-native funk bands today. "So Many Millions," from their albumThe Reality Of My Surroundings, has a very interesting groovethat utilizes a two-bar phrase played with a triplet feel. It

should be played at about 92 beats per minute.

"Behavior Control Technician" is taken from Surroundingsas well. It is very driving and should be played at about 104beats per minute. The snare part in parentheses is only playedat the end of the four-bar phrase.

The last example from Surroundings is called "Nar-TeeMay'en," and should be played utilizing straight 16th notes at atempo of 112 beats per minute.

24-7 Spyz is a very diverse band that has emerged in the pastfew years. "Dude U Knew," from Gumbo Millennium, has avery interesting chorus groove and utilizes quarter-note hi-hats. It should be played at about 88 beats per minute and hasa triplet feel.

S L I G H T L Y O F F B E A T

Tales FromThe Soviet Union

Last semester, I toured the Soviet Union as a drummer with theUniversity of Illinois Jazz Band. For 33 days, we gave concerts inMoscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Donetsk, and Sochi. Touring theU.S.S.R. turned out to be more of an education than a vacation,and I realize now how fortunate I am to be a drummer fromAmerica. You think it's a struggle to make a living in a musiccareer? Well, just imagine trying to do it in Russia. You thinkyou've had the blues? Before I witnessed the Soviet Union, Ithought I did too. I was mistaken.

A great deal of my time had been spent brooding over how dif-ficult my life might be if I relied on music as my only source ofincome. I don't think that way anymore. Now I'm grateful to livein a country where I'm free to choose whatever career path myheart desires. In the Soviet Union, people aren't that fortunate.Musicians rarely have access to the simplest things their heartsdesire, like equipment, instruction, recording, and three squaremeals a day.

A few of my most memorable adventures were waiting in linefor four hours to get into the Moscow McDonalds, living onbread and water for six days in Leningrad, eating Chicken Kievin Kiev, and being swarmed by screaming Soviet teenagers after aperformance, as if I were a member of New Kids On The Block!Those poor Russians. I felt so sorry for them. How were they toknow we were only a midwestern college jazz band, no better orworse than most college jazz bands? Though I must confess, Ithoroughly enjoyed being bombarded with flowers after concerts,signing autographs, posing for pictures, and making friends withsome of the warmest individuals in each city. I doubt that any col-lege jazz band has ever received that much notoriety in America.

Most of the Soviet musicians I met seemed to be completelyshut off from the rest of the world, and they thrived on whateverknowledge we could share with them. I tried to explain that Ionce majored in drumset. "College students are allowed to studydrums in America?" they asked in disbelief. "Really? It is great. Itis comical!"

I strongly encourage anyone searching for inspiration, dealingwith confusion about a music career, lacking motivation, or sim-ply needing a boost, to stop and think about the musicians in thisworld who play just for the sake of playing. The Soviet musiciansI ran across played for the genuine love of music and of theirinstrument. The players I met were committed to the art of mak-ing music—not money. Furthermore, most of the Soviet musi-cians I encountered had never even heard of the "music busi-

ness." For those who could grasp the concept of a free marketsociety, the thought of "business" was only a dream. Music wastheir love, their passion, their escape.

I had no idea how much I took for granted as an Americandrummer. Today, Soviet drummers must carefully look afterwhatever equipment they're fortunate enough to have. If any-thing breaks or wears out, they wait two or three months for areplacement. That is, if they can afford it. In short, music storesare very sparse. Of the shops I visited, I saw no drumheads, nopedals, no brushes, no more than three poor-quality cymbals,and sticks so thin it would take a miracle for them to last one set.

In addition, recordings are scarce in the Soviet Union. Fromwhat I could gather, musicians lived off of three or four albums.They had never heard of Peter Erskine, Omar Hakim, VinnieColaiuta, Sonny Emory, Kenny Aronoff, or anyone else I men-tioned. In an attempt to spread the word, I gave away quite a fewof my tapes to Soviet drummer friends. You should have seen thelooks on their faces when they heard Kenny Aronoff playing"Lonely Ol' Night." I told them that in America, we say his snaredrum sounds like a Civil War cannon! They ate that up.

As a college drummer considering a career in music, I'd natu-rally heard the horror stories about life on the road. I'd heard ofthe fatigue, the loneliness, the late nights, and the burnout. Butthink about this. There's no such thing as a rest stop in Rus-sia—just a lot of bushes and trees. Rarely did we ever get achance to use hot water, take showers, or drink the water withoutrisking illness. During the course of the tour I lost 12 Ibs, and tothis day I'm amazed we made it through without eating. A settinglike that can make 14-hour bus rides seem like an eternity. It wasa true adventure.

In Leningrad, we played three consecutive nights in the city's

by Matt North

number-one jazz club. I had never seen any place like this beforein my life. The walls were adorned with enlarged black and whiteposters of American jazz legends, while the rest of the decor hadan intimate feeling with candlelit tables positioned around thefloor. During our performance, we were soclose to the audience, we could actually makeeye contact with them, watch their expres-sions, smile at them, and see them smilingback.

On opening night, I met an extraordinaryyoung man. His name was Nikita and he was ateacher of English at Leningrad University.While we played, Nikita would bop up anddown in his chair, sway back and forth, wavehis arms, whistle, and encourage the rest ofthe crowd to cheer louder. Nikita came backnight after night, and each time he sat at thetable right next to the stage, as close to thedrums as possible. The stage was only a footor so off the ground, so Nikita and I couldexchange words between songs. "Bravo, bravo,my American friend," he shouted. "You playlike Buddy Rich," who happened to be the onlyAmerican drummer Nikita knew.

At the beginning of each set, Nikita wouldput a glass of cognac on the stage next to myfloor tom so I wouldn't go dry. I don't drink,but I quickly learned that if a Russian offersyou a drink—you drink! Each night after the gig, Nikita and Iwould sit at the table together, talk, and finish whatever was leftof the cognac. I have a clear picture in my mind of the last timeNikita and I talked. I remember him leaning over to me, staringme straight in the eyes, and saying, "All my life I dream of meet-ing an American jazz drummer. To hear the sound. To see the

"The playersI met were

committed tothe art ofmaking

music—notmoney."

attack. It thrills me. When I was little boy, I ask my parents fordrums. Never did I get them. Soon I learn that I can only dreamof drums. To see a drum in Leningrad is rare. So sad. You, myAmerican friend, are my hero drummer." Then he paused, let

out a deep sigh, gave me another cold stare, andsaid, "If there is difficult way to do something,then that is how they do it in Russia!" Nikita wasan unbelievable spirit and a true intellectual. I'llnever forget him.

In Moscow, the last stop of the tour, we playedthree dual concerts with the Oleg Lundstrem BigBand, Russia's most famous big band. They arean incredible band with two fantastic drummersnamed Ivan and Vova. Ivan has held the drumchair for 25 years, while Vova is the young, ambi-tious upstart. Both of them are incredible techni-cians with chops like you wouldn't believe. Theylive, eat, and breathe drums. Ivan spoke goodbroken English, while Vova only knew a fewwords. Vova and I would communicate with facialexpressions, or we would use Ivan as our inter-preter.

"Matt," Ivan would say to me, "it must be sosimple to make living as American drummer.Practice much? Get much gigs? Have muchfame? Yes?" "In America," I explained, "it is notdifficult to get in a band and play gigs. But veryfew American drummers become famous, let

alone rich. Even the famous ones have trouble making moneysometimes."

"Well, it is the same in Russia, but much more problem thanin America," said Ivan. "I must compete with Vova to buy newsticks at the music shop before he does. Sometimes we waitmaybe three or four months for new heads and sticks. To me,

looking at your cymbals is what walking on Red Square must belike for you. I dream of someday to see a true American drumshop. Is it true that the drum shop attendant gives you a stickand allows you to walk through a jungle of cymbals? Can you hitany cymbal you wish? It must be beautiful. Our music shopshave maybe two or three cymbals. Very bad. I do not think youknow how happy Vova and I are to touch your cymbals. Theybring us tears. Do American drummers have their own drum-sets, or do they share like Vova and me?" "Some share," I replied.That was all I had the heart to tell him.

Both Ivan and Vova desperately wanted to trade whatever theycould for my equipment. Ivan even offered to trade his familyBible for my ride cymbal. The Bible had passed through eightgenerations of his family, and he was willing to trade it for a cym-bal! It disturbed me not to grant their wishes, but I did leavethem everything I could stand to part with, like sticks, heads,brushes, cowbells, magazines, and T-shirts.

As I said earlier, we played three dual concerts with the OlegLundstrem Band. Each night, we brought the house down with alegendary chart arranged for two bands entitled "Battle Royale."As you may already know, the song ends with a battle of thedrummers. There I was on opening night, a 20-year old collegedrummer matched against Russia's nationally renowned 25-yearveteran, "Ivan The Terrible."

Ivan was a broad-shouldered, assertive individual who carriedan air of professionalism in his every move. On top of that, hecraved drum solos. I was a much less experienced, passive drum-mer who preferred laying back, keeping time, and letting the restof the band solo. Ivan had been told two months in advance to beprepared to battle a young American drummer from a famousAmerican jazz band. I, however, only found out we were closingthe show with "Battle Royale" that morning when we got off theplane at Moscow International Airport. To make things worse,

that afternoon we only rehearsed the tune for fifteen minutes.That evening, the stage was set for tension. Ivan was eager to

devour me, while I was eager for the concert to be over so I couldrace back to my hotel and hide under the bed! When we actuallyperformed the tune, Ivan got so excited he seemed to make theentire tune a drum solo. In the midst of the cluttered, percussivecommotion, it all got very confusing. I decided to play a simple,deliberate groove with a heavy backbeat hoping to at least holdmy side of the stage together. Ivan, however, was at a completelydifferent tempo, and when it was time for him to begin his halfof the drum battle, there was absolutely no time between the twoof us. He was playing so fast, I felt no pulse, no meter. Nothingflowed. All I heard was a jumbled mess of notes getting fasterand faster!

Frantically, I leaned over as far as I could and screamed, "Youare not playing in time! It's not steady. You're rushing. You areRUSHING!!" Ivan gave me a bewildered look, drew a blank stare,and then suddenly released a stage-rattling laugh and yelledback, "Yes, and you are American!" "No," I tried to tell him."Not Russian. You are rushing. Rushinnggg!!"

Before I went to Russia, I used to fret over choosing amajor—most Soviets fret over where their next meal will comefrom. I used to complain about late-night gigs in smoke-filled,half-empty clubs. I used to loathe watching other musicians non-chalantly throw their axes over their shoulder and leave while Ilugged my kit around. I'd often shrug when I was handed a cou-ple of bucks for three hours of hard work, or a $35 fee for sticksand heads. Now I'm grateful to at least have my own drumset tolug around, and to have gigs that pay enough to let me buy a mealI don't have to wait in line for three hours to receive. And at thevery least, I will never have to wait two or three months to buydrumheads or a simple pair of sticks.

P E R C U S S I O N T O D A Y

Pat 0'Donnell:Taking It To The Road

What's it like for a musician who's used to pounding out a liv-ing in the city to suddenly pull up stakes and take to the road?Will the constant flow of calls start up again if he takes anextended tour? Will life's daily minutiae take care of themselvesif no one is home for four months? What are the pros and thecons? Drummer/percussionist Pat O'Donnell found out last yearwhen he answered a call from a New York City contractor'soffice to go out for four months with the national tour of theBroadway production of Chess.

As a busy Broadway percussionist, subbing regularly formany shows including Phantom Of The Opera, Dreamgirls,Starlight Express, Les Miserables, Chess, and Cats, O'Donnellhas spent the last several years building up his reputation andgarnering high regard among his peers for his skillful playing.He was content to be a regular sub on the Broadway scene, sup-plementing his income with a position as a music teacher at St.Joseph School for the Blind in Jersey City, and holding downthe drum chair with a ten-piece show band called BoulevardEast. When the offer came to tour, it was sudden. Pat foundthere were many details to consider, with virtually minutes tomake a decision. The following interview discusses the resultsof his decision, and the way one musician dealt with the new-ness of his first extended tour.

SB: How did you feel when you first received the call from theshow's contractor to go on the road?PO: I was surprised, and I had to give them an answer imme-diately, so I had a lot of thinking to do very quickly.SB: You mentioned your ambivalent feelings about how alengthy tour might affect your future work. Did you worry thatyou'd lose that first- and second-call status?PO: I thought about it, and yes, I made some calls. It's inter-esting, though, because I found that most of the guys that Iwork for are honorable. It's taken a while to get established,and they know that. The people I sub for most frequentlyassured me that they were going to use me when I got back.I've been really lucky in terms of the people I've hooked upwith in that it seems to be more of a long-term relationship.SB: How did you know what to take along? Especially the littlemundane things—like did you pack your entire wardrobe ?PO: [Chuckling] Well, I brought a little more than I shouldhave, but luckily I had a day off and brought some stuff home.

After lugging around a suitcase of things, I quickly learned toprioritize what was important to bring, and what was neces-sary...in terms of the lifestyle. I'm sure it's different for everyperson, but ideally if you can do the whole tour with one suit-case, that's best.SB: When the tour finally began, what did you do with yourdays? The shows were at night, and living in a hotel room hasto be a little boring.PO: Well, I went out with the intention of writing music, so Ibrought a great amount of baggage, with a keyboard, a four-track recorder, a drum machine—so I wasn't bored. I also did alot of sightseeing. The thing to remember when you're plan-ning this is that whatever you bring, you have to carry. It's yourown responsibility to lug it around.SB: Let's talk about the show itself. Did you have the chartsahead of time?PO: The first time I saw the book was in Florida. It was hand-ed out at the first rehearsal.SB: Was it a difficult book? Did it require you to stretch anyaspect of your playing or reading?PO: The arranger of the show was a really top-notch arranger,Dan Troob. There were particular things, like a march and cer-tain hits, that he really wanted to be expressive. Working withKAT's MalletKAT (mallet MIDI controller) to the extent that Idid stretched me a bit. It was a challenge in the beginning.SB: How did you prepare for the gig? Did you go to musicschool or take formal lessons?PO: Oh, yeah. I graduated from Jersey City State College inNew Jersey in 1982, and I earned my masters at ManhattanSchool of Music in 1984.SB: Part of the requirement for the show was the ability to

by Stephanie Renzo Bennett

become totally at ease with the KAT. These kinds of electronicswere not available when you attended college. How did you pre-pare for working with the KAT, and especially on such shortnotice?PO: I had the advantage of having subbed on the Broadwayversion of Chess, which used the KAT, though not in as exten-sive a way as we did on the road. The road version used a lot ofelectronic sounds to enhance the dance numbers. It was alsoused to enhance what the drummer was doing, like addedsnare drums, metal pipes, hand claps.... The interesting thingabout having three octaves worth of sounds is that once youhad a sample, you could really create unlimited sounds.SB: Did you own the KAT before you brought it on the road, orwas one made available to you?PO: Ah, this was one of the best parts. When I found out whatequipment was needed, I went to Carroll Music in New YorkCity to pick everything out. The production company rentedeverything for me, but it was my responsibility to pick it all outand have it sent to the first stop. I could've just called Carroll'sand they would have sent me whatever I wanted, but I wanted tosee what I was getting. Imagine needing a snare drum and hav-ing a thousand to pick from. A large rental company such asCarroll's enables you to get the right instrument for the job.

