Peter Erskine’s Infinity Drummers

Infinity Drummers. Day #485.

Jimmy Madison

"Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?"

Roland Hanna / Gershwin Carmichael Cats (CTI / 1982)

Jimmy and I share drumming duties on this album (my one and only CTI album as well as session at Rudy Van Gelder's fabled studio).

Quoting from Wikipedia for the bio information: << James Henry Madison (born February 17, 1947, Cincinnati) is an American jazz drummer who was considered a child prodigy. Madison grew up in a musical family and was playing drums in public by age twelve. In 1966 he worked in Ohio with Don Goldie, then toured with Lionel Hampton. He worked both in Cincinnati and New York in the late 1960s; by 1969 he had joined Marian McPartland in New York, working with her until 1972. In the 1970s he also worked with James Brown, Bobby Hackett, Joe Farrell, David Matthews, Roland Kirk, Carmen McRae, Harold Danko, Chet Baker, Urbie Green, Michel Legrand, Don Sebesky, George Benson, Nina Simone, Lee Konitz, Hod O'Brien, Art Farmer, and Mark Murphy. He also worked as a record producer for his own studio.

As a leader, Madison led a small ensemble starting in the 1970s; his sidemen rotated over time but at times included Tom Harrell, Harold Danko, Phil Markowitz, Larry Schneider, Andy LaVerne, Dan Wall, Mike Richmond, Bill Evans, Kenny Barron, Dennis Irwin, Gene Perla, Manhattan Jazz Quintet and Jon Burr. He also led a big band in the early 1980s in New York. His associations as a sideman in the 1980s included Ron McClure, Janet Lawson, Chip Jackson, Ricky Ford, Jack Walrath, David Schnitter, Paul Nash, and Stanley Turrentine. In the 1990s he played with Maceo Parker, Red Rodney aka Albino Red, Chris Potter, Tarik Shah, and Steve Gilmore. >>

(Jimmy is wrongly credited on "Skylark" on the album, that was one of the 2 tunes I did that day [the other being "Memory" from Cats...]; also my one and only opportunity to have worked with Chet Baker.)

As the Andre Previn song goes, "Music is better than words," so please listen to some excellent drumming as well as playing by Rufus Reid, Larry Coryell and Sir Roland Hanna.

Infinity Drummers. Day #486.

André Fischer

"Tell Me Something Good"

Rufus & Chaka Khan

I know this song. I know how funky André sounds on this song. What I did *not* know was that Clare Fischer was André's uncle.

[from allmusic *dot* com] << Arranger/producer/musician André Fischer's credits include stints with R&B/rock/pop band Rufus & Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, and Gene Chandler. Among the many gold and platinum albums he's been involved with is Tony Bennett's Perfectly Frank, which won a 1993 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal.

Born in 1951, Fischer's mother was a band singer, his father a trumpet player, and his uncle renowned jazz composer/arranger/pianist Clare Fischer. As a child, he traveled with his father on tours, picking up the trumpet and drums. In 1970, Fischer moved to Chicago and began playing drums for Curtis Mayfield, Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, and on jingles while staying in the basement of arranger/producer Richard Evans (Soulful Strings, Rockie Robbins, Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson's Reaching for the Sky). He played with local band American Breed, who hit with "Bend Me Shape Me." The band became Ask Rufus and after adding singer Chaka Khan became Rufus, recording their first album for ABC Records in 1973. In a ten-year span, the band charted 15 pop singles (including two gold singles, the number three pop/R&B hit "Tell Me Something Good" written by Stevie Wonder and the number five pop/number one R&B hit "Sweet Thing"), five gold albums -- Rags to Rufus (number four pop, summer 1974), Rufusized (number seven pop, early 1975), Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (number seven pop, late 1975), Street Player (number 14 pop, early 1978), Masterjam (number 14 pop, late 1979) -- and one platinum LP, Ask Rufus, number 12 pop, early 1977. Many of the group's early LPs were produced by Bob Monaco.

Like another Rufus alumni, David Wolinski, Fischer went into production. Some of his projects include his one-time wife Natalie Cole's Unforgettable album, tracks for albums by Michael Franks (One Bad Habit), Carl Anderson (Pieces of a Heart), Laura Nyro (Acoustic Christmas), Lalah Hathaway (Lalah Hathaway), Milt Jackson (Reverence and Compassion), Gladys Knight (Just for You), Vanessa Rubin (New Horizons), Brenda Russell (Brenda Russell, Get Here, Piano in the Dark), and Nancy Wilson (Love, Nancy). Fischer took a two-year hiatus from the music business and traveled to Paris. Returning in 1988, he maintains a busy arranging and producing career. >>

Not sure how current that bio is, but the music is timeless. Everyone have a good weekend and stay safe.

Infinity Drummers. Day #487.

Marcus Baylor

"Laugh and Move On”

The Baylor Project (The Journey)

featuring Jean Baylor & Marcus Baylor

Lovely video. Lovely music. Lovely people. And some sweet soul drumming by Marcus Baylor. Everyone's on the same page here.

The Vic Firth website tells us, << Marcus Baylor is one of the most creative drummers with an unusual ability to tell a story through improvisation. Born and bred in St. Louis, his journey from playing drums in his father’s church, to graduating from The New School, touring and performing with jazz icons including Cassandra Wilson and Kenny Garrett, and owning the drummer’s chair in jazz super group, the Yellowjackets for an entire decade is an impressive one. Now, as co-founder of both The Baylor Project and indie label, Be A Light, with his wife, Jean Baylor, they received 2 GRAMMY® nominations for their debut CD aptly titled, “The Journey”. >>

Nice. Perfect music for a perfect Sunday in these most imperfect of times ... hey, like the song says, "laugh and move on." Stay safe and well, everyone.

Infinity Drummers. Day #488.

Terry Bozzio

"Inside Out"

Heavy Metal Be-Bop / The Brecker Brothers

This album, containing all "live" recordings of that new band (at the time — with the exception of the studio cut "East River") consisting of guitarist Barry Finnerty, bassist Neil Jason and drummer Terry Bozzio — blew everyone's minds (at the time, and still to this day) ... great playing by everyone, spirited music-making by everyone, and simply incredibly complex and awesome drumming by Terry.

Terry has taken drumming to the moon and back.

Turning to Wikipedia, << Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. He has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997. His son and stepdaughter are also drummers with the latter, Marina, being a member of the band Aldious.

Terry Bozzio was born on December 27, 1950, in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw the Beatles' premiere performance on The Ed Sullivan Show and begged his father for drum lessons.

In 1968, Bozzio graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, California, where he received a music scholarship award, and later went on to the College of Marin. During this time he studied concurrently with Chuck Brown on the drum set and Lloyd Davis and Roland Kohloff on a percussion and timpani scholarship. He also played Bartok-Dahl-Cowell & Baroque chamber ensembles with the Marin and Napa County Symphonies. In 1972 Bozzio played in the rock musicals Godspell and Walking in my Time. He began playing in local jazz groups with Mike Nock, Art Lande, Azteca, Eddie Henderson, Woody Shaw, Julian Priester, Eric Gravatt, Billy Higgins, Andy Narell and Mel Martin. He became a regular in the Monday Night Jim Dukey Big Band at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.

He recorded and toured with Frank Zappa beginning in 1975, and appeared, also as a vocalist, on a number of Zappa's most successful albums, including Zoot Allures (1976), Zappa in New York (1976), Sheik Yerbouti (1979) and Thing-Fish (1984), and in the concert movie Baby Snakes (1979) (which includes him singing lead on a portion of the song "Punky's Whips").

In 1977, he joined The Brecker Brothers with longtime San Francisco friend and guitarist Barry Finnerty. With The Brecker Brothers, Bozzio toured and recorded the live album Heavy Metal Be-Bop (1978). Shortly after, he was dismissed by Zappa and joined Group 87 with Mark Isham, Peter Maunu, Patrick O'Hearn and Peter Wolf. The group auditioned for and was signed to a record deal with CBS but Bozzio declined membership and then auditioned unsuccessfully for Thin Lizzy.

After Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth departed from the band U.K. in late 1978, Bozzio joined Eddie Jobson and John Wetton to continue U.K. as a trio. The trio recorded Danger Money (1979) and a live album Night After Night (1979) and toured the U.S. and Canada twice (supporting the popular progressive rock band Jethro Tull), and in Europe and Japan.

After U.K. disbanded in early 1980, Bozzio, ex-Zappa guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and then-wife and vocalist Dale Bozzio founded the band Missing Persons. Missing Persons released the albums Spring Session M (which went Gold), Rhyme & Reason, and Color in Your Life.

After Missing Persons broke up in 1986, Bozzio joined ex-Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor's solo band. He also played on sessions with Robbie Robertson, Gary Wright, Don Dokken, XYZ, Paul Hyde, Herbie Hancock, Dweezil Zappa, and Richard Marx.

During this time, Bozzio began touring as a clinician/solo drummer and recorded Solo Drums, which was his first instructional video for Warner Brothers. He joined Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck for the video "Throwaway", and teamed up with Beck and keyboardist Tony Hymas to co-write/produce and perform on the Grammy Award-winning album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop. The album was promoted on The Arsenio Hall Show, which was Jeff Beck's first-ever live appearance on American television.

He also featured on the album Confetti by Sergio Mendes in 1984.

Between 1990 and 1995, Bozzio developed ostinato-based drum solo compositions and recorded his second instructional video Melodic Drumming and the Ostinato Volumes 1, 2, and 3, as well as Solo Drum Music Volumes 1 & 2 on CD. He also joined Tony Hymas, Tony Coe, and Hugh Burns to form the band Lonely Bears and record The Lonely Bears, Injustice, and The Bears are Running, while living in Paris, France. He also formed the band Polytown with David Torn and Mick Karn. In 1993 Terry joined T. M. Stevens and Devin Townsend on Steve Vai's Sex & Religion album.

From 1995 to 2002, Bozzio did tours of the US, Australia, Canada & Europe as a solo drum artist as well as recording two solo CDs: Drawing the Circle and Chamberworks. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997. With bassist and Chapman Stick player Tony Levin and guitarist Steve Stevens, he formed the group Bozzio Levin Stevens, which released two albums: Black Light Syndrome in 1997, and Situation Dangerous in 2000.

In 2001, he teamed up with Chad Wackerman to produce the Duets video and Alternative Duets CDs. Bozzio won the Clinician of the Year award twice as well as Drum Magazine's Drummer of the Year and Best Clinician. Internationally, he received Slagwerkkrant Magazine's (Netherlands) and Player Magazine's (Japan) Best Drummer Award.

Bozzio was inducted into Guitar Center's RockWalk in Hollywood on January 17, 2007... >>

If you follow or watch The Drum Channel, then you're familiar with Terry's congenial and erudite hosting/playing style. And the man never met a tom-tom he didn't like.

Bravo, Terry! and the Brecker Brothers!