First I picked out my timpani. Knowing that the book reallycalled for three drums, but due to space I would be using two, Iwas sure to pick out 26" and 29" copper extended-collar LudwigStandard model timpani. I spent a good couple of hours picking

out the equipment.SB: What kinds of considerations were you making in yourchoices?PO: Well, first I had to make sure the instruments met theneeds of the flavor of the show. Next, I determined whether ornot they would actually hold up for four to six months of abuse.Finally, I thought about living with each particular instrumentfor eight shows a week. I was sure to play, shake, hit, and pullthem, because once you're out of the New York City area, it canbe quite difficult to find most of the instruments I needed.SB: How did you determine what sounds you would be repro-ducing on the KAT?PO: The sounds that we used were basically acoustic instru-ments that were meant to be used as acoustic instruments onthis kind of setup. From our KAT controller we had access to thefollowing sounds: two full octaves of chimes; three full octaves ofxylophone; three full octaves of orchestra bells; hand claps; threefull octaves of marimba; electronic drum sounds, which includ-ed a full electronic drum kit, including six chromatic metalpipes, four ascending snare drums, and ascending soundinghand claps; an octave worth of gong; and a keyboard split for theprologue—the bottom octave being chimes, the center a woodblock and gongs, and the upper xylophone.SB: So basically the percussion chair was almost completelyKAT?PO: KAT and timpani.SB: If the KAT sounds are so incredible, why did you have to lug

along the most cumbersome drums of all, the timpani?PO: Some people may disagree with me, but as far as orchestralsound, I think the sound is made by the timpani. You can get agood strike sample, but to get that orchestral roll.... It's hard toget a human sound from an electronic timpani sample. Thepitch thing is very important. The whole system of timpani play-ing is based on harmonics, making the head vibrate and havingthe tension just right so that you blend with the orchestra. So, ifyou have something that is so fixed in terms of the pitch, well, itdoesn't work. You just miss the human element too much.SB: So, what's the verdict, can you make more money on theroad than in the city, or is it a draw?PO: My idea was to make money, so I made money. I found aroommate, we split the expenses, and I made good money. Itworked out well.SB: When you finally got on the bus and left, were there anyadjustments to make during the first week?PO: Socially it's a funny kind of thing if you've never done thatbefore. You fly into a strange city, you check into a hotel...ittakes a little getting used to finding things and getting acclimat-ed to the area—you know, scoping out where you're going to eat,what you're going to do. That's an important thing, you know. Ilearned right away that if you're going to eat in the hotel all thetime, you're gonna spend big bucks.

My initial check-in in Miami, our first stop, was kind ofstrange. The rooms were rather expensive, and I didn't have a

roommate. The expense money for traveling musicians is aboveyour salary, and it's a help, but it wouldn't cover seven nights ofsingle rooms and meals. When I first got to Miami I saw howquickly my per diem ran out, so I knew I just had to get a room-mate. I really wanted the per diem to be used for what it wasmeant for.SB: Having been through it, would you do it again?PO: I'd do it again, but not back to back. I like the idea of havingsome stability with where I live. Plus, I think it's important tokeep on being busy in New York City. On a personal level, thetour gave me a chance to see parts of the country I never wouldhave visited. Musically, it enabled me to become much morefamiliar with the electronics, and although all gigs and opportu-nities are different, I would definitely work with the people thatwere involved with Chess again. I especially enjoyed meeting somany different drummers and percussionists in the differenttowns.

I was also fortunate to have the keyboard and music to keepme busy on days off. It was a good combination between much-needed rest and lots of hard work. A road gig with a top-flightorganization is a good way to get some perspective on the type ofwork you're doing and the type of work you'd like to do. That'ssomething that's really hard to do in the fast-paced scene ofNew York. Yeah, I'd do it again.

D R U M S O L O I S T

Vinnie Colaiuta"All Blues"

Transcribed by Jeff Wald

This month's Drum Soloist features the incomparable Vinnie Colaiuta from the CD Los Lobotomys, which alsohas Carlos Vega and Jeff Porcaro on it. On this particular track, Vinnie trades eights at the end of the tune, andwhat he plays is nothing short of amazing. There are a lot of great licks on this one.

E N C O R E

SpencerDryden;Surrealistic Pillow

by Robert Santelli

group and went to Mexico. (He laterreturned to the Bay Area and formed theband Moby Grape.) Spencer Dryden, apromising jazz/rock session drummerfrom L.A., replaced him. Dryden, a farmore skilled drummer than Spence, pos-sessed a sharpened sense of time and apenchant to play the right fill at the righttime. Along with providing a steadyrhythmic base so the band could explorethe depths of its striking mix of rock,blues, folk, and psychedelia, Drydenhelped give the Airplane the aggressivepunch that was missing on its debutalbum, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.

RS: You joined the Airplane about sixmonths before they began recordingSurrealistic Pillow. How did you get tobecome a member of the band?SD: You know, I don't even know. Imean, I've heard about a million stories.Someone told me Earl Palmer recom-mended me; another person told me JimGordon recommended me. Skip Spencewas essentially a guitarist and singer, butMarty [Balin, singer] saw Skip as thedrummer in the band. I think Skip hadbeen in the marching band in school, orsomething. So they shoved Skip in aroom for a couple of weeks, got himsome drums, and made him the drum-mer.RS: What did you think of Spence as adrummer?SD: I liked the way he played. It was realcrude and primitive, but that's whatmade it so interesting. He had no ideawhat to do, except to get in there andjust energize. I learned a lot from watch-ing him play. I really had a big pair ofshoes to fill, because I didn't play likehim; I played a lot lighter. Actually, Ithought I played heavy, compared toother LA. players. But God, coming upto San Francisco was a whole other ballof wax. I lived with Skip and Paul [Kant-ner, guitarist] in Haight-Ashbury. I lis-tened to the band's tapes over and overagain. I went to all the rehearsals. Sothere was a transition period for me inwhich I got to learn what the band wasall about musically. I even gave Skip a

couple of chances to bail out of thewhole situation. I told him I'd go back toL.A. and my regular thing. He said, "No,no. I want to go to Mexico and just hangout." Which is what he did. I don't knowif he knew what he was walking awayfrom; maybe he did. Maybe he saw somehandwriting on the wall.RS: It's interesting that the Airplanewould look to L.A. for a drummer toreplace Spence. I mean, after all, therewas no love lost between the San Fran-cisco and L.A. music scenes back then.SD: That's right. I guess the Airplanecouldn't find a drummer in San Francis-co they were happy with. I mean, therewas so much happening in the Bay Area,musically speaking, that bands were justgrabbing up all the good drummers. Sothey looked to L.A. I happened to be adrummer who was pretty experiencedand knew how to play. I also had longhair, so I looked right for the times.RS: Did you know about the JeffersonAirplane before you were asked to jointhe band?SD: I had read a small blurb about them,and prior to that, I had done a weekenddate in the Bay Area at a place calledFrenchie's Bikini A Go Go. It was a pop-ular place for L.A. bands to play; FrankZappa & the Mothers played there a lot.Walking around North Beach one day, Isaw some posters that I could barely readthat said something about bands calledQuicksilver Messenger Service and theJefferson Airplane. But that was about allI really knew about the band.RS: What did you think of the Airplanethe first time you played with them?SD: I liked the band, but it was almosttoo raw for my taste. It was hard to com-municate with the people in the bandbecause no one talked with any realmusical knowledge. I would name chordsand count bars, but that wasn't part oftheir program at all. So I had to learn anentirely different approach. It took meabout two years to put all my old drumhabits in the back of my mind and playjust by feel.RS: I don't hear any awkwardness in yourdrumming on Surrealistic Pillow.

Although the roots of acid rock and theliberating spirit of Bay Area hippies werealready firmly in place by 1967, it wasn'tuntil that year that the rest of the worldcaught on to what this "revolution" wasall about. The album that uncorked allthis new energy and excitement was Sur-realistic Pillow, the Jefferson Airplane'ssecond album.

Surrealistic Pillow was able to achievewhat previous Bay Area rock albumscouldn't: large-scale commercial success.Two songs off the album, "Somebody ToLove" and "White Rabbit," became Top-10 singles. The former song, a wailing,psychedelic call for a new type of loveand affection, proved that acid rockcould confront traditional pop parametersand simply push through them, while"White Rabbit," with its famous lyricalphrase, "Feed your head," detailed theAlice in Wonderland-like dimensions ofacid rock.

A few months before the Airplanebegan recording Surrealistic Pillow, itsoriginal drummer, Skip Spence, left the

SD: Well, that's because it was a realsmooth transition. I rehearsed with theband a lot and played a number of gigsbefore we actually went into the studio todo the album.RS: Was the music on Surrealistic Pil-low a good indication of what the Jeffer-son Airplane was all about in 1967?SD: Not really, because our record com-pany, RCA, wanted a cleaner record thanthe first one, which was real rough-sounding. I didn't play on the record, butI actually liked it a lot. I thought TakesOff was a real adventurous record. Wefought RCA tooth and nail over Surreal-istic Pillow, to no avail. They got whatthey wanted. They even shoved a tune onthe record that wasn't ours.RS: What song was that?SD: "How Do You Feel." It was a songthat was written by a friend of Rick Jar-rard's. Rick produced SurrealisticPillow.RS: Is there one song on the album thatyou think stands out as your best?SD: I like "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Itwas the one song that I really got to letgo on. I was still pretty much playing inan L.A. style—you know, playing thestuff that Hal Blaine taught every L.A.studio drummer so that they wouldn'tget too "creative." You laid down the beatand kept it pretty tight. The Phil Spectorbeats were still happening down in LA.,so you shoved a whole wash of echo onthe toms and beat the heck out of them.RS: It's interesting that the Airplane

chose to record Surrealistic Pillow inLASD: Yeah. I remember we brought JerryGarcia down to play guitar. He playedwhile someone else was jumping up anddown like a human metronome so Paulcould see where the groove was. Paul andthe guys just weren't used to being putin separate cubicles in the studio andwearing headphones and all that. It was awhole new world to them. I mean, theywere used to playing without monitorsand just kind of screaming out the lyrics.RS: Did you have much studio experi-ence prior to making Surrealistic Pillow ?SD: I had some experience, but I hadnever made an entire album. I was usedto going into the studio and doing three-or six-hour sessions and that was that.Surrealistic Pillow was recorded in twoweeks.RS: There are a couple of songs on thealbum besides "Plastic Fantastic Lover"in which the drum parts are especiallyimportant to the other things going on."3/5 Of A Mile In Ten Seconds" comes tomind first. I especially like how youkicked off the song.SD: I just listened to what Paul andJorma [Kaukonen, lead guitarist] wereplaying. Those guys were into the blues,so they'd introduce blues riffs and seewhich ones worked and which onesdidn't. That's how the songs came to be.I just listened and then reacted.RS: The two classic songs off Surrealis-tic Pillow are, of course, "Somebody To

Love" and "White Rabbit." Both songswere Top-10 smashes. Were you sur-prised at how well they did?SD: Yeah, I think we were all pretty sur-prised. We kind of knew that "SomebodyTo Love" would do something because itwas such a good song. But "White Rab-bit" really threw us. We all thought it wasridiculous that it did so well. That songwent right by the Old Guard. One dayeverything was normal and the next daythere was "White Rabbit." It changedeverything. RCA didn't care; it was mak-ing money.RS: There are a number of instances onSurrealistic Pillow in which you didn'tplay the drums, but instead went withsimple percussion.SD: That's true. I played a lot of tam-bourine. After the album was done, I gotinto percussion even more. We madesome money, so I went out and bought awhole bunch of percussion instruments.RS: What was your relationship with JackCasady, the Airplane's bass player?SD: It was kind of strained. First of all,Jack was the youngest band member, andhe was also Jorma's friend. He was fromWashington, D.C., where he used to playguitar with Jorma in folk-blues groups.But he wasn't brought in to play guitar;he was brought in to play bass. So he didwhat was absolutely natural: He playedthe bass like a guitar. That left me in ahole, because the band didn't really havea bass player—at least not the kind I wasused to working with. I mean, from my

point of view, Jack played a real deep gui-tar, [laughs] Trying to keep three 12-strings in tune and then have Jack lum-bering around on the bass and meburied at the bottom of the heap with mylittle jazz drums made for a pretty wildsituation.RS: What kind of drums did you usewhen you recorded Surrealistic Pillow ?SD: When I first came up I had aGretsch jazz set. I had rivets in my cym-bals and things like that, and everyonewould look at me kind of cross-eyed.They didn't clang a lot, you see. But itwas the right kind of kit for me because Iliked to play light.RS: Did the sound of the Jefferson Air-plane change significantly after youreplaced Skip Spence?SD: To a degree. The biggest thing wasthat I didn't play balls-to-the-wall—which, unfortunately, the rest of the Air-plane really wanted. The band wouldhave probably done great during the '70sand early '80s when metal came along.Paul and Jorma weren't looking forfinesse, although Marty was. You see, notonly did the Airplane have six differentpersonalities, it had six different splitpersonalities. No wonder the musicturned out like it did.RS: When was the last time you listenedto Surrealistic Pillow in its entirety?SD: It's been a long time. The only timeI hear tunes from the album is whenthey're on the radio. I'll turn it up andthink about what I did and how the mix

was.RS: Did Surrealistic Pillow make theJefferson Airplane a lot of money?SD: I don't know that it made us a lot ofmoney. We got a salary. The band mem-bers made $75 a week when I joined. Iasked for $100 a week and I got it,because I had a family.

But Surrealistic Pillow did give us astrong presence nationally. Everythingwas happening at once—and it wasn'tjust playing music and making records.All of a sudden we went to Bill Grahamto manage us. He had never done thatbefore, so he was winging everything; wewere all learning together. We were inthe right place at the right time.RS: Are you saying that the success ofSurrealistic Pillow was based on luck?SD: Luck definitely had something to dowith it. Anyone in a band wants recogni-tion. You want to hear yourself on theradio. You want success. But we were notready for what came along with the suc-cess. The Jefferson Airplane was part ofa very large movement. I think that washard to deal with. We fell in some holes.One of the things that turned into aproblem was that no one wanted to be aleader. I certainly didn't want to be ageneral. Paul didn't want to, either,although things ultimately fell into hislap. He knew how to move the band andplot the show without getting too strict.Yet, we'd always throw things into themusic or the show to keep things looseand unpredictable.

RS: Like what?SD: Well, I liked to bring robots and toyson stage—which irritated Marty to noend. The one thing that kept the bandtogether was the rank sense of humoreveryone had. We would always piss eachother out, including Grace [Slick,singer]. She was great at it. She couldhang with the best of them. This was allvery much an important escape valve forus.RS: Despite the success of the Airplane,you ultimately left the band in 1970.SD: I think I quit about 28 times. Finallythey just took me seriously. They calledme in one afternoon amid this strangesilence. I could sense something wasgoing on. I'd been a little bit nuts. Thebig argument was about Altamont. I hadrefused to play. I almost got punched outover that one. I was forced into the heli-copter. I knew it was going to be bad, andI was right. It wasn't a together gig fromthe get-go. I'd had about an hour's worthof sleep. We'd played in Miami the nightbefore. We argued on the plane, and atthe baggage carousel. Everyone was basi-cally burned out. It had been four yearsof this nuts-like thing. Enough wasenough. Everyone wanted a differentthing for the band. I don't blame some-one for having personal desires or want-ing to be creative; that's human nature.But it was time for me to get out, Iguess, and that's what happened.

J A Z Z D R U M M E R S ' W O R K S H O P

This article is the second in a three-part series on New Orleans drumming. Last time we looked at traditionalsecond-line rhythms and variations using rolls. This month we'll explore several New Orleans funk rhythms.These are contemporary funk grooves that have a New Orleans flavor, especially apparent in the bass drumline. Other traditional rhythms, such as the New Orleans second line, have similar bass drum lines.

When playing alternating single strokes on the hi-hat, try to produce a loose, swing feel. In slow tempos, many drummers playthe 16th notes on the closed hi-hat with the right hand only.

Although few accents are indicated, most New Orleans drummers play a slight accent on the hi-hat in unison with the bassdrum. This helps to produce the loose feeling associated with this style.

This drumset variation on the traditional New Orleans groove features the right hand on the closed hi-hat. The hi-hat rhythmmay also be played on the ride cymbal or the bell of the ride cymbal. When playing the ride cymbal, play the hi-hat where appro-priate.

New Orleans Drumming:Part 2: Contemporary Rhythms

by Joey Farris

New Orleans Funk—8th- and 16th-Note FeelMost drummers in the New Orleans style play rhythms of this type with the right hand on the closed hi-hat. The hi-hat rhythm

may also be played on the ride cymbal or the bell of the ride cymbal. In this instance, play the hi-hat on the counts of 2 and 4where appropriate.

New Orleans Funk—16th-Note Feel

New Orleans Funk—Shuffle Feel

This drumset shuffle feel is a contemporary version of the traditional New Orleans groove. It is loose, dancing, and swinging.It's a two-handed shuffle played on the closed hi-hat, employing alternating single strokes. The right hand plays the accent onthe snare drum.

All the music in this series is from the book New Orleans Drumming by Roy Burns and Joey Farris. Music is reprinted with per-mission of Rhythmic Publications, PO. Box 3535, Fullerton, CA 92634.

MIKE BORDIN

have your ride cymbal on your left. Heshowed me I can play with both hands,left and right, and get around the kitpretty okay with both hands, leading witheither. It was frustrating then, but itmakes me stronger now. He had me domuscle- and grip-enhancing things, agreat pressure exercise for the feet,

things you can do without even having apair of drumsticks. You can do them onthe bus. He had great exercises, and Idid my homework.RT: Has stripping down your playinghelped in the studio and in live shows?MB: I think that's true about anything. Acart can only hold so much, and if youput any more on it, not only are yougoing to squash all the shit below it, but

the cart might not even roll. It mightbreak. But I don't really think about"studio" as opposed to anything else.Now we're in the writing and rehearsingmode, so I'm trying to do all these newsongs and really dial them in. I do myhomework. I could show you a stack ofshit that I wake up at three or four in themorning and write down, or stay up allnight writing down. I try to think thingsout, and if it's new stuff I try to lock inhard with the bass, but still leave enoughroom for the vocals and keyboards.There's a lot of stuff in the music, so it'sbest to keep the rhythm section goingsteady and smooth. I try to know whatI'm going to do when I get there, and nottake that much time doing it.RT: Do you and Bill work things outtogether or just work on it until some-thing clicks?MB: Well, yesterday Bill, Roddy, and Iwent in and played 15 songs for Jim, theguitar player, who put it all on DAT andtook it home. Today we went back in andplayed it ourselves and worked on a cou-ple of new songs. While many of thesongs start out with the guitar or key-boards, the three of us play together a lotand really work stuff out. Our guitarplayer says he works best when he's sit-ting in his easy chair with a cigarette andbeer and his four-track, and nobody'sbugging him. We all work differently. Iwork well when I can spend time withthe stuff, grow with it, play it, be solidwith the bass player—plant it in theground and let it sit for some time untilsome roots come out. That's what's hap-pening with this new music, and that'swhy I feel good about it. We're spendingtime with it, and it's getting better. Thenwhen you record, it's not like you justwrote the songs yesterday, and sixmonths later they have a lot more hair ontheir chest.

It's also important to practice in yourmind as well as physically, because any-body can play something that's appropri-ate enough to a song. It's actually theability to whittle it down and get it reallyright that counts. You've got to hear howthings work overall. If you're just hearingthe kick and the guitar and maybe somebass in your monitor, you don't hear thewhole thing because you're sitting rightin the middle of it. So if you can hear it

in your mind, that's great. If you can't,you should bring a tape recorder.

I really like the studio because it'schallenging. You know that it's going tobe done, and that's it. I don't know if Ichange anything—I just try to play it aswell as I can, get a good take. I try tokeep the meter as steady as possible,because if they have to build on a wobblyfoundation, they're screwed. And I trynot to do too many takes.RT: Is there any adjustment for doing aColiseum show like the one with Metalli-ca and Queensryche last Saturday?MB: If it's outrageously giant like theColiseum, then it's like, "Man, look at allthese people." I don't really notice it oth-erwise. I barely look up. I see the bassand guitar players' feet a lot, becausewhen I play I'm looking down. I spend alot of time at shows communicating withmy tech. I'll knock my snare drum out oftune every single song, so we'll re-tunemy snare or a tom, or get me more moni-tor. Getting me water is a big one whenit's hot, because not only do I honestlylike to play as hard as I can, I also don'tlike to stop between songs. The other

guys in the band don't really like to stopthat much either. When I stop they talktoo much anyway, so I don't stop. If it's anight show, I'll barely even see thecrowd—maybe the front row. It doesn'treally matter, because if you're playinggood, that's your concentration, that'syour focus—playing good and getting thepacing right. If you're playing bad, you'regoing to be pissed off and only concen-trating on getting back on the right footanyway.RT: I like the way you incorporate flamsinto a lot of your playing. Is that a con-scious thing?MB: It was conscious when I started,because the idea was to "get off that hi-hat and start whacking the drums." Andboy, what a great sound it makes whenyou hit rimshots with the sticks reversedwith both hands as hard as you can.Everybody thinks keeping the foot goingon the hi-hat is like John Bonham on"Moby Dick," but go back to Art Blakey,man. He burned. He would do thesepress rolls with giant crescendos, and hisfoot would be on the hi-hat keeping itgoing. And that's the same as what C.K

did, playing a pattern with the foot keep-ing time straight through, or a counter-beat with yourself, keeping a syncopatedcounter-rhythm. It came from trying touse everything you can to do somethingthat fits. Put it all together. It's an inter-esting pattern, an interesting aggregate,but you can still tap your foot and followit. It doesn't lose you, it sucks you in. Itmakes you kind of trance-like.

That's how Faith No More started,really. We'd just play one pattern all thetime. There's a song on The Real Thingcalled "Zombie Eaters," and there's athing on the bass in the beginning thatwe would sit and do for half an hour. Justrepeat that little bit over and over. Thatwas a big part of our early music—repeating something really good until wewere comfortable with it. That's the wayit was with flams. I didn't know what aflam was. I started doing it, honestly, justto get a strong, definite sound. TonyWilliams can do great things with closedflams. Brutal. I can look back now andsay that the first flams I ever heard wereon Black Sabbath's Volume Four. I can'treally say that I picked up on it, because Iwas actually more obsessed with the bassplayer and guitar player in that band thanthe drummer.RT: So it doesn't come from a rudimen-tal background.MB: That's one thing I never studied. Iwas jealous of that because it would havebeen cool to be in the marching band.But unfortunately when all that was hap-pening, I was getting into trouble andwas interested in rock music, the otherside of it. I would love to have been aparade drummer. I keep running intopeople who were. I think the drummerfrom Guns was. I read something DavidGaribaldi wrote about paradiddles, but Idon't know much about rudiments. I dotry to practice double and triple strokes,though, just to keep clean, loose, andprecise.RT: I wanted to ask about your kickdrum work. Is that a double pedal youuse on "Underwater Love?"MB: Never. I'm proud of that. Except fora very few things, I think you can do any-thing you want on a single. And you cando it more convincingly, except forstamina things. You can do doublestrokes, triple strokes, and 16ths without

any problems. It comes back to doingyour homework and putting it right inyour mind. I've tried to make do with thebare minimum. It keeps coming back tothat.RT: As far as your bass drum technique,do you play on the heel or toe of yourfoot?MB: Both, I think. I was taught a won-derful exercise: You're sitting there onthe bus, in the cab, on the toilet. Startout with heel down—very steady, notfast—and just do whatever notes youwant. Get louder and louder, push hard-er and harder, and then get quieter andquieter. Do a crescendo until your calfjust burns. Build it up, keeping it steadyall the way through, and make it loud andthen soft. That's a great exercise. It givesyou so much strength. I wish I could tellyou honestly, heel up or heel down, butI'm sure I do it both ways. I think thefaster stuff I probably do heel down.

I'm proud of my bass drum technique,because I don't feel like I have fasthands. The guy from Slayer blows mymind, because he is so incredibly cleanand precise with his hands. He's like asurgeon. Some other guys are incrediblyfunky, they can go way outside the beatand come right back in on it. But I thinkI have solid hands, and good bass drumtechnique, and the bass drum's what'sloudest.RT: You incorporate your kick into thefills a lot.MB: Everything. We may play the samesongs two nights in a row, but there'sdifferences every night, and it's not real-ly thought out to do this or that or theother thing. It's more of a flow. It justcomes out. If you're a singer, you've gotto keep your parts similar. I've got a fewcues that everybody pays attention to,but between those I've got a lot of freereign. And I'm thankful that we canchange it up and express more of howit's going, how you are at the moment.RT: Faith No More seems like a prettydemocratic band.MB: It's definitely a band effort. Every-body trusts everybody else to play whatthey think is good. There's no dictator;everybody does their thing. That's whysongwriting and everything is splitequally. That's common sense, but a lotof people don't work that way. We do. You

know, a slave doesn't give you his best,he gives you what you force out of him.We have done well for ourselves, andthere's no reason not to give our abso-lute best, because it does make a differ-ence.RT: You guys had rapping in your musiclong before singer Mike Patton joinedthe group.MB: People say it's a new phenomenon,but we wrote "We Care A Lot" in 1984and recorded it in '85. Again, it goesback to when I first started learning fromC.K. There are rhythms and counter-rhythms, and when you put a bunch ofdifferent rhythms together, it's a synco-pation. You can get the drummer, thebass player, the keyboardist, and the gui-tarist to play different rhythms—butwith all of them working together. Asinger singing a melody might work, or avery choppy and rhythmic Billy Idol kindof singing might be appropriate. Takethe song "Underwater Love." Most ofthe time he's singing there, but that oneline, "Touch me from below, I'll never letyou go," that's a choppy counter-rhythm.

Sometimes it's appropriate. It's stupid todo one thing all the time.

We got interested in rap when our key-boardist bought the first Run DMCrecord in '83 or '84. And then there wasJohnson Crew and Grandmaster Flashand all the Tommy Boy stuff. It had cool,aggressive drum beats and cool sounds,and totally rhythmic chanting and rap-ping. But even before that I was totallyinto the Jamaican DJs and toasters likeYellowman, U Roy, Big Youth, and IRoy—the dance-hall stuff. That's rhyth-mic, and jacks me up. I make no apolo-gies for that. Rapping or chanting isappropriate when you need somethingthat's counter-rhythmic, and it kicks thesong in well.RT: Did you specifically listen to thedrums in rap?MB: Oh, yeah. Keith LeBlanc is the guy.He did all the programming for TommyBoy in the early days. He played withTackhead, who did some cool things withindustrial sounds, real aggressive. DubSyndicate is good stuff, kind of guerillamusic. Yeah, the drums in rap are good.

So are the drums in James Brown'smusic, and the Meters. The Jazz Mes-sengers, Mingus—with Dannie Rich-mond—Basie, Dr. John, the drums inthat music are all great. On and on.