Infinity Drummers. Day #489.

Jamie Oldaker

"I Shot The Sheriff"

461 Ocean Boulevard / Eric Clapton

This beat bounces and it rocks. And it swings.

Wikipedia: << James Oldaker (September 5, 1951 – July 16, 2020) was an American rock music, blues rock and country music drummer and percussionist.

James Oldaker was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the first bands that he was a member of was called the Rogues Five, who saw regional success in the mid 1960s and opened for other more popular bands such as the Doors at the Tulsa Convention Center. Oldaker and the Rogues Five were a regular band on local Tulsa television station KOTV's teen dance show: Dance Party.

After a stint in Bob Seger's band (on the album Back in '72), he then was with Leon Russell's band when he was asked by Eric Clapton to participate in the recording of 461 Ocean Boulevard. Oldaker remained a member of Clapton's studio and touring bands through 1979, when the entire band was dismissed. Oldaker would return to the Clapton band in 1983, playing on Clapton's Behind the Sun album, released in 1985, and performing with Clapton at Live Aid that same year, before leaving in 1986. Oldaker appears on the blues side of the live recording 24 Nights from 1990 and 1991. Not long after leaving Clapton's band, Oldaker briefly became a member of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley's project, Frehley's Comet, appearing on the 1988 album Second Sighting. He was also a onetime member of the alt country band, The Tractors.

Oldaker recorded with musicians such as the Bellamy Brothers, Asleep at the Wheel, Peter Frampton, Stephen Stills, Leon Russell, Ace Frehley, Freddie King, and the Bee Gees. In August 2005, Oldaker released Mad Dogs & Okies on Concord Records, a collection celebrating the music and musicians of Oklahoma, which he produced. Collaborators include Eric Clapton, Vince Gill, J. J. Cale, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Dunn, and Bonnie Bramlett. Mad Dogs & Okies/Survivors was re-released in 2019 under Jamokie Productions.

Oldaker was involved in working with the organizers and the building of the OKPOP museum in Tulsa. He and his wife, Mary, were also hosts of an annual fundraiser, MOJO Fest, to raise money for the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless.

Oldaker battled lung cancer in the 2010s, eventually becoming cancer-free by late-2019. However, the cancer had returned by the following year, and he died on July 16, 2020, in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. at age 68. In addition to his wife, he was survived by two children, Andrew and Olivia. >>

A bit of background about the album: << 461 Ocean Boulevard is the second studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. The album was released in late July 1974 for RSO Records, shortly after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" in early July the same year. The album topped various international charts and sold more than two million copies.

The album was Clapton's return to the recording studio after a three-year hiatus due to his heroin addiction. The title refers to the address on Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach, Florida, where Clapton lived while recording the album. Upon completing the album, Clapton and RSO head Robert Stigwood recommended the house and Miami's Criteria Studios to fellow RSO artists, the Bee Gees, who then moved in to write and record Main Course. The street address of the house was changed after the album's release due to fans flocking to the property. The house has since been rebuilt and the street address restored. >> And life goes on.

I'll be honest: I'm not a fan of Eric Clapton thanks to a number of things he has said, the latest being the danger and idiocy of his anti-vax statements. But Jamie Oldaker was a great drummer and terrific guy (I got to know him just a bit by way of Yamaha Drums back in the day). Thanks for the music, Jamie. You were more than just OK.

Infinity Drummers. Day #490.

Victor Indrizzo

"You Gotta Go" (Live @ Studio Delux) 2013

One day I asked John Oreshnick of Angel City Drum Works (cartage company) who was keeping the busiest, expecting him to offer up one of the usual suspects in terms of well-known LA studio drumming names, and he replied, "Oh, no question, Victor."

"Victor? Victor *who*?" I asked.

"Victor Indrizzo."

The hardest working drummer man in LA for quite a few years now, here's a little something he did back in 2013.

He drums, he produces, and he plays a lot of different instruments. Talented guy.

Wikipdia tells us, << "Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer.

Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked with a variety of artists, including Samiam, A'Me Lorain (to whom he was married), Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age, Beck, Macy Gray, Daniel Lanois, Lizzo, Willie Nelson, Avril Lavigne, Dave Gahan (and Depeche Mode), Gwen Stefani, Gnarls Barkley, Redd Kross, The Vines and others. Most recently he has collaborated with Seal, Colbie Caillat, Brandon Flowers, Daniel Powter, Café Tacuba, Juanes, Alanis Morissette, Elisa, Tegan and Sara, Chris Catena, and Eamon. He is currently on tour with Sheryl Crow. >>

John went on to point out one of the secrets to Victor's success (well, of course it's the drumming, but here goes ... John and I were hanging out in the cartage warehouse): an old beat-up-looking bass drum, stripped of its paint (or wrap) finish with no front head on it ... John tapped the batter side and, wow, it did sound pretty great.

As does Victor. Check him out here in duet with Sun Rai (Rai Thistlethwayte: his name was new to me, too).

Infinity Drummers. Day #491.

Kirk Covington

"Paramedic"

CPT. Kirk Trio

The drums sound great and so does the drummer.

Wikipedia tells us, << "Kirk Covington is a drummer best known for his work with the jazz fusion group Tribal Tech.

Covington was born in Midland, Texas, where he attended the University of North Texas College of Music, where he met bassist Gary Willis, with whom he later joined Tribal Tech. Covington has performed or recorded with other musicians including Joe Zawinul, Robben Ford and Allan Holdsworth. Covington has toured since 1998 with Scott Henderson and bass player John Humphrey as a trio.

Covington continues to play with former Tribal Tech partner Scott Kinsey, was a member of the group Volto! where he also played keyboards, and in 2008 formed his own trio, "CPT KIRK", with keyboardist Scott Tibbs and bassist Rufus Philpot." >>

Kirk is a hoot to watch play, hence the video. Bravo, gentlemen.

Infinity Drummers. Day #492.

Michael Bland

"Hero Town"

VULFPECK

I got to know Michael by way of Yamaha Groove Night ... as nice a man behind stage as he is a powerhouse behind the kit/in front of an audience. By way of obvious observation: Michael's got a big beat.

Wikipedia tells us, << "Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years.

Bland was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from Minneapolis South High School in 1987. He still lives in Minneapolis, but plays in Los Angeles as a session drummer for such artists as Mandy Moore, Clay Aiken, Backstreet Boys, and the Anchorman soundtrack.

He played with Prince from 1989 to 1996, Paul Westerberg in 1996, Chaka Khan in 1997, and Maxwell 1998–2000. In 1997, he auditioned as drummer for the new Guns N' Roses lineup. Although Josh Freese had already been hired, he was working with A Perfect Circle and unable to totally commit. Bland was being considered as a possible full time option.

In 2000, he played in the Minneapolis project of French reed player Michel Portal (the rest of the band was Tony Hymas, Sonny T., Vernon Reid and Jef Lee Johnson). With Jef Lee Johnson and Sonny T., Michael Bland created News from the Jungle, which recorded one album for Universal, also produced by Jean Rochard. Both bands, Michel Portal's and News from the Jungle, toured in France (Paris Olympia). Bland also played on several tracks of the Michel Portal album Birdwatcher in 2006.

In 2005, Bland was the drummer for Paul Westerberg's tour, and he recently played on the Hurricane Katrina Relief telethon with the Dixie Chicks. Bland is also now working as a producer, currently working with the upcoming rock-pop band Catchpenny, also from Minneapolis.

He is the drummer on Soul Asylum's album The Silver Lining. He also tours with them. Bland, with colleague and ex-NPG member Sonny T. (Thompson) teamed up with Prince once again to provide drumming for the title track of Prince's 3121 album. Bland also played drums on Indigenous's 2006 album, Chasing the Sun.

In 2007 Bland & Thompson laid down the rhythm tracks for some tracks on Prince's 2007 CD 'Planet Earth'. [etc.]

When not on tour, Bland can usually be found every Sunday and Monday night at the nightclub "Bunker's" in downtown Minneapolis performing with Dr. Mambo's Combo.

According to Cory Wong, Bland has perfect pitch and is known to tune his snare drum to the tonic pitch of the song.

Bland still records and tours with Soul Asylum. The band toured in 2020, in support of its latest release "Hurry Up And Wait". The tour was cut short by COVID-19. However, the new album is the best-selling Soul Asylum release since the mid 90's." >>

I'll say one thing for VULFPECK: they know a good drummer when they see one.

Infinity Drummers. Day #493.

Paul van Wageningen

"Jequié"

Off & On / Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge

Paul van Wageningen was a Bay Area drummer who originally hailed from the Netherlands and who passed away in 2012. He was an excellent player who always sounded great, always playing the right thing at the right time ... the musical prescription or quote attributed to J.S. Bach, "There is nothing to it. You only have to hit the right notes at the right time..." Easier said than done, especially on the drums. Paul was a master at that.

He is heard here in the excellent company of Mary Fettig on flute and pianist Mark Levine who put this band and project together, celebrating the music of Moacir Santos. Tonight we mourn the loss of Mark Levine, a wonderful musician, educator and musical force.

The song is both winsome and whistful. Please enjoy this brief musical gift given us by the late Mark Levine.

Mark Levine: piano; Mary Fettig: flute; Michael Spiro; percussion; Paul van Wageningen: drums; John Wiitala: bass.

Infinity Drummers. Day #494.

Jamison Ross

"Deep Down in Florida"

For all of you snowbound folks, here's some warm-sunshine-music courtesy of that super-talented drummer and singer Jamison Ross. He's talking 'bout taking his girlfriend down to Florida.

(Hey, reminds me of that old joke: "I'm taking my girlfriend down to Florida, and then I going to Tampa with her.")

... from KNKX Public Radio's YouTube posting: << In 2012, at age 24, drummer/vocalist Jamison Ross won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, without singing a note. After all, it was a drumming competition. (Infinity note: I know ... I was there.) Part of the prize was a recording contract with the Concord Jazz recording label.

Earlier this year his record (titled 'Jamison') was released and this time it was his singing that caught the ears of critics and jazz fans, alike. And now he’s been nominated for a ‘Best Jazz Vocal Album’ Grammy award. >>

He's funky and he swings. And sings.

Great band.

Everyone stay safe.

Jamison Ross—Drums/Vocal; Eric Reed—Piano; Rick Lawlor—Guitar; Barry Stevenson—Bass

Infinity Drummers. Day #495.

Larnell Lewis

"What About Me? (We Like It Here)"

Snarky Puppy

Some quintessential Snarky Puppy with Larnell Lewis.He's from Canada. The YouTube link wants us to know: "Recorded and filmed live (free of overdubs) from October 7-10 at Kytopia Studios in Utrecht, the Netherlands." (I always assumed the band did this somewhere in Texas!)

Leon Breeden would be pleased and proud.

Larnell's website tells us: << LARNELL LEWIS is a Grammy Award winning musician, composer, producer, and educator. Based in Toronto, has established himself among the most diverse and in-demand drummers in the world.