It's not right to think that everybody'sfighting against each other. And it's notright to look at it like a pie, like there'sonly so much, and if you get some then Idon't get that much. I refuse to look at itlike that, because that could make youreal bitter. I think you can find good ineverybody, and everybody can be betteroff for the contribution. There's enoughfor everybody. If our band has success, itopens it up for a lot of other bands. Andif other bands have success I think itmakes it better for everybody—if some-body's doing something that they reallybelieve in. How many people do youknow with just one record?RT: Are you using any triggering or elec-tronics?MB: No, just acoustic drums. It doesn'tmake sense to sample somebody else'sacoustic drum sound. Spend the timeand tune your drums so that they sound

right. If you can't, talk to somebody thatcan make them sound right. Spend thetime. There's nothing that you can geton a sample that you can't get from thedrum, unless you want the sound of apiece of metal hitting metal. Then get apiece of metal and hit metal. I canunderstand it for sound effects, but wehave a keyboard player—let him do that.I like the sound of drums.RT: Have you been listening to anythinginteresting?MB: I'm listening to a lot of '40s musicnow, and it's beautiful. Louis Jordan isone of my heroes. Blakey, Mingus, Dr.John.... Yeah, it's amazing what hascome from Fats Waller to now. The dif-ferences—and the similarities too. Iwould like to see something comparingJohn Bonham and Art Blakey. Becauseeverybody thinks that Bonham is like theking. He took that to the masses, and themainstream. But so much of Blakeyreminds me of him. I don't know if that'sa foolish thing to say, but somethingabout his spirit, his soul, his shouting,his getting wild. He lived loose, he was a

wild guy. And he marked his time theway Bonham did with the hi-hat.RT: Ginger Baker likes to put himself upin that kind of company.MB: He talks about all that stuff, buthe's a good drummer. He did play withAfrican drummers in the late 1960s, butBlakey did it before, in the 1950s. Thosebattle records are great, the Blakey bigbeat records, and Drum Night At Bird-land. I never thought I'd get excitedabout a record of drum solos, but—if youdo it well.... I just got into the ChickWebb Orchestra from the 1930s,too—talk about cutting! Start listening toCab Calloway, and then listen to LouisJordan, then Wynonie Harris, then SlimGaillard—if you're looking, you just keepfollowing the string. It makes me proudof what I do.RT: Do you have any other suggestionsfor drummers who are reading this ?MB: The longer you go playing with thesame person, the better. If you really digsomebody that you're playing with, stickwith it, because you can't buy that. Youcan't just assemble that chemistry. If

you've got roots with a bass player, it's amistake to just close your eyes to it. AndI would recommend to be very patientwith playing drums. It's like golf orsomething. You can learn to get by in apassing way real quick, and can goaround a golf course in about twomonths of practicing. But that's not thewhole end. Be patient and do it becauseyou love doing it. Don't feel insignificantand stop doing it because you see ChadWackerman or Steve Gadd doing it. Justmake that purify your motivation, and doit because you want to do it.

Drumming is an attitude. Once youget the muscle memory and routine ofwhat you do down, then your fingerprintcomes on it, and it becomes personal.It's a great thing because anybody can doit, and you can spend as little or as muchenergy on it as you want, and deal with ityour way. It's therapeutic as hell, becauseit's satisfying and physical—much morephysical than a lot of other instruments.Drums are not an elitist instrument, andthe musician shouldn't be put up like amagician. Anybody can do it.

C R I T I Q U E

RECORDINGS

MAX ROACHTo The Max!Bluemoon/MR R2 79164Max Roach Chorus & Orchestra

Max Roach Quartet:ODEAN POPE: tn sxCECIL BRIDGEWATER: tptTYRONE BROWN: bsMAX ROACH: drUptown String Quartet:

DIANE MONROE, LESA TERRY: vlnMAXINE ROACH: vlaEILEEN FOLSON: celloM'Boom:

ROY BROOKS, JOE CHAMBERS, OMARCLAY, ELI FOUNTAIN, FRED KING, RAYMANTILLA, FRANCISCO MORA, MAXROACH, WARREN SMITH: percGhost Dance, Parts l-lll; A QuietPlace; The Profit; Tears; Self Portrait;

A Little Booker; Street Dance;Tricotism; Mwalimu; Drums Unlimit-

ed.

Suite (1960); the easy swaggerof M'Boom, the original jazzpercussion ensemble; thekinetic urgency of Max'spianoless quartet; and thearchetypal form, wisdom, andhumor of Roach the soloist.

The most satisfying mo-ments of this double CD setare captured in "A LittleBooker," a 21-minute dialogbetween the Roach quartet andthe Uptown String Quartet(including the leader's daugh-ter Maxine). Uptown's incisive,unsentimental riffing and hipvoicings create a unified wholenot usually heard in suchcrossovers. Tyrone Brown'srock-steady walking bassallows Max frequent interac-tive departures from timekeep-ing and a classic accompaniedsolo. The restless energy evi-dent throughout the recordingworks especially well here,fueling an intense drive.

A monument to the visionand commitment of one of thefounding fathers of modernjazz, this is vintage Max.

• Hal Howland

CHAD WACKERMANForty ReasonsCMPCD48CHAD WACKERMAN: drALLAN HOLDSWORTH: gtrJlM COX: kybd, pno, org

JIMMY JOHNSON: bsHoliday Insane; You Came Along;

Forty Reasons; Fearless; Quiet Life;

Waltzing On Jupiter; Tell Me; House

On Fire; Hidden Places; Go;

Schemes

Chad Wackerman has pro-vided sterling service behindthe drumkit for such notablesas Allan Holdsworth, FrankZappa, Barbra Streisand, and,as of late, Andy Summers.Now Forty Reasons marks thedebut solo recording for thistalented drummer.

Wackerman proves to be aninventive and exploratorycomposer (he wrote six of theeleven compositions), subdu-ing showy fi l ls for a moremusical and pertinent drumrole. Forty Reasons confirmsthat this musically nimblequartet is less interested inpracticing the art of chopsdisplay than in pursuing afocused and musical path.

Allan Holdsworth swimswith thrilling melodies andmatching arrangements, pro-viding a roller-coaster ride therest of the band takes offfrom. On tracks such as "FortyReasons," "Hidden Places,"and "Holiday Insane," you'llnotice the quartet's use ofspace, ghostly thrills, nudging

notes, and mixtures of driftinglyricism and dug-in grooving.

Forty Reasons not only sup-plies ample evidence ofWackerman's growth as a top-notch drummer, but as aunique and complex compos-er as well.

• Carlos Tabakof

STEVIE RAY VAUGHANAND DOUBLE TROUBLEThe Sky Is Crying

Epic EK 47380STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN: gtr, vclCHRIS LAYTON: drTOMMY SHANNON: bsREESE WYNANS: kybdBoot Hill; The Sky Is Crying; LittleWing; Wham; May I Have A Talk

With You; Close To You; Chitlins Con

Carne; So Excited; Life By The Drop

Culled from mid-'80s unre-leased studio sessions by thelate guitarist's brother JimmieVaughan, The Sky Is Cryingeasily turns out to be one ofStevie's best albums. Passion-ate, blistering performancesthat often found their way intohis live sets are given the fullblues treatment, with Vaughansqueezing every drop of sting-ing sentiment out of his guitar.

A wicked, riveting "BootHill" leads into the slow bluesof the title track, an ear-bend-ing question and answer ses-sion between Vaughan and hisaxe. The album's showcase isHendrix's "Little Wing," butVaughan clearly makes it hisown in a soft-spoken, instru-

For anyone unfamiliar withthe breadth of Max Roach'sartistry, To The Max! is a wor-thy introduction. For the initi-ated, this CD charges throughfamiliar territory: the marriageof spiritual chorus and jazzband passionately representedin Max's proud Freedom Now

mental that packs a big wallop."Wham" and "Life By TheDrop," a touching vocal perfor-mance accompanied by acous-tic guitar, are other standoutsof this ten-track CD.

While the show is obviouslyStevie's, drummer ChrisLayton is no slouch. Alwayspushing, always swinging, heachieves the blues drummer'smain goal while addressing itssimple deceptiveness. It's hardto play simple, driving rhythmin a blues context and notsound overly stiff or pedestri-an. Layton wins on all counts.

With this trove of greattracks now available, one hopesthere is much more where thiscame from.

It is said that if you chooseto play more than one instru-ment, you have to play eachone so well that everyone

thinks whatever they are hear-ing you on at a particular timeis your primary axe. TrilokGurtu certainly fulfills thatrequirement on this disc.Hear him on drumset and youassume he has concentratedon that. Then hear him ontabla, and you can't imaginethat he had time to learn any-thing else. And he playsbrushes in such a way that youcould believe that to be hismain interest.

The music on Living Magicranges from Indian-likeimprovisations that are pri-marily melody and rhythm toWeather Report-flavoredfusion. Gurtu combines hisIndian command of complexrhythms with a very Americansense of funk and swing,resulting in a powerful style ofdrumming that ignites anymusic it comes in contactwith. Add to that the Brazilianjungle percussion of NanaVasconcelos, and you have oneof the most stimulating per-cussion-dominated recordingsof the year.

overall result: strong compo-sitions in a Metheny-ishmode that, even at their mostlively, are tinged with a hint ofmelancholy.

From the New York-at-night feel of "Daddy Long-legs" to the uptempo "Star-stream" to gorgeous balladslike "Dear John" and"Balance," Loeb and some ofNew York's best musiciansdeliver a highly crafted,cliche-free performance.

Twenty-year-old Zach Dan-ziger may be the next majordrummer to appear on thejazz/fusion scene. He hasworked regularly with MichelCamilo, Bob Mintzer, andEddie Gomez and has record-ed with Leni Stern. OnBalance he truly arrives.

Whether playing the grooveor soloing, Danziger has totalcommand of the instrument,displaying finesse and a dis-tinctive touch not evident inthe work of better knownfusion players. His influenceswould seem to be Colaiuta byway of Gadd, with a touch ofErskine thrown in for more ofa jazz sensibility.

Danziger's intricate funksubtleties on "Daddy Long-legs" or the aggressive soloson "Star-stream" and "DayAfter Yesterday" prove thepoint. With Zach now residingin California, it will be inter-esting to see if he can track

CORROSION OFCONFORMITYBlind

Relativity 88561-2031-2KARL AGELL: vclWOODY WEATHERMAN: gtrPEPPER KEENAN: gtr, vclPHIL SWISHER: bsREED MULLIN: drThese Shrouded Temples; Damned

For All Time; Dance Of The Dead;

Buried; Break The Circle; PaintedSmiling Face; Mine Are The Eyes Of

God; Shallow Ground; Vote With A

Bullet; Great Purification; White

Noise; Echoes In The Well; Remain.

Combine the riff ing ofBlack Sabbath, the frenziedaggression on Anthrax, thekick of a funk band, and a1970s swagger—and you haveCorrosion of Conformity. WithBlind, these North Carolin-ians put out one of the mostpowerful albums of 1991.

Reed Mullin perfectly com-plements the band's distinct,if implacable style with apounding foundation layeredwith tasteful cymbal and tomwork and surprising dynamicturns.

Mullin shows what he's allabout on "Damned For AllTime," where his tribal beatleads into a smorgasbord ofspeed, power, touch, and timeswings, while his Bonham-

TRILOK GURTULiving MagicCMP CD50TRILOK GURTU: dr, tabla,vcl, cong, percJAN GARBAREK: sxNANA VASCONCELOS: cong, repenique,vcl, perc

DANIEL GOYONE: kybd, pnoNlCOLAS FlSZMAN: bs, gtr

TUNDE JEGEDE: Kora, cello iSHANTHI RAO:veenaBaba; Living Magic; Once I Wished

A Tree Upside Down...; Transition;

From Scratch; Tac, et demi; TMNOK

CHUCK LOEBBalance

DMPCD484CHUCK LOEB: gtr, synthJON WERKING: pno, kybdPAUL SOCLOW: bsZACH DANZIGER: drCARMEN CUESTA: vclBOB MINTZER: bs, clarNELSON RANGELL: al sxEn El Rio; Daddy Longlegs; Star-

stream; Balance; Eternal Flame; The

Day After Yesterday; Espionage; The

Hello; Dear John; Straight A's; Faith

Alone

Guitarist Chuck Loeb'sBalance is well titled. This isa cohesive, thematic work,each song contributing to the

the L.A. studio scene andachieve wider recognition.

• Ken Micallef

Rick Mattingly

Ken Micallef

inspired beats push the crush-grooves of "Buried" and"Echoes In The Well." Hepicks up the pace with cleanopen-stroke rolls, tight cut-offs, and cool 16th-note triplethi-hat work on "Mine Are TheEyes Of God."

Corrosion of Conformityhas wandered in cult statusfor the past couple years, butwith Blind, they could fall intothe upswell of popularityamong similar bands. Mean-while, don't wait for the chartsto turn your head. Wrap yourears around this record andmelt!

The less one has to workwith, the more creative one hasto be. While Glen Velez is list-ed in the credits as playing sev-eral instruments, most of themonly turn up briefly.

The emphasis on this

recording is the tar drum,which Velez and his associatescan get more out of than mostpeople can get from a completedrumset.

The first piece features ahaunting flute melody accom-panied by two tar drums. Thedeep tones of the drum serveas contrast to the flute, giving agreat deal of sonic depth to avery open arrangement.

The tour-de-force of thisdisc, however, is the 45-minutetitle track, wherein Velez leadsan ensemble of tar drumsthrough a 41-beat cycle oftheme and variations.

Sometimes the pulse is sim-ple and hypnotic; sometimes itis complex; sometimes itgrooves. Always it is fascinat-ing.

point. Not only does the albumrecall the glory days when bigband rhythm & blues ruled,but Killer Joe, the New Jersey-based outfit responsible for theresurrection, could easily callany band led by Louis Jordanin the late '40s a first cousin.

Spearheaded by E StreetBand drummer Max Weinberg,whose wonderfully crisp andsnappy rhythms keep Scene OfThe Crime jumping from startto finish, Killer Joe hits a homerun with its debut album.

Weinberg's stellar perfor-mance reveals a brand newside of his style. In place of thebooming snare he's givenBruce Springsteen for somefifteen years, we hear all kindsof new, jazzy riffs and bluesybackbeats that many Weinbergfans probably never knew hehad in him.

Weinberg is aided by a top-notch set of fellow musicians,especially keyboard ace Deliaand guitarist Vivino, and a listof guest artists (Little Steven,Jon Bon Jovi, SouthsideJohnny) that reads like a Who'sWho of pop.

With everyone in sync,Scene Of The Crime swingsand swelters with enough R&Bfire to heat any dancefloor orparty.

There's an old joke aboutthe parent of a drumset stu-dent asking the teacher whenthe child is going to learn toplay a song. But that points outthe problem with much drum-set instruction: Students oftenlearn a lot of beat and fill pat-terns, but never really learn toput them together in a musicalway. The etudes in these threebooks are a very musical solu-tion to that problem.

The first book contains 37one-page etudes, while BooksII and III contain 19 two-pageetudes each. Most of the mate-rial is rock- or triplet-based(written usually as 6/8 or 12/8),with some mixed meter andLatin etudes included in BookIII. There is just a smatteringof jazz.

Book I is said to be forbeginning to intermediate stu-dents, while the other twobooks are both intermediatelevel. As the author is a collegeinstructor, those designationsare most likely aimed at col-lege-age players. When dealingwith younger students, I'd clas-sify Book I as intermediate andBooks II and III as advanced.

Combining time feels withfil l and solo patterns, theseetudes should develop a greatdeal of facility around thedrumset. The student will pickup a wealth of practical ideas,and have fun doing so.

Matt Peiken

GLEN VELEZDoctrine Of SignaturesCMP CD54GLEN VELEZ: tar drums, riq,Australian Aboriginal sticks, shakers,

Tonga wood drum, Filipino buzz

sticks, vclEVA ATSALIS, ED BRUNICARDI, RANDYCRAFTON, JAN HAGIWARA: tar drumsSTEVE CORN: Bonsuri bamboo fluteWhite-Throated Sparrow; Doctrine

Of Signatures

Rick Mattingly

KILLER JOEScene Of The CrimeHard Ticket (01612-65069-2)MAX WEINBERG: drJOE DELIA: kybdJIMMY VIVINO: gtrHAYWOOD GREGORY: vclDAVID KEYES: bsMARK FENDER: trpJERRY VIVINO: sxBOB SMITH: tbnERIK LAWRENCE: bar sxScene Of The Crime; Busted; It's All

Right; Club Soul City; Peter Gunn

'91; Let's Have A Natural Ball; DownIn Mexico; There's Nobody Home;

Summer On Signal Hill; Where Were

You (On Our Wedding Day)?; SharksIn The Water; Chicken Shack Boogie

If Scene Of The Crimesounds to you like a throwbackto the days when bands used torecord live in the studio andactually have fun making arecord, then you've gotten the Robert Santell

Rick Mattingly

BOOKSDRUM SET ETUDESBooks I, II, and IIIby Joe Holmquist

Publ: Neil A. Kjos

4380 Jutland DriveSan Diego CA 92117Price: $5.95 each

MILTON SLEDGE

densed what he did.On the song "Papa Loved Mama," I'm

playing some pretty weird stuff. There'sa lot of stuff on there where, instead ofusing a ride cymbal or hi-hat, I'm ridingthe snare drum and doing a lot of rollsand things like that. I had just gotten aSabian endorsement before we startedthis album, and I was trying out a bunchof Sabian cymbals. I had just gotten aChinese cymbal that day, and I was wear-ing it out. It's all over that cut, and I wasloving it. It's a real raunchy tune anyway,and we were going for something reallypunchy. That fit just right.RF: By the time of the recording ofRopin' The Wind, was there any differentkind of vibe in the studio?MS: No, not that I could detect. I thinkwe went out of our way to see that thatdidn't happen, and maybe cut up a littlemore. Garth's a real funny guy. I knowwhat you're saying, and I've seen thathappen where everyone tenses up andit's, "Wow, we've got to top that lastthing." I don't view it so much that way

as, "Boy, I hope this song is going to cre-ate a challenge."RF: Let's talk about Kathy Mattea.MS: Kathy's music requires a gentlerapproach. It is similar in some ways,since it's the same producer [AllenReynolds] and engineer [Mark Miller]. Idon't think the strength in her recordscomes from the drums as much as itdoes with Garth Brooks. I think it's moreof a melodic type of thing. I view my rolewith her as more of a support.RF: Can you think of stand-out cuts?MS: One that stands out is "Five AndDime," because it was her first Top-10record. It was one of those things where Igot chill bumps and thought, "This isgoing to be a hit record," and thatdoesn't happen to me very often. She's areal special lady. I have a lot of respectfor Kathy. Being with her in the veryearly days and seeing her come frombeing an obscure sort of cult singer towhat she's become, I'm really proud ofher and real proud to have been part ofthat and see her grow.

On her new album, Time Passes By,the title cut was fun. I had played on the

demo of that. Her husband had writtenthe song, and we spent a lot more timeon the demo than the cutting of theactual track. It's one of those thingswhere it shifts time from 6/8 to 4/4 andback and forth in certain sections. That'sone of the few times you'll hear that on acountry record. I like doing something alittle different.RF: Any other stand-out Kathy Matteacuts?MS: Of course "Eighteen Wheels And ADozen Roses." I remember cutting thetrack with Blasticks, and then I wentback and overdubbed hi-hat and cym-bals, which was kind of different. Withher, I'll do things like use a brush in theleft hand and a stick in the right hand, ormaybe a shaker in my right hand and abrush in my left hand. I'll try a lot ofthings to see what feels best. With her,we'll usually take as much time as weneed. I remember trying that song a lotof different ways—stick on the hi-hat,brush in the left hand, what about brushin the right hand? I convinced Allen thatI could put the hi-hat part on, and itwouldn't feel weird. I think it kind of

helped move the track along.RF: Most of Kathy's ballads are mid-tempo.MS: That was a conscious effort. I likeplaying ballads a lot, and I'll tend topower them out where they're reallyslamming hard by the chorus. A lot oftimes I'll have to compromise. BassistBob Wray and I figure out some compro-mise method of playing it but not over-powering it. We try to keep that balladthing going, but not make it so big thatit's overpowering.RF: What are the requirements of aNashville studio drummer? Do you haveto read? Do you have to have studied? Iknow each producer needs differentthings....MS: That's what makes it tricky. I thinkthey need a musician. Most of the datesthat we do, the parts aren't written out,so it's up to you if you want to jot downthe rhythms and what you want to play. Idon't think reading is a requirement, butI think it is something that could onlyenhance your ability. I do read, but I usu-ally don't have to do a lot of it. I think it'sgood if you know theory and how a song

is structured.RF: How is that helpful?MS: Sometimes I might hear that thestructure of the song would be better ifthe bridge were moved up earlier in thesong. It might strengthen the song, and Imight hear that before somebody elsedoes. There have been times when I andother musicians have made those kindsof suggestions and they've worked.RF: We might be treading dangerouswaters here, but sometimes that kind ofinput can be considered "songwriting." Iwonder how often you might feel uncom-pensated.MS: Well...I know what you mean, butthat's something it doesn't do any goodto dwell on, because I honestly don'tthink it will ever change.RF: Has anybody ever offered you a pointon an album or any piece of the pie atall?MS: No, never. I don't know what to sayabout those kinds of things. I wish some-body would take the lead and think aboutpossibly doing that, but gee, I don'tknow. I don't think it will ever happen.It's not something I dwell on.

RF: We were talking about the require-ments in the studio. Being able to dealwith pressure is certainly one of them.MS: It certainly is pressure-packed,although a lot of times you put yourselfthrough more than you need to. I think ithelps—if you are a Christian—to prayand to look for guidance outside yourself.I can look outside myself and not turn itso much inwards. I realize I'm just asmall part of what's going on and that Iam truly blessed to be at the stage of mycareer that I'm at. I read somethingrecently that said one rule to have is"Don't sweat the small stuff." The sec-ond rule was "It's all small stuff."RF: But as far as requirements, you werefully prepared, having done a lot ofstudying. Why was that important to youat the time ?MS: Right out of high school I went intothe Army band. At the time, I felt like Icould gain some experience outside ofhere. Up until that time, I was one ofthose Ringo freaks—as soon as I saw theBeatles on Ed Sullivan, I had to havesome drums. I played drums in highschool band, and I was in R&B bands,

and then I headed into the Army band,which I did for three years. That was aneducation in itself. I was around somereally good jazz players, and that wassomething I didn't know anything about.The way I understand, a lot of peoplecome to rock 'n' roll and R&B from jazz.Well, I did it the other way. I realizedthere's a lot out there that I wasn't awareof, so I immediately went to college.

I guess I became disillusioned after awhile, because I was learning a lot—the-ory and all these things that were veryhelpful—but I became frustratedbecause I wasn't getting to play. Then Igot back into nightclubs and I did theroute of playing with some rock bands,trying to get record deals. We had allthese big ideas of how we didn't want tobe bothered with the business—wewanted to be musicians. After severalattempts and several failures, I realizedmaybe I should learn a little bit about thebusiness. So I re-entered college tostudy music business. That requiredmoving back to Muscle Shoals, so while Iwas there, I got more involved with themusic business in the Shoals area.

My major influence is probably RogerHawkins. Roger was really kind to let mehang around the studio a little bit, tocome in and meet some of those folks.And that was an education, just watchingthat guy do a session. He is, to me, theepitome of the session drummer—forone thing, because of his attitude. He'salways there to make it right. And God,he plays with so much feeling. You canhear everything the guy has lived in everybackbeat. Some people who might notknow him might not realize that. I feel sofortunate to have been in that position.Here was this little kid who listened toAretha Franklin records going, "My God,what are they doing?" and "How are theydoing that?" And then a few years later,I'm watching this guy who played on myfavorite records.RF: So you got into the session scenedown there?MS: Yes. I worked a lot at Fame, and Idid a ton of demos at Wishbone. It wasgreat working for Clayton Ivey, who tookme under his wing. Eventually Rogerhired me to work on some things he pro-duced, and that was a great compliment

to me. It was a great learning experience.When I was on staff at Wishbone, thewriters were incredible—Mac McAnally,Robert Byrne, and Donny Lowery—andwe played on tons of demos that were bighits for Ronnie Milsap and other peoplewho were cutting in Nashville. Througha lot of those kinds of things, I madesome connections in Nashville, and Iwound up getting the chance to play onsome Alabama dates for the Roll Onalbum. That was a big kick because thatwas one of my first major sessions. Priorto this, Donny Lowery, who had writtenAlabama's "Old Flame" with MacMcAnally, had signed with a publisher inNashville. He started pulling me up toNashville to do demos for him. Fromthere we got some new accounts. Whensomebody's new it's like, "Hey, why don'twe give the guy a shot?"RF: Is it really like that? I see it as beinga pretty closed circle of the elite.MS: If a writer is pretty hot at that timeand getting a lot of cuts, somebody willsay, "Who did you use on your lastdemo?" A lot of times it comes from thewriter. Here, the demo market is like

bread and butter. Not everybody is playing on records. I feelreally fortunate to have been invited to the party.RF: The Alabama sessions were your first big jobs. Was work-ing with them intimidating?MS: Yes. I had worked with their producer [Harold Shedd] andtheir engineering team before, so I was comfortable with all ofthat. But as far as realizing that these guys were gigantic stars,that was a little intimidating at first—until I got to know them.The fortunate thing for me was that, on that album, Teddyplayed bass, so I had that connection. He and I zeroed in onwhat we were doing. We talked about different patterns andthat sort of thing quite a bit. I still work for Teddy by the way. Ido a lot of songwriter demos with him. But I think it wouldhave been different had I been thrown in with a lot of sessionplayers I didn't know. My favorite song on that album was "FireIn The Night." It's just a groove song.RF: Were you thinking in terms of Nashville being the nextplace you needed to be? :MS: No, not me. I'm just an Alabama guy, and I love the place.I always loved living in the Shoals. But around this time, thebusiness in Muscle Shoals seemed to be drying up. I was doinga lot of demos, but no real record dates were happening. Itbecame harder to draw artists down there, probably becausethe purse strings for budgets had gotten tight. I probablywould have stayed in Alabama and driven back and forth, butmy wife, who is my inspiration and the person who keeps megoing, said, "We should just move on up there." It's the bestmove I ever made. I love it here.

RF: The musical requirements of the two areas are really dif-ferent. R&B is very different from country music. Did you findyou had to change your approach?MS: I guess it's more of a mental attitude. That R&B thing isjust in the way I play, and there isn't anything I can do tochange it. I hope that's what makes my playing a little differentfrom everyone else. I did change my approach in that I don'tplay as much. I can remember doing an early demo up hereright after I moved, and there was a section where there was awhole note over a chord, and then the downbeat after a wholenote, and everybody got there a long time before I did!RF: You've worked for a lot of drummers, like James Stroud,Roger Hawkins, Clyde Brooks, and Levon Helm.MS: I've had a lot of people say, "It must be pressure workingfor those guys," but I don't really look at it that way. Maybe Ishould, [laughs] But I look at it like these guys have been thereand they know what to look out for. My first experience doingthat was with Roger, and he could see trouble spots before Icould. He would come over to me, and in a real gentle way he'dsay, "Look out for this, because it may be tricky here," insteadof letting me fall on my face. I think most drummers are thatway. They want to help things along. There's never anything tobe gained by being negative in the studio.RF: Let's talk some about producers in general. There may besome producers who aren't quite as helpful or who don't knowhow to communicate their ideas. What do you hope for from aproducer in order to do what you do best?MS: I think the best producers let you go for your first instinct

on a track—what you think is going towork best. They hire you for your ideasand for you to express yourself on yourinstrument. If it's way out in left fieldand they realize it's taking the recorddown a different avenue than they hadenvisioned it, then it's their responsibili-ty to step in and say, "Hey guys, let'sthink of it in a different light." I like tohave the opportunity to express myselfon how I feel about a particular song on aparticular day.RF: You deal with all different kinds ofpersonalities. What is the reality of thedifferent producers you work with?MS: Sometimes you'll get the peoplewho are not musically capable of tellingyou what they want to hear. Then I feelas though it's my job to keep coming upwith ideas and putting them out there."Try another pattern, try anothertempo...." Keep trying to do somethingthat will spark someone else to think ofsomething to do. There are some pro-ducers who purposely make it hard. Idon't know why. But it's the real world,so you have to deal with all kinds. It'salways best to be a peacemaker ratherthan a troublemaker.RF: What would be a negative session?MS: Sometimes that sort of thing cancome from the artist. If the artist is total-ly dissatisfied with what's going down onthe session, it's really hard to gain theirrespect and pull them back in for anoth-er track. If a song isn't working, I like tohear a producer say, "Let's drop thissong and come back to it." Maybe a dif-ferent day with a different attitude willmake it easier to tackle.RF: What equipment do you generallybring to a session?MS: Lately, mainly acoustic drums. I'vegot an Akai sampler, and sometimes I'lluse it to trigger some toms or kick drum,but usually not a snare. I have triggered a

rimclick thing, but lately I've been get-ting away from that because I've beengetting sick and tired of hearing thatwoodblock sound. And a lot of the engi-neers are agreeing with me. I'll play itand they'll say, "How's the real onesound?" So I'll hit it and they'll say,"Turn the sampler off."RF: What does your acoustic set consistof?MS: For the past couple of years I'vebeen using a Gretsch set with a 20" kickand 10x10, 12x12, and 14x14 toms, allwith the RIMS mounts. Sometimes I'llchange kick drums, depending on thesession. I've got a couple of other bassdrums that are 22", but most of the timeI like to use the 20". I've had guys say,"It's a little drum, so it's going to soundlittle"—until they hear it. It's got a lot ofpunch to it.RF: How many snares do you bring?MS: At least three—sometimes five,from a piccolo up to a 10x14 Ludwigmarching snare.RF: What about cymbals?MS: I'm using Sabians now, and mysetup depends on whatever my ears hearthat day. I have one of those 20" HHClassic rides and then about five differ-ent crashes. I've got a 17" medium-thin,a 16" thin, a 16" medium-thin, a 14" thin,a 16" Chinese, and 14" hi-hats.RF: What projects would you use theAkai on?MS: The other night I triggered timpanifrom it on a contemporary Christianthing. I've also done some children'srecords where I triggered some percus-sion sounds. I use it more for extraneousstuff.RF: What advice would you give to adrummer just moving to town?MS: Study as much as you can. If youcan learn to play guitar or piano, do thatbefore you come here, because that willhelp you out. Don't expect to go right towork in the studios. There are a lot ofother places to play in Nashville, likenightclubs. They don't pay really well, soit would be a good idea to get another jobdoing something. Meet as many peopleas you can. If you know somebody who isdoing studio work and that's what youwant to do, talk to them as much as youcan and find out how they got into it.And play.