Since 2012, Larnell has been playing with three time Grammy Award winning band, Snarky Puppy. Larnell leads successful ensembles of his own and has toured the globe with highly reputable contemporary musicians, including Quincy Jones, Laila Biali, Jeremy Ledbetter, Etienne Charles, Gregory Porter, Benny Golson, Lalah Hathaway, Jacob Collier, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Lisa Fisher, Kurt Elling, Gary Burton, and more. Larnell’s immense talent, fierce creativity, and evolving musical style keep him in-demand as a collaborator for artists internationally.

In June 2018, Larnell independently released his debut album, In The Moment. This project explores Larnell’s deep connection to jazz, fusion, and his Afro-Caribbean roots. The album features performances from a wide range of musicians such as fellow Snarky Puppy band mates Shaun Martin, Mark Lettieri, Juno Award winners Mike Downes, Robi Botos, and many others. His latest release, Relive The Moment, (Nov. 2020) is a reimagining of his compositions from In The Moment, with new drum performances, recorded at Jukasa Studios. In addition to his success as recording artist, performer, and director, Larnell is a dedicated Music Educator. He is a Professor of Music at Humber College, Canada’s most respected institution for post-secondary music education.

Whether performing on the world stage with internationally acclaimed artists, or playing local gigs in Toronto, Larnell Lewis is consistently a passionate and joyful creator, as well as one of the most skilled, musical drummers today. Larnell Lewis is endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Zildjian, Promark, Evans, D’Addario, Prologix, and Latin Percussion. >>

Written, arranged, and produced by Michael League.

Personnel:

Michael League - bass

Shaun Martin - keyboards

Bill Laurance - Fender Rhodes

Cory Henry - keyboards

Justin Stanton - trumpet

Mark Lettieri - guitar

Bob Lanzetti - guitar (solo)

Chris McQueen - guitar

Nate Werth - percussion

Larnell Lewis - drums (solo)

Mike Maher - trumpet

Chris Bullock - sax

Bob Reynolds - sax

Jay Jennings - trumpet

Bravo!

Infinity Drummers. Day #496.

Levon Helm

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

The Band ("The Last Waltz")

Levon's drum stroke was an object lesson of purity and beauty.

This is one of my favorite drum performances of all time. I show it every year to my students. (Plus, he's singing the entire time he's drumming on the song...)

<< The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert appearance", and the concert had The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including their previous employers Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan, as well as Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young. The musical director for the concert was The Band's original record producer, John Simon. They were backed by a large horn section with charts arranged by Allen Toussaint and other musicians.

The concert was produced and managed by Bill Graham and was filmed by director Martin Scorsese, who made it into a documentary of the same title, released in 1978. Jonathan Taplin, who was The Band's tour manager from 1969 to 1972 and later produced Scorsese's film Mean Streets, suggested that Scorsese would be the ideal director for the project and introduced Robbie Robertson and Scorsese. Taplin served as executive producer. The film features concert performances, intermittent song renditions shot on a studio soundstage, and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band. The soundtrack and DVD were later released.

The Last Waltz is hailed as one of the greatest documentary concert films ever made. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". >>

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was a multi-instrumentalist, actor, and a model for all singing drummers who followed. He was also the father to Ollabelle founder and vocalist Amy Helm. Drummers: there are great lessons to be learned from this video.

Infinity Drummers. Day #497.

Chuck Purro

"Free Will Fantasy" (1968)

Cold Wind Blues / Colwell-Winfield Blues Band

Chuck was the first drummer from my hometown of Linwood, New Jersey to not only make it to Berklee, but to make an actual record ... and listening to it these many years later, I gotta say: the band was hip and Chuck sounds really, really good. And how many rock albums began with a drum fill that began with a flam?

I found this history on-line about the band: << In 1967 several Berklee students and Boston-area musicians joined forces as the Colwell-Winfield Blues Band: Billy Colwell (guitar), Mike Winfield (bass), Chuck Purro (drums), Jack Schroer (alto, tenor, soprano saxophone), Moose Sorrento (vocals), and Colin Tilton (tenor saxophone, flute). James Montgomery played his first gig in Boston sitting in with them, and Colwell later returned the favor as the first guitarist in the James Montgomery Band. Psychedelic Supermarket promoter George Papadopoulos became Colwell-Winfield’s manager and got the band signed with MGM Verve in 1968. Their lone studio offering, Cold Wind Blues, released that year, preceded a national tour that saw Bill Graham book the band to open for Led Zeppelin at the Fillmore and Winterland in April 1969. The record remains an underrated psych-jazz-blues rock classic.

After the tour and now based in Woodstock, NY, they went in the studio again, but vocalist Sorrento departed before they got much on tape. Then Van Morrison asked Purro, Schroer and Tilton to play in his band, which they did in the early 1970s. Schroer appears on seven of Van’s LPs from that period, including Moondance and Tupelo Honey, and has also recorded with Paul Simon and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Colwell, Winfield and Purro reunited for 1971’s Live Bust, recorded at the Phoenix Coffee House in Boston (you can hear the police shutting down the show at the end of the record) and the band’s only other official release (both of their albums have since been reissued by Italian record company Akarma). The last forty years have seen them in and out of music. Tilton plays with Eight To The Bar, Sorrento became a vocal teacher at Berklee, Purro joined the James Montgomery Band and played drums on his first three albums. He has also played with Susan Tedeschi, and with Paul Rishell and Annie Raines. Since 1981 he has owned and operated the Yankee Book & Art Gallery in Plymouth, MA. Mike Winfield contined to live for many years in Woodstock, NY, working as a musician and carpenter, before he eventually moved to Seattle as a drug and alcohol counselor. Billy Colwell returned to Boston where he led bands under his name and has since died, as has Jack Schroer. >>

My sister Nancy dated Chuck back in the day. An extremely talented musician, he became an antique book collector and dealer (I'm not sure what he's up to these days).

Infinity Drummers. Day #498.

Vinnie Johnson

"Things Cannot Stop Forever"

Brighter Days / Stanton Davis' Ghetto Mysticism

Speaking of Boston (yesterday's featured drummer was Chuck Purro who studied at Berklee), here's Beantown legend Vinnie Johnson. Fasten your seatbelts.

Born in 1937, he died in 2012. A great drummer.

Ghetto Mysticism was a legendary band on the Boston scene, but Vinnie played with many of the best musicians to have graced Boston's bandstands, including guitarists from Tal Farlow to T-Bone Walker to Bill Frisell, the band Stark Reality, et al. My buddy Alan Pasqua played with Vinnie in Stanton's band. Others include Delmar Brown, Jerry Harris, Leonard Brown and Lee Genesis on this album.

This is fun(k). Enjoy.

Infinity Drummers. Day #499.

Jerry Deupree

"Souvenir"

The Night / Morphine (1999)

Go for this tune and stay for the next ("Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer"). The band Morphine was definitely ahead of its time, and drummer Jerome Deupree was a founding member.

The New England drumming fest continues!

Wikipedia tells us, << "Morphine was an American alternative rock group formed by Mark Sandman, Dana Colley, and Jerome Deupree in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1989. Drummer Billy Conway also played in the band, frequently during Deupree's absence, though at times both played together. After five successful albums and extensive touring, they disbanded after lead vocalist Sandman died of a heart attack onstage in Palestrina, Italy, on July 3, 1999. Founding members have reformed into the band Vapors of Morphine, maintaining much of the original style and sound.

Morphine combined blues and jazz elements with more traditional rock arrangements, giving the band an unusual sound. Sandman sang distinctively in a "deep, laid-back croon",[1] and his songwriting featured a prominent beat influence. The band themselves coined the label "low rock" to describe their music, which involved "a minimalist, low-end sound that could have easily become a gimmick: a 'power trio' not built around the sound of an electric guitar. Instead, Morphine expanded its offbeat vocabulary on each album."

The band enjoyed positive critical appraisal, but met with mixed results commercially. In the United States the band was embraced and promoted by the indie rock community, including public and college radio stations and MTV's 120 Minutes, which the band once guest-hosted, but received little support from commercial rock radio and other music television programs. This limited their mainstream exposure and support in their home country, while internationally they enjoyed high-profile success, especially in Belgium, Russia, Portugal, France and Australia." >>

I don't recommend morphine, but I can recommend Morphine.

Infinity Drummers. Day #500.

Peter Turre

"Some Enchanted Evening"

Ray Charles (1979) / Austin City Limits

Was thinking of how best to mark day #500 of this list, and then it occurred to me — when I chanced upon this last night — what better way than to groove on out with Ray Charles, as driven by the excellent Peter Turre at the drums (and check out that fill just after 2 minutes into the video). The band — Saxes: Dan Wilensky, Clifford Solomon, Rudolf Johnson, Ricky Woodard, Jim Sharp; Tbones: Dan Marcus, Gerard Carelli, John Boyce, Bob Braun; Tpts: Buddy Gordon, Greg Ruvolo, Tim Ouimette, Johnny Coles; Rhythm: Pete Turre (d), Eugene Ross (g), Curtis Ohlson (b), Dr. James Polk (Hammond, p) — sounds wonderful.

Some enchanted evening, indeed.

Peter Turre is brother to trombonist, composer and jazz icon Steve Turre. I met Peter when he was a student at one of the Kenton summer camps when I was in Stan's band (the Sacramento State camp). He sure sounds great here.

Happy 500th, everyone!

Infinity Drummers. Day #501.

Mark Pulice

"I Hear Music"

Carmen McCrae (1990), Good Day Club, Tokyo, Japan

Piano: Eric Gunnison / Bass: Scott Colley / Drums: Mark Pulice

This is a real swinger. I love the look that Carmen gives Mark at 1:40 while he plays a tasty fill. It also a hoot to see the very young Scott Colley here. Great trio accompanying a great singer.

(the second tune is performed by Carmen and pianist Eric Gunnison in duet)

Mark played drums and toured the world with Carmen McCrae for fifteen years. After living in Los Angeles for a while, Mark moved back to his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. As far as I know, he's teaching there now.

Infinity Drummers. Day #502.

Darryl Brown

"Boogie Woogie Waltz"

Weather Report (1974)

Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Alphonso Johnson, Darryl Brown, Dom Um Romao

Weather Report was always in transition, always changing ... much like the weather itself. The 1974 band was both funky and adventurous. Alphonso Johnson sounds great here as does percussionist Dom Um Romao (and Wayne and Joe ... and Darryl!)

Darryl Brown hailed from Philadelphia, born in May 23, 1953 and he passed away on November 24, 2017 in Gilbert, Arizona. He was Weather Report's drummer for the 2nd half of 1974 and played an important role in the band's touring and evolution. This video is excerpted from a documentary about the band, that link can be found in there YouTube page description.

Curt Bianchi, the author of the excellent and authoratative book on Weather Report, "Elegant People," has posted this generous interview and commentary:

<< In the pantheon of Weather Report drummers, Brown is not well known despite being the band’s full-time drummer from July 1974 to the end of that year. Actually, Brown isn’t well-known as a drummer at all, even though he toured with the likes of Weather Report, Stanley Clarke, Natalie Cole, and Grover Washington, Jr. If you do a Google search you won’t turn up any articles or interviews about his musical career. The primary reason for this is that Brown left professional music behind in his late twenties to pursue his education, eventually obtaining a medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. He subsequently practiced medicine until his death, with music relegated to a hobby.

When I was doing interviews for my book Elegant People: A History of the Band Weather Report, I knew that Darryl was someone I wanted to talk to, but his lack of internet presence and his retirement from music made it difficult to track him down. However, I also knew that he had become a medical doctor and some sleuthing led me to a Darryl R. Brown, M.D., in Casa Grande, Arizona. On a hunch, I called his medical office and sure enough Dr. Brown was also a drummer who once played with Weather Report.

I think I was the first person to explore Brown’s Weather Report days in depth. Darryl was an intelligent, articulate man whose recollections greatly enriched my book. Five years later, I tried to get back in touch with him and found out that he had passed away. Such a gentleman. I was—and am—sad that he is no longer with us. Since little has been published about Darryl’s background and musical career, I want to use this post to fill in some of those details, most of which did not make it into my book.

Darryl was born and raised in Germantown, a neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia with a rich cultural history. A number of musicians come from Germantown, including Weather Report’s second drummer, Eric Gravatt. Brown was a childhood friend of Stanley Clarke’s and there’s a photo at Clarke’s website of the two as teenagers with saxophonist Byard Lancaster, another Germantown resident who was ten years their senior. Here is what Darryl told me about his childhood and early professional career:

“I started playing the drums when I was about seven, and I had a very diverse musical experience. On the one hand, I had a teacher by the name of Harry “Skeets” Marsh who used to play with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. At another time I studied with a guy by the name of Jake Hoffman, who was with the Philadelphia Orchestra. So because of that, I was exposed to a wide variety of music. Of course, in school I played in the band—the concert band, the orchestra, etc.—and in my house my mother played the organ and piano, and also played violin and sang in church.

“I grew up in a part of Philadelphia called Germantown, and there were a lot of talented people living in Germantown. My mother and dad met the great organist Jimmy Smith at a car repair place and got to be friends with him. Jimmy Smith used to come over to our house and he would bring his latest recording on a reel-to-reel tape, with Wes Montgomery and Grady Tate. He would get on the organ and he’d sit me down at the drums. He got me started in jazz and basically showed me how to play. And actually, when I was thirteen I was featured in a concert with him out in New Jersey.

“Larry Young—you probably remember him from John McLaughlin and Tony Williams—came to the house a few times to jam. And there was a local saxophonist, Byard Lancaster, who had gone to Juilliard and at one point played with McCoy Tyner. He encouraged me to get better and to play and explore all avenues of music.

“There was a club in downtown Philadelphia called the Showboat. They had matinees in the afternoon. My mother and father got to know the owner there, and he allowed me to come into the matinees. And there I had an audition with Mongo Santamaría. I once sat in with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. As a matter of fact, he gave me a little cymbal that day, which was really cool. And there was a bagpipe player you may have heard of named Rufus Harley; he played there and let me sit in.

“When I was fourteen I formed a band called the Latin Unit. Some of the guys were older than me. One was Arthur Webb, a flute player from West Philadelphia who was known for recording and playing with Ray Barretto. And there was a local percussionist named Peachy German, a bassist you may have heard of named Charles Fambrough, and a young piano player by the name of Stanley Clarke.

“A little later—in high school or right after—I joined a band called Andy Aaron and the Mean Machine, and Stanley was the bass player; he had made the transition from piano. We used to do these cabarets, and Grover Washington, Jr. played with us at the cabarets and things like that. In the meantime, my parents were pounding on me to go college, but because I had these fortunate experiences while I was still in high school, they saw my talent and ability, and my burning desire to play music, and I think they kind of understood.

“So after I finished high school, I went on the road with some local bands and ended up in Connecticut. And I guess got lucky. Natalie Cole was in Hartford, Connecticut, and she decided coming out of college to pursue music and have a band. So I auditioned for her band and played for her for while I was up there in Connecticut. I was around eighteen, and one day I got a call while I was in Connecticut from Grover saying, “Hey man, I want you, I’d like to hire you for my band.” So I moved back to Philly and played with him for a couple of years. From what Joe Zawinul told me, that’s the first time he heard about this “young and talented drummer.” From there, I came back to Philly and played in some local bands, including Good God, which opened for Weather Report a few times.”

Brown joined Weather Report in mid-1974, just weeks after his twenty-first birthday. He got the gig by auditioning at Bob Devere’s house (Devere was the band’s manager at the time), after which Joe told him, “Man, you’ve got some big ears.” You can see him in action playing “Boogie Woogie Waltz” in this clip, which was originally filmed for an episode of the television program Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert that aired on December 14, 1974. Darryl was Weather Report’s regular drummer for the rest of the year, but Joe and Wayne would often bring in other drummers who would join Brown on the bandstand. At one point, Ishmael Wilburn, who recorded on Mysterious Traveller and toured with the band before Brown, came back for a few gigs. But none of the other drummers stuck, which served to motivate Brown.

“There was one time they brought in another drummer from Philly, Emmanuel Hakim,” Brown told me. “He was a very talented drummer, but he played in small jazz trios and things like that, and we were playing like a hard core rock band. In fact, we even opened one time for ZZ Top; somebody thought we could play for that kind of audience. But the bottom line is, I remember Emmanuel playing and doing what he could, but I don’t think he had ever played that loud and that hard. When he finished he just said, ‘Damn!’ [laughs] And it was nice because he was somebody that I had watched. He was older than me, and he was in the band Mean Machine before me. And of course, that didn’t work out.

“And then they got this guy from Africa, and they sent him over, and for some reason he was under the opinion that he actually had the job. So, same thing, that didn’t work out. He even came over with his family, and they sent him back. So these things were happening, and at one point I didn’t like it so much because it told me they had eyes for somebody else potentially. But at the same time, as these guys were being rejected, I kept saying, ‘Well, I must be doing something right,’ because they’ve got to be comparing them to me. And obviously, if a guy came along that they thought did a better job, then they would probably hire him.”

Given this, it’s surprising that Brown wasn’t retained for the Tale Spinnin’ recording sessions, which took place in January 1975. Evidently Joe and Wayne wanted to try something different, and Brown’s status with the band was left hanging. Although he was never told whether he was in or out, his Weather Report days were over. As a consequence of not recording with the band, Darryl’s stint with Weather Report remained relatively unknown until my book presented it in detail.

So what happened after Weather Report? Darryl tells the story:

“There were a couple of things that happened. I played with some local bands, and I played with this one guy, Mike Pedicin, Jr., a great saxophone player who used to play with Maynard Ferguson and had some albums of his own. I did some studio work at Philadelphia International Records, and I also put a band together with some evolving great musicians-to-be, including Kevin Eubanks and Michael Wolff. And then Michael Wolff invited me to come to New York; he was putting a band together with Alex Foster called Answering Service. While I was in New York I got a call from Stanley Clarke for the School Days band. I toured with Stanley and did a record with him called I Wanna Play For You. Some of it was live, some in the studio. One of the nicest experiences I had with Stanley was playing at Madison Square Garden when we opened for Bob Marley. That was just amazing.

“Somewhere after the Stanley Clarke tour I started taking some college courses. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do; I just felt that I wanted to further my education. I gravitated to science and was a biology major. That was kind of consistent with my household. My mother was a musician, while my father was a chemist. He initially had dreams of becoming a doctor, so he had pre-med books around the house. When I was little I I just looked at the pictures and diagrams. But as I got older I started reading through them, and I think there was an influence there.

“When I was studying sciences in college, I had some professors take an interest in me. They thought it was interesting that I had a music background and they encouraged me to consider medical school. Initially, I wasn’t sure, but there was a saxophonist out of Philadelphia named Al Rutherford who was Chief of Cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania. We used to play at a place called Grendal’s Lair in South Philly. He would come down and talk to me about my college courses, and he suggested that I think about medicine.

“So as time went on I got more interested in it and I took the medical entrance exams. I did well and I started getting interviewed for medical school. Since there was a time lapse from high school to college, I wondered how that was going to look. I was also thinking about the musician stereotypes and I didn’t know how that would look to medical schools. But Al Rutherford looked at me and said, “Tell them you were playing music. Trust me, they will find it very interesting.” And believe it or not, during my interviews pretty much all they asked about was my experiences with music—who I played with and how I got involved in it. You know, you have to have the grades, but there are a lot of very bright candidates that they’re choosing from. If you have done something unrelated to science—especially if you have accomplished something—that seemed to be something they wanted. So that’s kind of how it went.

“I think when I went back to college my parents were a little surprised. And then when I went to medical school, my dad didn’t know what to say. And actually I did play at the medical school, made some money there, which helped me pay for my tuition and all that.”

After finishing his residency and passing his board exams, Brown moved to the Phoenix metro area where he practiced internal medicine for over two decades. Although you will find little about Brown’s musical career on the internet, you will find plenty about his character. Just read the comments about him from his friends and patients at legacy.com. He was well-known throughout the community, and many of his former patients posted online testimonials upon his death.

“He was an amazing doctor, musician and person and will be greatly missed,” one commenter posted.

“We had great conversations about the trials of parenting, music, and his generous spirit,” wrote another. “He was a wonderful physician and cared deeply for each and every patient including many of my family members. I loved his laugh and the smile he wore on his face every day.”

“Darryl was not only an amazing musician, he was also one of the finest men I’ve had the pleasure of knowing,” wrote a third. “He was always professional, both as a doctor, and, as I knew him best, as a musician. He carried his joy around with him and shared it with the world. What a smile. I’ll never forget him. If there is a Heaven, Darryl’s drumming with the band… and making them sound better than they are.” >>

Infinity Drummers. Day #503.

Ishmael Wilburn

“American Tango” & “Cucumber Slumber”

Weather Report / Mysterious Traveler

Come for the tango and stay for the slumber, Ishmael Wilburn’s drumming — in fact, *everything* about these songs — is perfect. Recorded from November 1973 to March 1974 at Devonshire Studios in North Hollywood with Ron Malo engineering, let’s call this the quintessential WR album.

Miroslav is heard playing the bass on “American Tango” while Alphonso Johnson brings the funk with a bass line that every bass player I knew back then tried to play (well, except maybe for Jaco!). Great stuff. And, something I did not know: according to Wikipedia, that’s Ray Barretto playing congas on “Cucumber Slumber” …!

Infinity Drummers. Day #504.

Tony Thompson

Le Freak

C'est Chic / Chic

“Steady as she goes!”