C O N C E P T S

Drum Contestsby Roy Burns

I entered my first drum contest when I was12 years old, in my hometown of Emporia,Kansas. The event was part of a statewidecontest for concert bands, instrumentalsoloists, vocalists, and choirs sponsoredeach year by the Kansas school system.

I played several rudiments in the tradi-tional "open and close" style as requestedby the judge. My solo was the rudimentalclassic "The Downfall Of Paris." I per-formed on a parade drum that came downwell past my knees (I was small for myage), but I did well and advanced to thestate finals. Again I did well, receiving thehighest rating and collecting a "gold"medal. The medal definitely wasn't madeof gold, but for me and my parents, it wasactually better than gold. We were allpleased and proud. It was a great experi-ence and did much to heighten my enthu-siasm for playing the drums.

Recently, one of my students asked meto help him prepare for a contest spon-sored by a chain of music stores. He wasvery apprehensive about playing a solo on astrange drumkit and competing in front ofa panel of judges and an audience.

The first thing that became apparentwas that out of a panel of six judges—someof them fairly well known drummers—atleast half were not especially well qualifiedto judge a contest. The second apparentthing was that—unlike my early experienceat the school contest—there were no firmrules as to how the contestants were to beevaluated. For example, applause from theaudience was considered a major factor inthe judging. Naturally, several contestantsshowed up accompanied by a large groupof enthusiastic friends. They cheered wild-ly when their friend simply stepped onstage to adjust one of the drumsets provid-ed for the contestants.

My student played well enough toadvance to the next level of the play-offs.At that level, the panel of judges was some-what better. My student again did well

enough to advance through two morerounds to the "finals," where he came insecond. The young man who came in firstplayed very well.

All in all, it had been a good experiencefor my student. Part of this was due to ourdiscussions prior to the contest. My advicewas, first of all, realize that a contest of thistype is really a promotion for the musicstore. Secondly, a drum contest will notmake or break your career. (We're not talk-ing about Star Search here.) Winning orlosing will not affect your future chancesas a professional drummer. Realizing thishelps you to deal with the pressure of per-forming and competing.

The positive side of contests like this isthat they are a great opportunity to per-form in front of anaudience—as well asin front of otherdrummers. Just pre-paring to performunder some pressureis very beneficial.When you approachthe contest withthese attitudes, it willbe a positive experi-ence for you—re-gardless of whetheryou win or lose.

Recently, anothervery large store had asimilar contest. How-ever, in this case, thestandards for thejudging were clearand well thought-out.Each drummer wasasked to play severalgrooves with a rhy-thm section (which I thought was a greatidea), then he or she was asked to play asolo.

At this particular event, drummers wereallowed to use their own kits. One youngman had a massive drumkit, requiring thehelp of friends to set it up. He also cameequipped with an arrogant attitude thatsuggested that he knew how great he was.He stood around smiling as others played,apparently confident that he would wineasily.

A funny thing happened, though. This

"A drumcontest will notmake or breakyour career.

We're not talkingabout Star

Search here."

young man didn't play well at all with therhythm section. He acted as though hecouldn't wait to get to his solo, which heknew was a killer.

However, once again, his time was badduring the drum solo. He played loud andfast but sounded forced and stiff. Also,many of the figures he played were simplynot in tempo. When the results wereannounced, he did not even place in thetop three. He was absolutely furious, andleft in a huff—tears streaming down hisface. He had approached the contest in anarrogant and immature manner, and natu-rally he was disappointed.

As a matter of fact, the drummer whocame in first had less technique. However,he played within what he could execute,

used dynamics, employed dif-ferent sounds around the kit,and played his entire solo intime. Remember, it is nothow much technique youhave, it is how you use it.Playing fast and loud can beexciting and very satisfy-ing—if the solo is played intime and with a good feel.Also, the best solos have asense of form and a sense ofmusicality.

A good five-minute drumsolo should contain a groove,employ dynamics, and, in asense, tell a story. It should bea development of a theme, orseveral related themes. Mostgood feature solos have a pre-determined form, withinwhich the drummer canimprovise. They are "arrange-ments," if you will, just like

arrangements of songs for a band.If you decide to enter a drum contest,

try to find out in advance what the require-ments are. Prepare yourself to meet thoserequirements. Approach the contest as alearning experience—as opposed to a com-petition. Don't worry about winning or los-ing, just play as well as you can. Real musicis about the joy of playing, not about win-ning and losing. If everyone in the contesthas this attitude, it will be a sharing expe-rience. When that happens—as it doesoccasionally—everybody wins!

S H O P T A L K

Hand-Made Drumsticks:A Lost Art

by Herb Brochstein

First, let me offer a Texas-sized "thank you" to MD for invitingme to share some historical information about "hand-made"drumsticks that I thought drummers might find interesting.Webster's dictionary defines "hand-made" as "Made by handor a hand process—especially as distinguished from a machineor mechanical process." Here's how I came to gain an appreci-ation for that definition.

In 1957 I was a full-time professional player, teacher, anddrumshop owner. A traveling salesman sold me six pairs ofJapanese oak sticks. They looked good, felt great, soundedwonderful, and lasted much longer than the domestic sticksavailable from the major drum companies at that time. After afew months, however, I couldn't locate the salesman again toobtain more sticks. I then began a search that lasted almost afull year, and I ultimately located the Japanese source of supply.My purpose was to provide my students and retail customerswith better-quality drumsticks; I didn't dream of starting adrumstick business. But soon after, wholesalers anddrumshops were calling, asking me to supply them with sticks.This was the start of Pro-Mark.

At the time, I didn't know much about how the sticks weremanufactured in Japan. It was a year or so later, on my first tripto the Orient, that I discovered that the sticks we were sellingwere genuinely hand-made. They had to be, because in Japanin the late 1950s there were no sophisticated lathes—no mod-ern machinery or technology at all for producing drumsticks.They had only old-world craftsmanship with primitive handtools—and they made the sticks one at a time. Obviously, theyhad a very limited production capacity. But I was amazed that ahand-making process could be more consistent than themachine methods used by all the famous drum companies.

Since then, of course, technology has improved tremendous-ly, and the demand for drumsticks has skyrocketed. Conse-quently, today all major drumstick manufacturers use modern,sophisticated lathes to turn their sticks—including 90% ofPro-Mark's sticks. (The other 10%—special custom designsand certain limited-run models—are still hand-made.)

I've never lost my admiration and respect for the craftsmenwho create high-quality drumsticks by hand. And with the fol-lowing photos and explanations as a starting point, who knows ?There may be another new generation of stick-makers outthere, ready to try their hands!

1. These crude tools converted square woodenrods into drumsticks. Tool A shaped the woodsquare into round dowel form. Tool B shapedthe neck, or taper portion, of the stick. Tool C

"pinched" the tip size and shape.

2. An operator turned the square rodinto a round dowel.

3. The neck of the stick was created.

4. The tip or "bead" was shaped. 7. The butt end of each stick was rounded off.

5. First the front, and then the back half of 8. The sticks were imprinted, one at a time,each stick was sanded. hand-held, with foil on a hot-stamp machine.

10. Nylon tips were installed one at atime, using a manual drill press.

11. The progression of a hand-madedrumstick: square...to round...

to sanded...to round butt...to tapered neck.. .to thefinal drumstick shape.

Editor's note: Herb Brochstein is thepresident of Pro-Mark Corporation.

6. Excess wood that had been held in thesanding chuck was cut off.

9. Every single stick was hand-lacqueredwith a brush.

doing these things, and I'd say tomyself, 'Oh, heck, I don't have to gothrough all this here.' I could just say,'Okay, man you got it,' and forget it."Jabo figured out his own way of dealing

with JB. "Sometimes he wanted to try tokeep you on edge. After he found out Ididn't get on edge, he backed off. I knewwhere he was coming from. I'd laugh'cause he couldn't stand that. Duringshows, you'd be playing the same thingyou played the night before and that you

killed them with, but tonight he says no.It was one of those moods that he'd bein. I went over to James a couple of timesand said, 'Hey, man, wait a minute. If I'mnot playing your show, you tell me. I'llgive you my notice and leave.' 'No, no,'he'd say. 'That's not it, Mr. Starks.Everything is fine.'"

JB wasn't always so hard-headed,though. He still respected the ideas ofhis players. Melvin Parker: "When Icame into the band, I had to learn all theold hits. James would get together the

bass, guitar, and horns, and then he'dsay, 'Melvin, what do you think you wantto do here?' I'd work on it mentally atfirst, then I'd usually come up withsomething different from what had beenpreviously recorded. I was successfuldrumming with James because I used tostudy the psychology of the individual. Iknew when to hit a spot, how to antici-pate a break by what had gone down dur-ing the day."

n unusual aspect of Brown's bandswas that there were often five or sixdrummers at a given time. Part ofthe reason for this was the visual

aspect—lots of drumsets on stage wasquite a sight—but mostly it was becauseJames wanted to be able to choose whowould be more suited to play particulartunes at a given time. According toMelvin, "Our differences were whatattracted James to all of us. Clyde Stub-blefield was funky. Jabo had the jazz feel-ing and flavor. I was different. Prior tome, Nat Kendrick and Clayton Fillyuawere all fatback. I added a little taste ofNew Orleans funk. I played hi-hat morethan anyone at the time. Everyone usedthe ride cymbal and accented on thebackbeat."

According to Clyde, "James might pickJabo to play a tune because I might beputting too much of a drive into it, whereJabo was more relaxed with his playing.'Sex Machine' was one I wanted to do,but I was driving it too much, so Jamessaid, 'Okay, let Jabo do it.' Jabo hadplayed with Bobby 'Blue' Bland, and hehad that type of feel, and that's the feel-ing James wanted for that song."

Though Jabo would go on to be one ofthe longest lasting of Brown's sidemen,early on he had to go through the sameapprenticeship the other players did."When I joined the band," Jabo recalls,"James wanted me to sit there and watchthe show so I could see what was goingon. As I sat down, I thought, 'Are youserious?' There were four drummers sit-ting there—four sets of drums. Thenabout three or four days later I got mydrums up, and I'm thinking, 'Nowthere's five drummers here.' Peoplewould see that and think, 'How wouldfive drummers play at the same time?'But each drummer would play a certaintune that James wanted them to play. I

FUNKY DRUMMERS

A

don't think he could get what he wanted from just one or twodrummers. Then he had one or two drummers play the up-front part of the show, and others play the rest. Sometimes inthe middle of a song he'd point to, say, Clyde, and I would stopplaying and Clyde would take it for a few bars. Then he'd turnaround and give it right back to me."

Aside from musical concerns, James Brown took personalconsiderations into account when drafting new band members."James was a good judge of character," says Melvin. "He valuedmorals, and cleanliness, and whether someone had good par-ents. He wanted to see that we had been taught the fear ofGod, to be a good person."

Brown was also very business-like, and expected his bandmembers to be the same. "James was all business, and I lovedthat," says Jabo. "That's one reason he wanted me in thegroup, because I was business-like, too. I handled the banduniforms, the equipment. At one time I was in charge of trans-portation in the band. I bought two buses and leased his firsttractor trailer, and I drove that for a while. He had a lot of trustin me.

"James had a certain way of doing things," Jabo continues."He'd say, 'I'll tell you what to play,' and you didn't deviate fromthat unless he told you to, because he knew what he wanted.He paid for that. I understood that and never had a problem. Alot of people say, 'Well, he's hard.' He wasn't hard. He paid forwhat he wanted. 'You work for me,' he'd say, 'just like you'regoing to the office.' You didn't get off the bus unless you hadyour suit and tie on. Because you were representing his organi-zation."

Jabo's respect for James' business-like attitude was reflectedin his decision to stay on when most of the band jumped shipin 1970. "I had a contract with James, and I had to honor thatcontract. I'm glad I stayed now, but if I had not had a contract, Iwould have left, too, mainly because it was getting mono-tonous for me. But James was doing a lot of fining when he wasoff stage. The littlest thing he saw you do, he'd fine you for it.And when you forgot a part or didn't make a move you shouldhave, he fined you for that. But it didn't bother me. I knewwhere he was coming from."

After the 1970 walkout by most of the James Brown Orches-tra, JB replaced them with a young group of Cincinnati musi-cians previously known as the Pacesetters, featuring bassistWilliam "Bootsy" Collins and his brother, guitarist Phelps"Catfish" Collins. This new band was dubbed the JB's, andJames found that they weren't quite as willing to go along withhis super-strict manner. "After Bootsy and that group joined,"Jabo relates, "they changed a lot of things. James changed hisways some because they'd say, 'I ain't going for that,' andthey'd walk off in the middle of a show on him."

The JB's also represented a departure in sound from theirpredecessors. There was a distinct change in the vibe of therhythm section, with the guitars coming to the foreground andthe horns stepping back. The immediate result was the break-through tune "Sex Machine," featuring the veterans BobbyByrd and Jabo Starks with their new band mates. The songcame along at the right time. Brown's music had recently beencriticized for becoming too formulaic. All of a sudden, here was

JB with another stylistic leap forward, and the new blood waslargely responsible.