This is one fine dance beat, as played by the one and only Tony Thompson. From 1978. Freak out.

Infinity Drummers. Day #505.

Justin Brown

“Deluge” / Standards with Friends #2

Ben Wendel

I saw Justin Brown shortly after the 2012 Thelonious Monk Institute drummers competition, which I judged along with several other august drummers-sitting-in-judgement (Terri-Lyne Carrington, Ben Riley, Carl Allen, Brian Blade and Jimmy Cobb). Jutsin came in 2nd place (Jamison Ross won the prize). Justin was in Los Angeles to play a concert with Ambrose Akinmusire shortly afterwards, and I went up to say hello to him at the soundcheck (a shared bill at the John Anson Ford Theatre) as well as to express my empathy that he did not win the prize, and Justin was so darned gracious about the whole thing. I told him, “You know what, Justin? YOU are the winner. Carry on and bravo.” Or something to that effect.

In the tradition of several 2nd Place Winners of the Monk competitions, Justin has gone on to have a fabulous career. And no wonder. He’s a marvelous drummer and musician. And so is Ben Wendel, his musical partner in TIME here.

Infinity Drummers. Day #506.

Chris Columbo

The !!! Beat w/ Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five (1966)

Chris Columbo used to hold court on Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City. I remember seeing him between sets outside of Grace's Little Belmont club (this was when I was working as the house drummer at the Club Harlem across the street, the same club where Chris Columbo led the band that played on the main stage many years before) ... this would have been during the summers of 1971 and '72, as I recall. Among other things, Chris was known for the oversized motorcycle seat he used as a throne (as opposed to the rather high stool you'll see in this video). No matter what, he always swung the house down.

Cobbling together some facts and data from Wikipedia, <
Columbus was active as a jazz musician from the 1920s into the 1970s, and was the father of Sonny Payne. He led his own band from the 1930s into the late 1940s, holding a residency at the Savoy Ballroom for a period. After the middle of the 1940s he drummed behind Louis Jordan, remaining with him until 1952 [and again in the mid-60s, as this televison broadcast attests]. In the mid-to-late 1950s, Columbus backed Wild Bill Davis's organ combo, and he recorded with Duke Ellington in 1967. He worked again as a leader in the 1970s, in addition to doing tours of Europe with Davis. While in France he played with Floyd Smith, Al Grey, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Buddy Tate, and Milt Buckner.

Prior to a stroke which partially paralyzed him in 1993, Columbo was the oldest working musician in Atlantic City.

Columbo got his first professional gig playing with Fletcher Henderson in 1921. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, he played at most of the city's nightclubs, and led the Club Harlem orchestra for 34 years until 1978, when the club shut its doors. Thereafter, Columbo's band went on to perform at practically every Atlantic City casino hotel. At the time of his stroke, he was playing regularly at the Showboat.

Columbo worked, recorded, and toured with prominent jazz artists including Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong, Wild Bill Davis, and Ella Fitzgerald. Columbo did an album on the Strand label called Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites by the Chris Columbo Quintette including a version of "Summertime" featuring organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith. This record (with flip side an uptempo minor blues called "Minerology") was fairly successful on radio in the early 1960s. Columbo flipped his sticks in the air, bounced them off the floor and often leaped from a motorcycle seat which was his drum throne. His son was the Count Basie Orchestra drummer Sonny Payne. Columbo also appeared in the 1945 film It Happened In Harlem, based on the Harlem nightclub Smalls Paradise, and the 1947 film Look Out Sister.

Columbo suffered a stroke in 1993 and died in 2002; he was 100 years old. To recognize his contributions to the history and music of Atlantic City, a section of Kentucky Avenue, home of Club Harlem, was renamed Chris Columbo Lane in 2005.>>

Discography

As leader

* "Lonely Street" // "Dancing On My Heart" (Double AA 114, 1955)

* "Floyd's Guitar Blues" // "Wishy Washy" (King 4991, 1956) – with Johnny Grimes-trumpet/vibes, Jimmy Tyler-alto/tenor sax, Nick Palmer-tenor/baritone sax, John Wiegand-organ, Floyd Smith-guitar.

* "Oh Yeah!, Pt. 1" // "Oh Yeah!, Pt. 2" (King 5012, 1957) – with Gil Askey-trumpet, Jimmy Tyler-tenor sax, Johnny Hammond Smith-organ, Floyd Smith-guitar.

* "Stranger On The Shore" // "You Can't Sit Down" (Battle 45904, 1962)

* Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites (Strand SL-1044, 1962) – reissued as Summertime in 1963 (Strand SL-1095).

* "Summertime" // "Minerology" (Strand 25056, 1963) – with Johnny Hammond Smith.

* "Minerology" // "Summertime" (Casino 1305, 1963) – reissue

* "I Can't Stop Loving You" // "Mr. Wonderful" (Maxx 327, 1964)

As sideman

* Here's Wild Bill Davis (Epic LG-1004 [10" LP], 1954)

* Wild Bill Davis: On The Loose (Epic LN-1121 [10" LP], 1954)

* Wild Bill Davis At Birdland (Epic LN-3118, 1955) – reissued as Lullaby Of Birdland in 1972.

* Wild Bill Davis: Evening Concerto (Epic LN-3308, 1955)

* Duke Ellington/Ella Fitzgerald/Oscar Peterson: The Greatest Jazz Concert In The World (Pablo 2625-704, 1967 [rel. 1975]) – Columbus is the Ellington orchestra's drummer at this Hollywood Bowl concert.

* Wild Bill Davis: Impulsions (Disques Black & Blue 33.037, 1972)

* Al Grey & Wild Bill Davis (Disques Black & Blue 33.041, 1972) – with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson.

* Floyd Smith: Floyd's Guitar Blues (Disques Black & Blue 33.046, 1972)

* Buddy Tate & Wild Bill Davis (Disques Black & Blue 33.054, 1972) – reissued on CD as Broadway in 1987 by Black & Blue (233.054).

* Milt Buckner: Black And Blue Stomp (Disques Black & Blue 33.061, 1973)

* Al Grey: Grey's Mood (Disques Black & Blue 33.085, 1973–1975 [rel. 1979])

>>

Keep watching the show for Freddie King's set. Does anyone know the name of this drummer? Very fine and funky.

Everyone have a great Sunday and long weekend.

Infinity Drummers. Day #507.

Neil Peart

Tom Sawyer / Rush

I daresay anyone and everyone following this list knows who Neil Peart was. As I was looking for just the right link, I found this "official" Tom Sawyer video. Neil on his Tama drums. This is a good one.

Rather than leaving this at that, I am going to copy-and-paste something I sent to Percussive Notes shortly after Neil's death in early 2020. Pardon the self-reference, but it all serves to reveal the man he was, who led by example: always the student.

__________________________

(for those who might not have read the Percussive Notes tribute to Neil)

Shared correspondence, drummer-to-drummer

Since the untimely death of Neil Peart, various media outlets have reached out to a number of his friends and colleagues. At last count, I had already written two tribute pieces and done three or four interviews when PAS Percussive Notes Drum Set Editor David Stanoch asked me to pen something for the society's journal. Dave suggested that I might want to submit something of an intimate nature, calculating that I might have held back a bit for Drumhead and Modern Drummer.

Following are notes that Neil and I emailed to each other.

Peter,

Now that I'm back in this drummer's "natural role," pounding it out with the band, I have wanted to share with you the growth I have noticed in my playing lately, much of it stemming from the work I did in 2008 under your direction. Among several changes, one obvious difference has been switching to sloshy 14-inch hi-hats, and - as you said - once I got used to it, not only does it seem completely natural and comfortable, but it gives my riding on the hats a whole new "sensibility." Controlling the motion of the loose cymbals requires greater attention to both "touch" and tempo, and results in a change that is more subtle - a deeper groove. I am finding a fresh delight in that aspect applied to some of the older songs. So thank you for all that.

(Incidentally, the climax to my solo this tour is going to be improvisation around sampled horn shots from my performance of "Love For Sale, climaxing with me playing along with the final shout chorus - so that will be fun.)

Now I am inspired to hope that I will have a period of time next year when I could take up my studies with you again, as Freddie would say, "take it to another level." I know I have more to learn in that direction, especially regarding "The Holy Swing," and it would be great if I (and you) can find the time to do that.

NEP

Neil,

Your ride beat has a lovely lilt to it. The legato (swung) eighth notes felt perfect as you were playing on the ride. I am very proud of you!

And very grateful for your friendship. Your buddy

Pete

Aw. ya big lug - ya made me blush!

But thank you - especially because I wasn't trying to impress you, just "posing" for the photo. It was a fun experience...

I am hoping to see Jack De Johnette play later this week - that should be humbling!

Best always,

NEP

"I am hoping to see Jack De Johnette play later this week - that should be humbling" for us all mere mortals! Especially because I wasn't trying to impress you "and that's why it swung." (PE)

Our correspondence was not so much the writing of original thoughts. Neil and I were freely borrowing from all of the drum lore we could think of, and from everyone in our network of drumming buddies - like sharing directions to that fabulous diner just over the horizon. (That's not original, either. Neil came up with the Bubba's Bar & Grill metaphor and that nom de plume. In any event, we gleefully tapped into the DRUMMER THING for much of our correspondence.)

And so, I'll borrow from something I wrote for Modern Drummer because it delves exactly into that DRUMMER THING: "Neil's homework consisted primarily of listening to recordings I had chosen for him and then practicing the hi-hat. As he was getting ready to go out on tour with Rush, I asked him what his backstage warm-up set consisted of: was it an entire drumset? ("yes") A "big drumset? ("yes") "Well." I said, "your crew's gonna love me... I'm suggesting that you get rid of all of that and just have a drum throne and a hi-hat so you can really focus on this. Okay, a practice pad, too." I'm not sure that he followed my advice on that, but he did spend a lot of time working on his hi-hat technique - not for anything fancy, just to get better-acquainted with the art and feel of opening the hat a bit just before the swung eighth note would be played. His years of not playing jazz pretty much solidified his habit of opening up the hat for beats 1 and 3, a kind of binary rock thing, I guess. To be honest, I am not certain that Neil ever fully 'got' the jazz hi-hat thing. What he got, I hope, was the confidence to go out there and have fun playing it. Note: the trial by fire of playing a Buddy Rich chart can be anything but fun. Now, maybe I'm a lousy teacher, but I do know that these lessons (which touched on things other than/in addition to the hi-hat) did manage to open him up to being more in the moment with his drumming. He told me so, and I believe him."

And, now, back to another email exchange:

Neil,

Just a short note to say "Bravo" and thanks for the Clockwork Angels CD. You sound great on the album! Please give the others my compliments and best regards,

I'm now officially a Rush fan.

And thanks for your kind note, very much appreciated. Hope you're enjoying a great summer!

Peter

Thank you so much for that note - it gave me a big smile!

I have just finished my rehearsals at DC (Drum Channel) and feel good about being ready for "new adventures". Those will begin next week, with band rehearsals in Toronto, then with the tour launching in September.

This time my former marathon-length solo will be divided into two - in the first set, an old-school, all-acoustic venture with classic rudiments and solo stylings, then in the second set a more textural, electronic, and melodic outing.

And... both of them will start out completely improvised. (I say "start out" because inevitably you fall into themes and patterns you like, but that's okay - and within the "spirit of exploration.") So that's huge.

Also, I had the realization in the past week or so, as the playing started to come together, that these days, I am playing the way I always wanted to play. Meaning that for all these 47 years I have been working toward this combination of technique, power, and feel - "chops and groove." That's a nice feeling.

Shame it took so long! But...

Best to you and Mutsy!

NEP

Neil,

Interesting... I just wrote to Ralph Humphrey (yesterday):

Ralph

It was your ability to control the fire with your tremendous execution and inspired fills and interplay that really lit up not just the band but a lightbulb inside my brain that showed me the way... I learned a lot from you!

Part of the big reason I play with more control now is, in great part, thanks to you. I still struggle to get the balance to be where I really want it, in terms of consistency throughout all playing situations, but it's a lofty goal and helps keep me focused when I'm working on something. That elusive "take" We get better as we get older, I suppose, and it's also the thing that helps to keep us young and in the game.

Honored the be on the same path as you, thanks for showing the way.

Peter Erskine

On Jul 19, 2012 at 3:41 PM, Ralph Humphrey wrote:

Peter,

"Thank you for the thank you. I gotta say that there is no project or performance that you have ever done that has disappointed me. In fact, you remain one of my all-time favorite musicians, one who happens to play the drums quite well I use you as an example in class fairly constantly, regardless of group or style. Lately, it was you and the other Weather Report drummers that I was featuring. You don't play like that anymore. You were a young, on fire whipper-snapper for sure."

So, see? We're all looking for the same thing, all of us just doing the best we can.

I'm proud of you and happy for your discoveries... and you're having fun, playing the way you've always wanted to play.

It's a good feeling, isn't it?

Peter

__________________________

I broke the promise to myself not to release/reveal our correspondence. Neil was a generous man, and I like to think that he would approve of some of the chronicle of his drumming odyssey being made available for the possible benefit of other drummers. He was that kind of guy: truly a generous soul.

"Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus."

"The hour finishes the day; the author finishes his work."

__________________________

Ladies and Gentlemen: Tom Sawyer. Rush. Neil Peart.

Infinity Drummers. Day #508.

Percy Brice

George Shearing - On Stage (full album)

Piano – George Shearing

Bass – Al McKibbon

Drums – Percy Brice

Guitar, Harmonica – Jean Toots Thielemans

Percussion – Armando Perazo

Vibraphone – Emil Richards

..............................................................................

1. September In The Rain

2. On The Street Where You Live

3. Roses Of Picardy

4. Little Niles

5. Caravan

6. I'll Remember April

7. Little While Lies

8. East Of The Sun

9. Nothing But De Best

..............................................................................

Recorded - 1957 - Claremont College in Southern California

The sound and swing feel from Percy Brice on this live concert set are a joy to behold. << Austin Percy Brice Jr., nicknamed Big P, was born in March 1923 in New York City. His professional career began around the end of World War II, when he played with Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Luis Russell, and Eddie Cleanhead Vinson. He played frequently in Harlem in the early 1950s with Tiny Grimes, Oscar Pettiford, Tab Smith, Lucky Thompson, and Cootie Williams, in addition to leading sessions at Minton's Playhouse. He then played with Billy Taylor (1954-1956), George Shearing (1956-1958), and Kenny Burrell (1958–59); from 1959 to 1961 he played behind Sarah Vaughan on tour.

Brice was Harry Belafonte's drummer for most of the 1960s; he also worked with Ahmad Jamal, Carmen McRae and Mary Lou Williams in that decade. He led a group called the New Sounds in the early 1970s, and worked with Sy Oliver and Illinois Jacquet, as well as in Broadway orchestras, later in his career. He died in November 2020 at the age of 97. >> [Wikipedia]

Fascinating to hear Emil Richards as well as Toots Thielemans here. The audience seems very hip to Shearing's comments, though to be honest I'm not exactly sure what to make of some of them. The applause track is a bit heavy-handed, but all of those things being said, this album is well worth an entire listen.

Infinity Drummers. Day #509.

Zach Danziger

Zildjian Underground

The way Zach navigates through this performance ... wow ... he's got more time zones than Asia (or Russia, for that matter ... but let's not bring Russia up right now). Zach is not only responsible for innovation on the drums, he has played a very important role in innovating the instrument (particularly in his work with the Zildjian company).

It's been a joy ride watching Zach develop from his prodigy self to cutting edge artist. He's one of those drummers and musical forces who has made the music better. And I don't know how he does it, but he does.

Enjoy.

Infinity Drummers. Day #510.

B.J. Wilson

“Power Failure”

Procol Harum (1976)

With the recent passing of Gary Brooker, fellow Facebooker Tim Weston reminded me of Procol Harum’s drummer B.J. Wilson. This is a wild look and listen and a terrific drum solo.

[Wikipedia] << Barrie James "B. J." Wilson (18 March 1947 – 8 October 1990) was an English rock drummer. He was best known as a member of Procol Harum for the majority of their original career from 1967 to 1977.

Wilson was born in Edmonton, London, and grew up in Ponders End. In 1962 he joined a Southend on Sea group The Paramounts, who scored a hit with "Poison Ivy" in 1964. After follow up singles failed to chart, the group disbanded in 1966 and Wilson went into session drumming, playing with Cat Stevens and Lulu.

While he was busy with session drumming, former bandmate Gary Brooker had put together a new band, Procol Harum, and despite having a huge hit with "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (which featured jazz session drummer Bill Eyden) had difficulty getting a stable band for recording follow-up material. Eventually, Wilson joined Procol Harum in the summer of 1967, along with fellow ex-Paramount Robin Trower.

There is some confusion over exactly what Wilson's contributions were to Procol Harum's follow-up single "Homburg". It is commonly believed that he played all the drums on the track, but according to both Wilson himself and organist Matthew Fisher, he was presented with a half-completed drum track onto which he subsequently overdubbed a few drum rolls. Whatever the case, he had established himself as the full-time drummer for the group's debut album.

Although he lacked the name recognition as other great drummers of his generation, Wilson was voted Best Drummer in the popular Playboy Music Polls of the early 1970s. He declined an offer by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to be the original drummer for Led Zeppelin, so John Bonham got that gig instead.

After Procol Harum disbanded in 1977, Wilson played on Frankie Miller's Double Trouble album in 1978, and was a member of Joe Cocker's touring band between 1979 and 1984. Their concert in Calgary is featured on the DVD Joe Cocker Live (1981) and he is also featured in two Berlin concerts on the 2008 Joe Cocker DVD Cry Me A River (The Rockpalast Collection). B.J. had been the drummer on Cocker's hit single, "With a Little Help from My Friends", recorded in 1968. In 1984 Wilson played briefly with Patrick Landreville, a former member of the 1960s cult band RHS, which included bandmates Bob Siebenberg (Supertramp), Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy) and John Boutell (Beauregard Ajax).

In 1983 Wilson was brought in to play drums on AC/DC's Flick of the Switch album, after their drummer Phil Rudd left the band close to the end of the recording for the album. No tracks recorded by Wilson were used on the finished album according to the recording engineer and was soon after replaced by drummer Simon Wright.

Wilson was the drummer on the film soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), on which his former Procol Harum bandmate, guitarist Mick Grabham, also played. According to IMDb, Wilson's friend, prominent film composer, Richard Hartley, was the one who invited him to drum on that soundtrack, and Wilson brought Grabham in to play guitar. B.J. also played on two tracks ("Lady Day" & "The Kids") on Lou Reed's 1973 album "Berlin".

Wilson's last recorded work was on the 1985 Gary Brooker solo album, Echoes in the Night, along with his former Procol Harum bandmates Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher, on tracks "Ghost Train", "The Long Goodbye" "Hear What You're Saying" and "Mr. Blue Day".

In 1987, Wilson collapsed after an intentional drug overdose and was hospitalised for three years, remaining in a vegetative state. Brooker and Reid had reformed the band and hoped to aid his recovery by sending "him the demo tapes we were making with a horrible drum machine on it because he hated that sort of thing". Unfortunately Wilson had 'suffered catastrophic damage which was never going to right itself'. He died of pneumonia in Eugene, Oregon, USA at the age of 43, leaving a wife, Susan and two daughters, Sarah and Nicola.

Wilson was the only stable member of Procol Harum besides vocalist / pianist Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid during their commercial and artistic peak from 1967 to 1977. He had a powerful, distinctive style – he sat very low behind his kit (often side-on at the side of the stage) and was once referred to as like an 'Octopus in a Bathtub'. Live performances of the song "Power Failure", a track written to showcase his talents on the album Broken Barricades (1971) were filmed on a number of occasions. >>

And this was one of them … and, as Tim mentioned to me by email, “I didn't think anyone could sit lower than Vinnie!”

Infinity Drummers. Day #511.

Joe Cusatis

"Tea for Two"

Peter Nero Trio (1966)

Joe Cusatis was a well-respected drummer and much-loved teacher as well as drum shop owner in New York. If any readers have memories to share of meeting/knowing Joe, please do so. Meanwhile, let's all marvel at the pianistics (never mind the patter) of Peter Nero, the trio's great playing of the arrangement, and the swing plus THAT LEFT HAND of Joe Cusatis.

By the way, happy to report that Peter Nero is still with us.

Infinity Drummers. Day #512.

The Crazy Drummers

from Odessa, Ukraine

There are several clips of this all-female drum troupe on YouTube, I like this one the most of the ones I've viewed and listened to. I don't know much about the background of this group of drummers other than they are from Odessa, Ukraine and they put on a sharp show.

Enjoy. And pray for Ukraine.

(this was filmed in Nice, France a few years ago during carnival there)

Infinity Drummers. Day #513.

Michael White

"The Long and Winding Road"

The always excellent Michael White shines and grooves on this most-enjoyable version of the Beatles (McCartney) classic "The Long and Winding Road."

Michael was born in Chicago, Illinois. He worked with artists like Curtis Mayfield and Lou Rawls early in his career, then moved to Los Angeles in 1982 to work as a session musician. He has also been an on-and-off member of Maze since the mid-1980s.

Arranged and Conducted by: John Clayton

Bass, Electric Guitar – Sekou Bunch

Drums – Michael White

Keyboards – Greg Phillinganes

Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals – George Benson

Rhythm Guitar – Paul Jackson Jr.

Producer – Tommy LiPuma

Recorded By, Mixed By – Al Schmitt

Recorded By [Assistant], Mixed By [Assistant] – Bill Smith, Peter Doell

Infinity Drummers. Day #514.