Today Jabo insists, "I could not create that thing by myself. Ittook that rhythm section to do it. You see, James didn't specifi-cally lay it down that way. He basically said how he wanted it,but the bass pattern was almost like Bootsy's thing. When thatband came on, those patterns changed a lot. You told Bootsyhow you wanted it done, but then he did it the way he heard it.And I knew what I had to do with it to make it groove."

or those unfamiliar with the chronology of James Brown'sbands (and even for those with a working knowledge of it)the timeline of the individual players can be a little confus-ing. Of the three drummers we're looking at here, Melvin

Parker was the first to join. "I joined James' band in April1964," Melvin recalls. "I was in college in North Carolina as ahistory and economics major, and I was working weekends as adrummer. I was a freshman when I met James. He wanted mefor his band, so I called my dad to ask. He said, 'Stay in school,'so I did."

A year later, Melvin decided he was ready to try his hand atthe band, but he still didn't plan on making a career out of it atthat point. "My intention was to stay with James for a year, thengo back to school and start [brother] Maceo's and my band. Iwas so sure that that's what was going to happen, that whenJames came through Greensboro again, we had everythingpacked to go. I saw him before his show at the Coliseum, andhe was talking to a local musician about me."

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Melvin laughs today about his cocki-ness at the time, though that self-assuredness would prove to benefit JB inmore ways than one: "I introducedMaceo to James. I told James I wouldn'tjoin unless we both did. We were bothteenagers—imagine me saying that! ButMaceo got in because he owned a bari-tone sax, and James needed one at thetime. One day, I told him to take out histenor, and to just play it while everyonewas warming up. I said, 'Just do it! I wantto get a look at everyone's faces whenyou play.' When Maceo took out hishorn...everything stopped. People juststood there. He got a chance to play onstage after a large speaker fell from theceiling of the Fox Theater in Detroit on'Brisco' Clark. At the same time, St.Clair Pinckney, the other tenor, had adeath in the family and had to leave, soMaceo got the call." Today, Maceo'swailing sax is almost as much a trade-mark of the JB sound as Brown's gravellyvoice.

In late 1965 Melvin was drafted intothe army. He was discharged in February'69 and re-joined the group. "I hadn't

meant to," Melvin recalls, "but Jamescourted me. He used to send his char-tered Lear jet to meet me in Louisville[where Melvin was stationed], with ablack driver to pick me up. This is aplace where there were no other blackpeople around. People were looking atme, freaking out. Then a man would stepoff the plane and say, 'Mr. Parker, are youready?'"

When Melvin and Maceo left theJames Brown Orchestra in 1970, they puttogether a tough funk outfit, Maceo & Allthe King's Men, which lasted for about ayear and a half. (He and Maceo wouldalso tour with P-Funk.) After going backto college to earn a teaching degree,Melvin re-joined Brown in 1975 andbecame band leader. He left for a finaltime in 1978, although he played inter-mittently with JB afterwards.

Today, Melvin is a school teacher, butalso works as a jazz musician in theWashington, D.C. area. He occasionallygigs with Maceo's Roots Revisited band,and with ex-JB trumpeter and band lead-er Lewis Hamlin, who has a 22-piece bigband. "I use my experiences in the class-

room," says Melvin. "When the kids starttalking about rap, I share my experiencesin the James Brown band with them.Their mouths drop open, their eyes openup wide, and they ask lots of questions."

Clyde Stubblefield joined the JamesBrown Orchestra as its second-stringdrummer in 1965. Clyde recalls firstmeeting JB in a club where Clyde wasjamming. Amazingly, he didn't know any-thing about James Brown at the time."Brown was in the audience, and he sentsomeone up to tell me to come over andtalk to him when I was finished playing. Ifinished playing, but I didn't go over. Ididn't really know who he was. Then Iplayed another song, then another, andhe came over and said, 'Look! I'd like totalk to you.'" Clyde laughs at the memo-ry. "So I went over and talked to him."

James invited Stubblefield to auditionfor his band the next day before a gig inColumbus, Georgia, an audition thatwould stick in Clyde's memory to thisday. "I saw six sets of drums on the stageof this big coliseum, and he took me onstage with some of the band members.The place was jam-packed before showtime, and he had me audition rightthere! I said, 'Oh, my God, all these peo-ple.' But it worked out."

The first hit Clyde recorded withJames Brown was "Cold Sweat."Released in the summer of '67, "ColdSweat" shot to Number 1 on the R&Bcharts and Number 7 on the pop charts.The song seemed to be everywhere. Sig-nificantly, the single's B-side, "ColdSweat (Part 2)," featured Clyde taking adrum solo. Before he knew it, the drum-mer—as in "Give the drummer some"—was making a name for himself. Ironical-ly, Clyde couldn't make the sessions toJB's much anticipated follow-up, "Get ItTogether," leaving the task to Jabo. Nev-ertheless, Clyde had made his mark. Hewould go on to be the featured drummeron such hits as "I Got The Feelin',""Mother Popcorn," "Say It Loud—I'mBlack And I'm Proud," and "I Don'tWant Nobody To Give Me Nothing."

In 1969 Clyde left the group to dosome sessions with Motown Records andto try to put together a band, but thatdidn't materialize. He re-joined Brownin June of 1970, only to leave again in1971. Clyde then moved to Madison,

Wisconsin, and played with Ben Sidranfor about three years. He soon started aproduction company, Einstein Produc-tions, and formed several bands, includ-ing a country and western outfit calledMarcy & the Highlights. Today thedrummer leads the nine-piece ClydeStubblefield Band, has just finished asolo album, and recently played on a PhilUpchurch album that was recorded atPaisley Park Studios and featured BenSidran, Jack McDuff, and Prince drum-mer Michael Bland. An album featuringClyde and several King Records alumnihas been recently released, as well.John "Jabo" Starks had the most pro-

fessional experience of the three main JBdrummers. He was the drummer forBobby "Blue" Bland between 1959 and1965, the blues giant's most successfulperiod. Starks can be heard on such Top-10 R&B Bland hits as "I Pity The Fool,""Turn On Your Love Light," "StormyMonday Blues," and "That's The WayLove Is." To James, acquiring Jabo wasan artistic coup. "James had heard meplay after Bobby's band had gotten pop-

ular," Jabo recalls. "He would send dif-ferent people from his organization towherever we were working to see if Iwould join his group. And I just told himno. Every time we would play the eastcoast, there would be someone there say-ing, 'Mr. Brown wants you to join thegroup.' 'Well, I'm happy where I am,' I'dsay." This kept up for about two years,until Brown made Jabo an offer that,money-wise, he couldn't refuse.

Jabo's JB legacy extends from "MoneyWon't Change You" through "The Pay-back"—making him the only drummerto stick it out through JB's extraordinarymusical changes. In 1974 he left Brownto play with B.B. King. Today Starksplays weekends with a jazz/blues groupin his home town of Mobile, Alabamaand works days for a company that buildssteel tanks. "I wanted to get a good daygig so I could stay at home with myfamily and play nights," he says.

For Melvin Parker, Clyde Stubblefield,and Jabo Starks, playing with JamesBrown was a Catch-22 situation.While JB allowed them the opportuni-

ty to immortalize their playing, the God-father of Soul's giant shadow stilleclipsed the important contributions ofall his musicians.

That's why it's sweet justice that,today, the "live-est," most groovingmusic ever recorded lives on amongstthe hip-hop mixes in clubs across thecountry. The original recordings willnever die, either. And the funky drum-mers themselves are alive and well—andstill doing it to death.

We've got James Brown to thank forgiving the drummers some, and thedrummers to thank for giving it back tous.

Porcaro admits that his feelings werehurt. "It wasn't because they hired Pur-die," he explains. "I just figured thatthey wanted a better guy, and even whenI did the Katy Lied album with them, onthe tune 'Black Friday' I was the one whowalked out of the studio telling them Iwas no good at playing shuffles and theyshould get a 'real guy,' which was how Ialways put it. They used to laugh at mefor saying that, but I was only 20 yearsold and insecure about my drumming.

"I was just hurt ego-wise because ofmy infatuation with that particular band.I thought the two writers were gods. ButI didn't make a stink about it. I mighthave been bent out of shape if it hadbeen someone other than Purdie and Ithought it wasn't grooving. But as itturned out, I probably learned more fromwhat Bernard Purdie played on thatalbum with that rhythm section than I'velearned from any other drummer on anyalbum. So I now consider myself fortu-nate that they didn't want me to play onthat record.

"That's the attitude I usually have if Iget replaced," Porcaro says. "In mostcases it's one of my mentors or peersthat I think is superior to me, and it'sgreat because now I have another albumthey've done that I can learn from."

As hurt as Porcaro felt when he foundout that another drummer had beenhired, he didn't necessarily feel that itwas the end of his career. But whenKenny Aronoff was replaced the firsttime he went in the studio with JohnCougar Mellencamp, he thought he hadblown that big break that everyone saysonly comes along once.

"The rest of John's band had beentogether for a couple of years," Kennyrecalls, "but I had only been in the groupfor five weeks when we went in the stu-dio to make an album. After the first day,the producer said they would have tobring in a more experienced player ifthey were going to get the record doneon time and within budget. So Johncalled me in and said that he would payme for the rest of the week in LA., butthat I could go on home. I was so flippedout when I heard that I wasn't going toplay on the record that I refused to leave.If I couldn't play, I wanted to at least stayaround and figure out why I wasn't ableto play. I had never failed like that before.I had always been given at least one morechance, but they weren't going to giveme another chance.

"I don't know where the words camefrom," Kenny says, "but there must havebeen an angel sitting on my shoulderspeaking for me. I told John, 'I don'twant to go.' He looked at me like, 'Huh?'I said, 'Look, am I still the drummer inyour band?' He kind of stammered,'Well, uh, yeah.' He was completely takenaback. So I said, 'You don't have to payme. I'll sleep on the floor and take careof myself. But I want to stick around andwatch these other drummers play. If Ibenefit from watching them, then you'llbenefit, too, because I'm still you'redrummer.' John didn't know what to say,but it seemed to make sense, so heaccepted it.

"If I had gone home," Kenny says withcertainty, "I'm sure he would have hiredanother drummer for his band."

But it was still a difficult period forAronoff. "I was feeling very hurt and

insecure, and I wasn't getting any sup-port from anybody. I had only been in theband five weeks, so I wasn't part of thefamily. Everyone was looking at me like,'You failed.' No one was trying to makeme feel good; they were just making mefeel worse. When the band would jokearound about things, it was hard for meto joke around with them, because noth-ing was funny to me about anything.

"So every day I had to deal with thefact that I was on my own and no one washolding my hand. Thank God the twodrummers they brought in were verynice. It was Rick Schlosser and EdGreene. They seemed to understandwhat I was going through, and they werevery helpful and answered all my ques-tions.

"The whole thing was so heavybecause I thought I had blown my wholecareer and would never have anotherchance. But I guess it took beingstripped down to the bare bones to buildmyself up again. It was like I had spentmy whole life building up to that point,and now, at age 27, I was having to startfrom the bottom again. But it was a testin life, like, 'Let's see if you can workyour way back up again, and if you can,you will be stronger and better thanyou've ever been.'"

ow that these guys are on the otherside of the fence and are often theones doing the replacing, how dothey feel about the drummers whoare being pushed aside? Under-standably, they are sympathetic.

"I always feel a little weird when I getcalled to replace someone," Aronoff says,"because I'll never forget that experienceI had. Usually, I'll go up to the drummerand tell him I totally understand what'sgoing on, and that this has happened tome, too. Usually the drummers are pret-ty cool, because if I've been brought init's probably because they've alreadytried it with that drummer. A lot of itdepends on the band. If they are makingthe person feel that he's still part of thefamily and the producer is cool, that canmake a big difference."

Jim Keltner says that he's developedgood rapports with a number of drum-mers that he has replaced. "I recentlydid an album with an artist whose drum-mer was there," Jim recalls, "and this

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guy was great. First of all, he was a reallygood drummer with a lot of energy, buthe didn't have a lot of the control youneed in the studio, so there were thingsthat would run away from him. That'sjust a matter of experience, and hopeful-ly he will gain the control without losingthe energy and exuberance. But that wasthe reason I was playing, and I explainedthat to him. We got along fine, and Imade sure that he played tambourine ormaracas on all the songs.

"I also had a good experience when Idid the last Los Lobos album, TheNeighborhood," Keltner adds. "Theirdrummer, Louis, is the chief songwriterin the band, and he was one of the guyswho made the decision for me to play onthe album. He played on three or four ofthe songs, but on some of the others, hedidn't feel that he could put the thing inthem that he wanted to hear. And hewrote the songs, so who could argue withhim? Fortunately, those songs were reallyfun for me to play."

Hal Blaine recalls several drummerswho were perfectly happy to have himmake the records. "Denny Wilson of theBeach Boys was a good example," Halsays. "He was happier spending hisafternoons on the beach while I was paid$35 to play on the records. Then, atnight, he could go on stage and be a bigstar and make $3,500."

Obviously, some drummers are notquite that willing to step aside. "I got acall to come to England for a week to doan album," Jeff Porcaro remembers,"and I was given the impression that theband didn't have a regular drummer.When I got there, not only did they havea drummer, but he was in the kitchenstill arguing with the band, 'Why can't Iplay on my own album?'

"So that's an uncomfortable situation,where you are the 'hotshot gunslinger'who's brought in. I feel for that, becausemost of the time I think the drummerthat I'm being used instead of is quitegood for the group. Most of these drum-mers have pretty decent time and a pret-ty decent groove, otherwise theywouldn't be in the band.

"In this particular case," Porcaro con-tinues, "after hearing demos and/ortracks they cut with that drummer, Icould see why they couldn't use him. So

I sat with him at dinner and hung out,and talked about 'yes, isn't it a drag,but...," and I explained to him what Ithought the producer was looking for,not making it an uptight situation. Andafter I talked to him about what he wasdoing on one particular track that Ithought maybe they weren't satisfiedwith, I managed to convince the produc-er and leader of the band to let him playon that song.

"The best thing I can do," Porcarosays, "is to explain to guys that theyshouldn't take these situations as per-sonal insults. I explain things I've beenthrough with producers or artists, andtheir explanations of why they don't wantto use a certain drummer and why theywant a 'name' player. In this case, therecord company had hired this producerfor a reason. It was a new group, and thisguy had been hired to produce thesesongs the best he could so that theywould represent the artist the way therecord company wanted that artist to berepresented. Yes, they want good quality,but they also think about budget, and theproducer might not have the budget tospend the extra hours—or days—to workwith a band and get a great-feeling track.That's when the politics of making arecord come into play and certain musi-cians in a particular band may be putaside for professional people to comein."