Louis Debij

“Standin’ on the Corner”

ON TO THE SHOW!

The Beau Hunks / Celebrating the Music of LeRoy Shield (1995)

Listening to this album, indeed listening to any of the Beau Hunks recordings, can be likened to riding in a Time Machine. The accuracy of the transcriptions, the playing, the sound and the spirit of LeRoy Shield’s music (as so many of us experienced from watching Laurel and Hardy or Our Gang episodes on the TV) is breathtakingly good. Gert-Jan Blom played bass and produced these albums, I hope that he might regale us with some back stories as to how this magic was accomplished.

I know that having the right drummer was a key ingredient, and Louis Debij’s drumming here is spot-on perfect. He serves the music — telling the story and never breaking the illusion — beautifully.

Many of the musicians heard here had or have an association with the famed Metropol Orkest based in Hilversum, Netherlands. When I hear this, I don’t hear “Dutch,” however … I hear Hollywood (and Hooray for that).

Louis Debij (Den Haag, 1 september 1937 – 4 februari 2018) was een Nederlands slagwerker. He played with Boudewijn de Groot, Spinvis, The Amazing Stroopwafels, Toots Thielemans, Martine Bijl, Wil Matla, The Beau Hunks, Fred Piek, Casey, Pressure Group, and Wally Tax among others.

Infinity Drummers. Day #515.

Marcello Carelli

"Distractions"

The Era / Marcello Carelli

Recorded during his senior year at the Frost School of Music (U. of Miami) and released this month as he's finishing up the first year of his Masters degree studies at USC's Thornton School of Music, "The Era" celebrates Marcello Carelli's blossoming prowess as both a composer and a drummer/bandleader. I think it safe to say that music education is doing something very right.

I heard Marcello playing at the last JEN conference held in New Orleans (just before the pandemic hit), and knew instantly that this young musician would bring so much to our school if we could convince him to come west. All of us in the jazz and drumming departments at USC thank our lucky stars that Marcello Carelli chose the Thornton School of Music to continue his educational career. Whatever Marcello decides to do from here on out — playing, composing, teaching — I have no doubt that he's going to succeed beautifully.

The album release party will be on Thursday, March 3 at the Sam First club (located near LAX). 2 sets. I'm going to be there.

Infinity Drummers. Day #516.

Howard Grimes

"I'm Still in Love With You"

Al Green

Don't know if I've ever heard a drum beat that dances like this.

But I know that we've ALL heard the drumming of Howard Grimes.

Howard Lee Grimes was best known as a member of the Hi Rhythm Section on records by Al Green, Ann Peebles and others in the 1970s.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee on August 22, 1941, Grimes first performed in public at the age of 12, with Rufus Thomas. By his late teens he recorded regularly on sessions for Satellite Records, which later became Stax, where he was tutored by Al Jackson, Jr. He also began working with bandleader and record producer Willie Mitchell at Hi Records, taking over as Mitchell's main drummer after Jackson's death. As a key member of the house band at Mitchell's Royal Studios in Memphis, Grimes was instrumental in creating some of the most memorable songs and soul grooves of the 1970s.

After the demise of Hi Records in the late 1970s, Grimes continued to perform with Teenie Hodges and other members credited as Hi Rhythm or, on the 1994 album Perfect Gentlemen, the Hodges Brothers.

Grimes died from kidney failure on February 12, 2022, at the age of 80.

RIP, Howard Grimes, and thank you for the dance.

Infinity Drummers. Day #517.

Zach Harmon

"Drum Solo"

That it is. And what a sound!

Let there be drums.

Zach's website informs us: << Zach Harmon was born into a musical family in Wisconsin. He began studying piano at the age of three and continued for thirteen years. He started playing the drum set at age fifteen and quickly gravitated towards improvised music. In 2003, Zach became a member of the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars with whom he toured Japan and performed at the 2003 Monterey Jazz Festival. Also in 2003, he enrolled in the Thornton School of Music at USC where he studied with the great Terri Lyne Carrington for two years.

After his sophomore year, he transferred to the Masters program at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz where he studied with Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Wallace Roney, Benny Golson, Robert Hurst, Lewis Nash, and many others. In 2005, as a member of the Monk Institute, he toured with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, performing in a cultural outreach program throughout Vietnam. In 2007, he toured again with Mr. Shorter and Mr. Hancock, this time throughout India.

Zach studied tabla with Abhiman Kaushal and recorded tabla on Terence Blanchard’s A Tale of God’s Will for Blue Note Records (the album, which reflects on the events of Hurricane Katrina, won a Grammy for best large ensemble). In 2015, Zach was a featured soloist on a tabla/drum set hybrid, performing Shirish Korde’s Svara Yantra (concerto for violin, tabla and orchestra) with Marcia Henry Liebenow on violin and the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, as a versatile drummer and percussionist, Zach has performed with artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Charles Altura, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Billy Childs, Yoonseung Cho, Romain Collin, Joshua Crumbly, Chris Dingman, John Doe, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Angel Luís Figueroa, Lázaro Galarraga, Sara Gazarek, Larry Goldings, Tim Green, Tigran Hamasyan, John Harmon, Noah Harmon, Geoffrey Keezer, Kris Kristofferson, Abe Laboriel, Sr., Greg Leisz, Nick Mancini, Artyom Manukyan, Josh Nelson, Gabe Noel, Vardan Ovsepian, John Pizzarelli, Austin Peralta, John C. Reilly, Nell Robinson, Otmaro Ruiz, Joe Sanders, Gina Saputo, Anoushka Shankar, Walter Smith III, Terrell Stafford, Dayna Stephens, Strangeloop, Bobby Wilmore, Anthony Wilson and many others.

Notable venues at which Zach has performed include: Birdland, NYC; Blue Note, Nagoya & NYC; Freight & Salvage, Berkeley; Jazz Alley, Seattle; Jazz at the Bistro, St. Louis; Jazz Gallery, NYC; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.; Joe's Pub at The Public, NYC; The Lighthouse Cafe, Hermosa Beach; Rainbow Bar and Grill, Los Angeles; Ravi Shankar Institute, New Delhi; REDCAT, Los Angeles; Regattabar, Boston; Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi; Sunset-Sunside, Paris; World Stage, Los Angeles; Yoshi's, Oakland & San Francisco

Zach continues to perform, record, compose and teach around the world. >>

The bio doesn't mention that he took one drum lesson from me!

We're proud of you, Zach.

Infinity Drummers. Day #518.

Joe Harris

Quincy Jones Big Band (1960)

Pittsburgh's very own, the incredible Joe Harris.

I had been planning on linking to a wonderful YouTube video of the Sonny Rollins Trio performing "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" in Stockholm (on this date in 1959!), when I came across one of the best and most incredible YouTube videos I've ever seen and heard. Joe Harris playing 2 complete sets with Quincy Jones' Big Band. And the first of these two performances (filmed in Belgium,) feature Joe Harris driving, kicking and swinging the band with just one cymbal and a pair of hats (plus bass drum, snare and one tom).

Some background: as a youngster, I pored over drum catalogs (including the Zildjian Set-Ups of Famous Drummers book), issues of Down Beat magazine and the reference bible at the time, Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz. The Encyclopedia had two sections of photographs, as I recall (and those pages were glossy, compared to the matte paper where the text was printed). One photo always jumped out at me, and it was the big band that Quincy Jones led and took to Europe. Part of the photo's appeal was the fact that some of the musicians were dressed up in pretty hip costumes. And I recognized many of them primarily from all of the Verve and Impulse albums I had, where they appeared often under the leadership of Oliver Nelson. The other thing that jumped out to me was the presence of two women musicians in the band, Melba Liston on trombone and Patti Bown on piano. Not claiming prescience or precocious awareness, but I thought it was very hip to have women in the band.

Anyway, the drummer. Joe Harris. Sitting there with his pair of sticks. I looked at that picture so often, I felt somehow that I knew the man.

You'll know him quite well after you've watched this beyond-generous clip. It's simply great. Clark Terry. A young Jerome Richardson. Phil Woods. Benny Bailey. Melba Liston. Patti Bown. EVERYBODY.

Here's some additional background from a variety of sources: QUINCY JONES: In late 1959, the now 26 year old Jones was engaged to create the orchestra for a new musical Free and Easy, the songs for which were written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. The intention was to tour the show throughout Europe before moving to Broadway, however the show ran into difficulties right from the start. After engagements in Amsterdam and Brussels and at the Alhambra in Paris in January 1960, by mid-February amongst bitter recriminations it eventually folded and the 18 musicians and their families were stranded.

Having put together and rehearsed such a wonderful band Quincy, to his great credit decided to try to tour the band in its own right and for almost a year they struggled on playing concerts in many European countries including Scandinavia, Switzerland, France and Italy but exhausted and desperately short of money Quincy inevitably had to call it a day and return to the States. Fortunately several recordings of the “Free and Easy” band and some film footage were made of concerts given by this outstanding orchestra – just some of the awesome achievements this remarkable man has given to the world in his lifetime.

JOE HARRIS

Following a decade as one of the early bebop drummers, Joe Harris took off for Sweden and never came back. His background also included symphonic percussion instruments such as tympani and xylophone. A drummer from his early teens, Harris began working with bebop maestro Dizzy Gillespie in 1946, working when the datebook called for that outfit through 1948. As the grapevine tells it, Harris was canned from the Gillespie band after getting in a tiff with the leader's wife.

Harris balanced jazz with the heavier R&B sounds of tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb in the late '40s, gigging with singer Billy Eckstine come 1950. The drummer was next associated with both pianist Erroll Garner and Gillespie sidekick James Moody, a saxophonist and flautist, yet basically had a freelance status in Manhattan which included an important house band job at the Apollo Theater.

His first tour of Sweden took place in the summer of 1956 in the company of that country's superb trumpeter Rolf Ericson, the season a good one to show off more appealing climactic aspects of the land. Harris' subsequent expatriate status put him in the company of other transplanted instrumentalists including trumpeter Benny Bailey and pianist Freddie Redd -- and as for offstage company, he married a nice Swedish girl. Harris is attributed with a pair of contrasting quotes arising like vapor out of his long gigging background: "The band that plays together, stays together" and "'Dis band should disband." By the '90s, Harris had returned to his native Pittsburgh, residing in the Manchester neighborhood and performing with locals such as

pianist Frank Cunimondo.

Joe Harris passed away on January 27, 2016 at the age of 89.

THE PLAY ("Clean Drums," about Joe Harris, produced in Pittsburgh, this story from the Pittsburgh City Paper, 2009)

<< This year's stage production featuring the most jazz is likely to be Clean Drums. It's Kuntu Repertory Theatre's revival of the Rob Penny play about legendary Pittsburgh-born drummer Joe Harris, focusing on his argument with younger musicians who espouse a free-form style.

Harris, born and raised in Manchester, was involved in some musical innovations himself. As a young man -- he's now in his 80s -- he moved in 1946 to New York City, where he played with Dizzy Gillespie, helped pioneer Latin jazz, and anchored the house band at the famed Apollo Theater. In the late '50s, he lived and worked in Sweden, eventually returning to the States for TV work in Los Angeles, among other things. He later studied music in the Far East, Egypt, Africa and Latin America.

The late Penny, a Kuntu co-founder and the group's playwright-in-residence, wrote his "autobio-biographical jazz bop play" in the early '90s, after Harris had returned to Pittsburgh. Clean Drums finds Harris -- who portrayed himself in the play's first and only production -- representing the bop-and-earlier traditions of Armstrong, Gillespie and Parker, even as "young lions" embrace a new style.

The play opens with Harris (played by Dennis Garner) delivering his musical talk and demonstration "The Drummer Man," in which he leads listeners through the range of percussion rhythms. Much of the show's dialogue, in fact, is based on direct quotes from Harris himself. "Joe's philosophy is, you gotta learn the tune first," says the show's director, Kuntu artistic director Vernell Lillie. "You learn the tune, then you begin to improvise."

Clean Drums plays out in staged rehearsals, concerts and recording sessions as Harris (who's a consultant on the show) might have lived them. Garner (the nephew of jazz great and one-time Harris colleague Erroll Garner) plays in the production's live band, which also features local trumpeter Ed Skirtich and visiting trumpeter Herb Newsome. Vocalists Stephanie Akers, Zuliakha Jones, Justine Patrick and Terri Smith stand in for such legendary vocalists as Holiday, Vaughn, Horne and Washington. >>

This is a great way to start the weekend and to celebrate and dwell on the power, beauty, fun and truth that music brings.

For your Sunday, an earnest and heartfelt version of "A Simple Song" from Bernstein's "Mass," arranged by Don Sebesky.

Solos by Hubert Laws on flute and George Ricci playing the cello.

Vocals – Jackie & Roy ; Arranged By, Conductor – Don Sebesky; Bass – Ron Carter; Bass Trombone – Paul Faulise; Cello – Alan Shulman, Alla Goldberg, Anthony Sophos, Charles McCracken, Lucien Schmit, Seymour Barab; Clarinet, English Horn, Bass Clarinet, Alto Flute – George Marge; Drums – Billy Cobham; Electric Piano – Bob James; Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Alto Flute – Phil Bodner, Romeo Penque; French Horn – Jimmy Buffington, Peter Gordon; Guitar – Jay Berliner; Harp – Margaret Ross; Organ – Pat Rebillott; Percussion – Airto, Phil Kraus; Piccolo Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute – Hubert Laws; Piccolo Trumpet – Marvin Stamm; Trombone – Garnett Brown, Wayne Andre; Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Alan Rubin, John Frosk, Marvin Stamm; Viola – Alfred Brown, Emanuel Vardi; Violin – Bernard Eichen, Charles Libove, David Nadien, Elliot Rosoff, Emanuel Green, Felix Giglio, Harold Kohon, Harry Cykman, Harry Lookofsky, Irving Spice, Max Ellen, Max Pollikoff, Paul Gershman, Raoul Poliakin; Engineer, Mastered By – Rudy Van Gelder; Producer – Creed Taylor

Infinity Drummers. Day #519.

Billy Kilson

"Angela"

Bob James / Theme from Taxi (2021 version)

BIlly Kilson plays great, no matter the setting or style. It's a pleasure to see and hear him here with Bob James. Kudos, too, to bassist Michael Palazzolo.

William Earl Kilson was born on August 2, 1962 in Washington, D.C.. He started on trumpet at ten, switched to trombone at 11, then to drums at 16. He studied at the Berklee College of Music from 1980 to 1985 and took private lessons from Alan Dawson during 1982–89. Following this he did a tour of Europe with Walter Davis. He has played with Ahmad Jamal (1989), Dianne Reeves (1989–95), Greg Osby (1991), George Duke (1991–98), Steps Ahead (1993), Tim Hagans (1993 and subsequently), Terumasa Hino (1994–98), Bob James (1995 and subsequently), Dave Holland (since 1997), Bob Belden (1997) and Kevin Mahogany (1998). Other associations include Kirk Whalum, Freddie Jackson, Chris Botti, Donald Brown, Bob James, and Paula Cole.

Kilson is perhaps best known for his work with Holland. He plays on Holland's Grammy Award-nominated 1999 album Prime Directive and his Grammy-winning 2002 release What Goes Around. Billy has also led his own quartet ensemble along with James Genus and Tim Hagans. His debut release as a leader, Pots and Pans, appeared in 2006.

Enjoy this taxi ride down Memory Lane.

Infinity Drummers. Day #520.

Pete York

"On The Green Light"

The Spencer Davis Group

I have no idea what film or television show this might have come from, but sometimes the Infinity Drummers List has to go where no man has gone before. Could this be a music video from 1966? Anyway, Pete York had some serious chops (not that you'd know it from this clip ... but this was too good to pass up).

Album - Autumn '66

Steve Winwood - Piano, Lead Guitar, Organ, Vocals ; Spencer Davis - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals ; Muff Winwood - Bass Guitar ; Pete York - Drums

Infinity Drummers. Day #521.

Frank Carlson

"Those Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" Nat King Cole

Since Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, I thought it'd be fun to resume the Infinity List with this finger-poppin' hit tune from the early 1960's, propelled by Ralph Carmichael's arrangement and a crackerjack collection of Hollywood studio musicians, including Frank Carlson on drums.

I guess I first heard Frank Carlson on this tune when I was a kid, but I first *knowingly* became aware of his playing thanks to the Stan Kenton Los Angeles Neophonic album where he played timpani alongside Nick Ceroli on drums and Emil Richards covering all manner of mallet instruments ...

With lyrics like:
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer
Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies
Then lock the house up, now you're set
And on the beach you'll see the girls in their bikinis
As cute as ever but they never get 'em wet
Roll out those ...
... how could you NOT like this song? Personally, my favorite line is how Nat King Cole pronounces "beer" the first time 'round ... It honestly made me want to drink beer after I heard it. Maybe Brett Kavanaugh's a fan of the tune as well.

A short biography: Frank L Carlson was born in New York, New York in 1914 where he studied drums. He was a rarity in his time as he played the drums left handed. His break came when he performed with Woody Herman’s First Herd from 1936 to 1942. After departing Herman’s band Carlson headed to the West Coast where he gained notoriety working for MGM on film soundtracks as well as backing Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Elvis Presley.
Carlson retired to Hawaii in the 1960s.

Infinity Drummers. Day #522.
Buddy Harman
"Java"
Al Hirt / Honey in the Horn

It's said that Buddy Harman played the drums on over 18,000 sessions, many of which were produced by Chet Atkins in Nashville — including this 1958 Allen Toussaint bon motte, recorded by the Atkins crew in 1963.

Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. was born on December 23, 1928 in Nashville, Tennessee. He played drums on sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, Roger Miller, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire and many more.
Harman was the first regular drummer on the Grand Ole Opry. Some of Harman's awards include "Drummer of the Year" in 1981 from the Academy of Country Music and "Super Picker" Award for drums on the most No. 1 recordings from the Nashville NARAS chapter in 1975 and 1976.

Harman passed away at the age of 79 on August 21, 2008. A drumming life well-lived.

Now go and enjoy yourself some Java. Thank you, Buddy Harman!

Infinity Drummers. Day #523.
Dan Schnelle

Shine Thru


The Infinity List dedicates the next few postings to the recorded work of drummers I've had the pleasure and honor of working with in their study of the instrument. USC alum Dan Schnelle has been making waves and great sounds around Los Angeles for the last few years, it's high time that he recorded and released his first album under his name.

On the album's web page, it says, "Much in-demand, Los Angeles-based drummer Dan Schnelle promised himself that he wouldn’t record his first full-length album until he felt sure that he had a musical vision unique to him – one that was reflective of his musical instincts, his design, and his concept."

It's a gem.
the album features Josh Nelson (piano), Jeff Babko (piano, keyboards), Anthony Wilson (guitar), David Binney (alto saxophone), Alex Boneham (bass), Dan Schnelle (drums, compositions)
Here is the title track.
Bravo, Dan!

Infinity Drummers. Day #524.
Jon Krosnick

"Arc of the Pendulum"
Charged Particles

if the name Jon Krosnick is new to some of you, there's a very good chance that you have seen his work in another field and venue: he has been a frequent guest/expert commentator on CNN, reflecting his position as a political science and communications professor at Stanford University where he directs the Political Psychology Research Group. The first paragraph of his excellent websites bio reads, "Winner of the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding research, and the Nevitt Sanford Award from the International Society of Political Psychology, Jon A. Krosnick is Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Communication, Professor of Political Science, and (by courtesy) Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, director of the Political Psychology Research Group at Stanford, a, as well as Research Psychologist at the U.S. Census Bureau."
Plus the man plays a mean set of drums, leading the musical charge of his trio Charged Particles, featuring Murray Low on and Aaron Germain, bass, with guest saxophonist Tod Dickow playing the part of Michael Brecker here on a Brecker composition titled Arc of the Pendulum. And while the trio often performs as just that, Paul McCandless has been a frequent guest over the years as well ... I guess you could say that "Charged Particles" attracts great players as well as audiences.

Jon and I are Interlochen alums and I suppose I can take some credit for having shown him something at some point during a lesson many years ago. I can honestly say that I've learned much more from him about all manner of things ... he's a brilliant scholar, gentleman and percussionist.
One thing of note in this performance: Jon eschews the obvious though always-excellent choice to quote Elvin-isms throughout the tune, and this not saying or playing of the Jones-obvious gives the piece a refreshing take and vibe.

His website is jonkrosnick-dot-com (saving my one Facebook post LINK for the YouTube video below.) Enjoy. And bravo, Professor.

Infinity Drummers. Day #525.
Gary Gauger

"Love Me"
One By One / The Free Design

I've been a fan and follower of The Free Design since the late 1960s ("Kites Are Fun"), but chanced upon this track just last night.
If you're a drummer, then you know the drummer even if you don't know the drummer, because it's Gary Gauger, the inventor of the RIMS® suspension system for drums. The man's not only a design genius, but a wonderful drummer.
I contacted him this morning to verify his being the drummer, and he replied: "Yes, that is me on that album. I did 2 or 3 other albums with The Free Design. They were really a great group. The recording was mostly done at A&R Studios with Phil Ramone that produced most of their records. Unfortunately, they rented the drums from some rental service in NY that’s why they sound so awful. I think Billy Cobham is on 1 or 2 of the other tracks on that record. I know I’m on Light My Fire with my old roommate from the Airmen of Note days in the Air Force, Bob Mann. Anyway, hope you are well and playing a lot .
Take Care,
Gary"

Thank *you*, Gary.
And everyone, enjoy this track!