Porcaro points out that the producer isoften seen as the villain in these situa-tions, when it might really be the recordcompany who is pulling the strings. "Alot of people do blame the producer," Jeff

says, "but that's a misconception. Forinstance, in the situation I justdescribed, that particular producer isone of the finest human beings in theworld, and he hated having to do what hehad to do. But he was hired to get arecord done in a certain amount of time,and he knew the only way he could get itdone was with the tools he needed.

"A good record company representa-tive will explain to the artist or band,'"Do you want to get on the charts? Doyou want a record like we sold two mil-lion of for so-and-so? Well, this is howwe do it. Are you into it or not?' And if itmeans having to step on the toes ofsomebody in the band and hurt somefeelings, in the overall big picture, thatwill be done. When the band membersunderstand it like that, and they're nottaking it as an insult to their musician-ship, then I think it's a little easier toaccept.

"I have to tell you," Porcaro adds, "Ihear drummers bitching, and most ofthe time it's guys who are telling me howgreat they are. Aw man, I could do thatgig, but this idiot hired so and so....' Youknow, sometimes the reason that guywasn't used is because he has a bigmouth and a bad attitude."

"Attitude is so important," Hal Blaineagrees. "It's more than just playing. It'sgetting along with people. If you showinterest, everybody sees that. Engineerssee that, and an engineer can make orbreak a new musician in the studio. Allhe has to say to the producer is, 'Thosedrums sound terrible. Where did theyget that guy?' That makes the people in

here is another type of situationwhere you get replaced," AndyNewmark points out, "and it's notbecause of not being able to cutit. As the years went on and wegot more into the overdub thing, a

lot of times you would cut a track thatwould sound fine when you did it. Butwith recording, you never really knowwhat you've got until you hear it a day ortwo later in the cold light of day. Andthen maybe it just doesn't feel the wayyou thought it did.

"Often the original drummer comesback to redo the track. But maybe heisn't available, and someone else is. Iremember a Randy Newman recordwhere Jim Keltner had done a couple oftracks, and then he went on to anotherproject and I came in to do some tracks.While I was there, they listened to one ofJim's tracks with fresh ears, and decided

the drums weren't quite what they want-ed. Rather than book Jim to come back,it was like, 'Let's try it with Andybecause he's here anyhow, we've got acouple of hours left, and we've alreadypaid him.' It had nothing to do with Jimnot cutting it.

"There are also stylistic reasons,"Newmark adds. "They might want mefor a couple of tracks that have a heavybackbeat, but want to bring in Jim forsomething that's more artsy. And it'sfunny, because different people will havea different take on you. Somebody who'sonly heard me on a Carly Simon recordmight hire me for the folk-y tracks, butwhen it comes to something harder, theyfigure it's not my bag. Meanwhile, some-one else heard me on the Ron Woodalbum with Keith Richards and WillieWeeks, and they figure I'm only good forthe groove-oriented rock stuff , andthey'll want to hire Kunkel for the moresensitive tunes."

Some artists will cut the same trackseveral times with different players, justto get different feels. Obviously, only onewill ultimately end up on the album. "Ifthey recut it with just a different drum-mer," laughs Kenny Aronoff, "that's theworst. But if they use an entirely differ-ent rhythm section, you realize that theywanted a whole different feel."

"As a studio musician," Newmark says,"you constantly get nixed off things thatyou wish you could finish. You cut a cou-ple of songs with an artist, and you'rejust starting to get your teeth into it, andyou're hoping you'll do the whole record.But then they come in and say, 'Okay,that's it. You can pack up now. We've gota couple of other guys booked for theother tracks.' But that's part of the turfwhen you're a free-lance player."

"Sometimes I'll get a call from anartist," Porcaro says, "who tells me thathe wants me on his next album. Then Ihear that he's in the studio with anotherdrummer. All I can do is figure that therewas a reason he couldn't use me thistime. In a case like that, don't wastemore than 20 seconds of your life worry-ing about it. Move on to the next thing.Or take out the pads and start practicing.

Use it as inspiration. Get pissed off, butget pissed off about striving to be bet-ter."

But some players never accept beingreplaced. "I was called in to record withthis band for two days," Jim Keltner says."The demos were real crude, but thesongs were cool. So I went in and did thefirst day, and that night the guitar playertold me that the drummer was real angryand didn't want to come to the session. Ifelt bad for him, and so I told the guitarplayer the whole story about how I hadbeen replaced by Jim Gordon. I told himto tell their drummer that story, and totell him that he was certainly welcome atthe session and he should come by. Iwould be happy to share whatever I couldwith him.

"He never came, though," Jim says,shaking his head sadly. "I always thoughtthat was to his detriment. It just wasn'tin the right spirit. I mean, to each hisown, but I feel you should never pass upany kind of learning experience. I don'tthink you will if you really have music inyour heart, but maybe some peopledon't. The music should win out in theend.

"Look at Jeffrey," Keltner says. "WhenPurdie replaced him on The Royal Scam,he didn't hold a grudge or focus on therejection or any of that. He went right tothe music. When he got that album, hestudied the sucker. And I can tell you thatto this day Jeff is a huge Bernard Purdiefan.

"And look at Kenny Aronoff. This guyhad to humiliate himself. The band wasall thinking, 'Why doesn't this guy gohome? Doesn't he know that he's notwanted?' But Kenny hung in there.That's how badly he wanted it.

"I can only say that you've got tohang," Keltner says. "If you love thisthing enough to stick with it, then it willhappen for you. You will end up playingon somebody's record at some point. Butif you're not willing to hang in there,then you probably shouldn't be playingthe drums anyway."

Perhaps Hal Blaine sums it up best."There are no losers," he says. "Onlywinners who give up too soon."

the booth upset. The drummer mighteven be good, but he has an attitudeproblem."

" T

I N D U S T R Y H A P P E N I N G S

This past winter's Percussive Arts Society InternationalConvention was a rousing success, both in the wide selection ofartists performing and in the number of drummers and percus-sionists in attendance. Over 2,900 drum and percussion enthusi-asts enjoyed great clinics and performances, and the exhibit areawas reported to have the greatest number of exhibitors in the his-tory of the convention. There certainly was a lot to see and dothis past November.

As usual, the four-day event covered many different aspects ofthe percussion field, from legit percussion to drumset. Of specialnote for drummers were the finals of the PAS's drumset contest.The competition was open to the public, and the talented contes-

tants certainly showed that there are some great young playersout there. Each had to perform with a rhythm section in differentstyles, read charts, and solo. A host of celebrity judges were onhand for the event, including composer Lalo Schifrin and drum-mers Ed Soph, Jeff Hamilton, Harvey Mason, and GreggBissonette. Our congratulations to all the finalists, including thewinner of the competition, Ronnie Manaog.

Modern Drummer was again proud to sponsor the drumsetmaster classes this year, which brought some well-known playerstogether with drummers in a classroom setting. Our thanks tothe artists who contributed to the event. Here are some of thehighlights of the show.

Chad Wackerman performed in clinic, discussing a topic he isadept at: odd meters. Chad also played to a tape of songs

from his recent solo album, Forty Reasons.

Gregg Bissonette turned a performance with a band intoa clinic by analyzing the chart to each tune they were playing.

Gregg's playing was inspired.

Joey Heredia performed with his trio, Jazz Funk a la GoGo. The bandjammed on some old Weather Report covers that Heredia burned on.

The eloquent Ed Thigpen gave a clinic on alternative sounds at thedrumkit. Mr. Thigpen used sticks, brushes, mallets, and his voice to

explore different sounds on the kit.

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Highlights Of PASIC 91Anaheim, CANovember 20 - 23

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Chester Thompson played an opening solo that effectively set up thetopic for his clinic—playing all styles convincingly.

Ed Shaughnessy (right), put on a master class that gave everyonein attendance something to think about. By working with

several drummers, Ed gave practical tips on playing differentstyles of music—a very educational experience.

The legendary Elvin Jones made a rare clinic performance. The SROcrowd met Elvin with a standing ovation, and many of L.A.'s finestdrummers were on hand to acknowledge this master. Elvin gave a

thoughtful and insightful speech, answered questions, and eventuallymade it to the drums to demonstrate his totally inimitable approach.

Ralph Humphrey gave an educational master class on analyzing andphrasing rhythms. By using odd combinations of note groupings,Ralph gave pointers on how to phrase in a more interesting way.

Several other excellent clinics and master classes were givenby such artists as Terry Bozzio, Peter Donald, ClaytonCameron, David Garibaldi, Casey Scheuerell, and GregD'Angelo. Ending the convention on a high note was the perfor-mance of Louie Bellson and his big band at the final eveningconcert. Our congratulations to PASIC '91 host Dave Black forputting together a great program.

Remo, Inc. has announced that Mitsuo Yanasagawa, a principalowner of Pearl Drum Co., is buying a minority interest in Remo,Inc. as part of a cooperative effort by the two companies. Initially,Pearl will provide technical assistance to advance the develop-ment of hardware and other percussion products at Remo'sGuadalajara, Mexico facility. "We believe the industry and Remo,Inc. will benefit greatly from Pearl's expertise in product designand manufacturing," stated Remo, Inc. president Remo Belli.

Las Vegas Music Expo, March 21 - 22, Sands Expo &Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV (Consumer Music Show)Second Annual Percussion Ensemble Festival, April 5,Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, NJ. (Competition andMaster Classes. Contact Gary Fink, Ridgewood H.S. MusicDept., 627 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07451.)Ohio Music Industry Expo, May 2 - 3 , International ExpoCenter, Cleveland, OH. (Consumer Music Show. Contact NorthCoast Trade Shows, Inc., P.O. Box 29653, Parma, OH 44129,[2161 267-2942.)

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Pearl Acquires InterestIn Remo, Inc.

Coming Events

• N E W A N D N O T A B L E

New From Yamaha

Yamaha has introduced five new snaredrum models. Two Dave Weckl Signaturemodels (5x13 and 5x14 sizes) featuremaple shells and dual snare systems thatcan be used together or separately. The7x13 Akira Jimbo Signature snare drumfeatures an all-maple shell and stainlesssteel snares. Yamaha's 25th Anniversarylimited-edition snare drum has a mapleand spruce shell. And their 7-ply, all-maple MSD-0115 drum features a verythin synthetic resin coating that the com-pany claims allows for longer sustain.

Also new from Yamaha are their PowerV Special drumkit—which features moha-gany shells with poplar inner plies—and a

completely redesigned 800 series hard-ware line. The 800 series was designed tobe heavy-duty but "classy"-looking, withart deco wing-nuts and increased gearpositions in its cymbal tilters.

In addition, Yamaha has introduced its3 1/2-octave Acoustalon mallet keyboard,made from fiberglass reinforced plastic,their Studio 5B series of drumsticks, andTour Master drumset cases. YamahaCorporation of America, Band &Orchestral Division, 3445 East ParisAve, SE, P.O. Box 899, Grand Rapids,MI 49512-0899, (616) 940-4900.

and as a separate accessory item. DrumWorkshop, Inc., 2697 Lavery Court,Unit #16, Newbury Park, CA 91320,tel: (805) 499-6863, fax: (805) 498-7392.

Meinl is now offering miniature fiberglassbongos and conga drums. Originallyintended as novelty or "toy" items, thedrums have proven popular with profes-sional touring percussionists. They pro-vide a high-pitched sound well above the

MeinlMini-Percussion

DW Pro-CushionDrum Workshop's Pro-Cushion bassdrum muffling system is an "I"-shapedpad that muffles only a portion of bassdrum heads while still allowing the headsand shell to vibrate, according to thecompany. The pad is secured in placewith elastic bands and loops, is adjustableand removable, and comes as both stan-dard equipment on all DW bass drums

range of full-sized bongos, yet with lesssharpness (and more warmth and tone)than a wood block. The bongos are 4" and5" in diameter by 3" deep; the conga is 5"in diameter by 11" deep. The drums fea-ture professional-quality construction,steel rims and bracing, traditional wrench-style tuning, and genuine skin heads.Meinl products are now being sold byselected music stores in the U.S., or youmay contact Roland Meinl Musik-instrumente, Postfach 1549, An denHerrenbergen 24, D-8S30 Neustadt/Aisch, Germany.

sion products.Also new from Remo are their Signature

Series lines of frame drums, hoop drums,tambourines, tars, bombos, pow wowdrums, surdos, and bongos, featuringgraphics of Glen Velez, Mickey Hart, andthe Grateful Dead.

Remo has also expanded its Legato lineof snare drums with a lower-priced pipedrum, the Series 100, plus the Series 200(which replaces their Legato corps-stylesnare drum and no longer comes with topsnares) and the Series 300, which replacestheir original Legato pipe-style snare andcomes with wire snares top and bottom.Remo, Inc., 12804 Raymer Street,North Hollywood, CA 91605.

Expanded LudwigBlack Beauty LineLudwig's newest Black Beauty snaredrum model is made with a hammeredone-piece bronze shell. It comes in 5x14and 6 1/2xl4 sizes, and can be ordered witheither P-85 Supra-Phonic or P- 70 Super-Sensitive snare strainers. A 3x13 piccolomodel is also available. Ludwig Ind-ustries, P.O. Box 310, Elkhart, IN 46515,(219) 522-1675.

Remo AdditionsPremier APK KitAnd HeadsetsPremier's new APK Fusion kit features10x10 and 10x12 toms, a 12x14 hanging"floor" tom, a 6 1/2 x l4 snare drum, and a16x20 bass drum. Premier says the APK

Remo has introduced a new compositedrum shell material, the Acousticon 516,which is formed of thick plies of woodfibers and resins. Remo states the newshells are denser, harder, and strongerthan the original Acousticon shells. The516 shells will be used on all of Remo'stop-line drums, with a thinner version, the250, used on their lighter-weight percus-

Fusion kit is appropriate for players whocan't get the proper sounds from standardfive-piece kits.

Premier has also introduced Headsetreplacement drum head packages. Modelsinclude the CL Extra batter and bottomsets, and PD and DS batter sets. The setsinclude 12", 13", and 16" tom heads, plus14" snare heads, which Premier states areincluded at no charge. Premier Percus-sion, USA, Inc., 1263 Glen Ave., Suite250, Moorestown, NJ 08057.

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