Memphis Drum Shop

A promo poster from a clinic Tony did at MDS.

One of Steve Jordan’s kits, complete with gaff tape on the floor tom.

I had a wonderful experience at Memphis Drum Shop last week when the Sara Bareilles tour was in Tennessee for a day off. That place is amazing. The cymbal selection is apparently the largest in-stock assortment in the world, and I was able to play a bunch of cymbals that I’ve never seen in person before. However, my favorite part of the store was the vintage room, showcasing owner Jim Petit’s incredible collection of old drums.

A collection of old Black Beauty snares… etched and engraved models, nickel-plated models, etc.

One of Elvin Jones’ Gretsch kits. NBD.

A collection of rare Solid snare drums, the first company to manufacture single-ply snare shells.

One of Ringo’s kits. 13/16/22 Super Classic in black oyster.

I take that back, my FAVORITE part was the gong chamber. This is the only place in the world where multiple 60+ inch gongs can be played in the same room. Jim even has a once-a-month “sonic massage” session where he plays the gongs in succession while the massage clients experience the audio presence and force that only large gongs can produce. He gave me a sampling of this experience and it was incredible.

Jim and I trying to look natural with an 83″ gong behind us.

Lastly, I was beyond honored to be recognized by one of the employees as a Paiste endorser, which led to an invitation to film a few demo videos for mycymbal.com, the online store for MDS’s mammoth cymbal stock. This is where I was able to play a bunch of cool rare/new Paiste models. It was a total blast. My favorite of the  demos was the 17″ Steve Jordan style Traditional-over-Dark-Energy hihats. All the videos can be seen under my name on the special guest section of the website.

Best day off on tour ever.

Drum Solo Friday: Dan Weiss

Dan Weiss is an NYC-based jazz drummer that you may have heard of. I’ll be honest and say that I hadn’t heard of him before coming across this video. I searched my iTunes library for tracks that he’s played on and I guess I don’t own any.

But I’m including Dan in the Drum Solo Fridays series because of the sheer genius of this solo. It’s unreal. I freaking love it.

PS… I really wish I posted on this blog more often. Don’t you? Don’t answer that.

 

I’d Hit That

I’m somewhat of a late-comer to the I’d Hit That podcast, so many of you probably already know that it rules. But in case you haven’t heard about it… CHECK IT OUT.

I’m listening to the latest episode on Hal Blaine right now. So good. It reminds me of this quote I heard somewhere:

“If you want to learn the insider perspective on the way a musician plays, don’t study their fingers on the instrument during the gig, but rather their demeanor as they interact with their friends or argue with the club owner about getting paid at the end of the night.”

This quote is describing the reality that all of us make art mainly out of the context of our actual lives and our experiences as humans, and not our specific education as musicians. The I’d Hit That interviews really get into that side of things, talking with legendary players about their lives and not just what kind of kick pedal they use.

I’m a fan.

JR Robinson

I believe John “JR” Robinson is currently THE most recorded drummer in history, though his Drummerworld page says that he is “one of” the most recorded drummers in history. Regardless of where he officially falls on that statistic, his discography is unbelievable.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of using his Yamaha Signature snare at my rehearsals in NYC a few weeks ago. 5.5×14, maple, diecast hoops. Man, there is something about diecast hoops that really pumps me up, at least when used with a rock song. Then I noticed that JR himself signed the drum, probably when rehearsing at the same studios where I was using the drum (on 11/22/03, apparently).

Pretty cool.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that JR is another dude in the long line of amazing players that use Paiste. I’m not saying… I’m just saying…

Jack DeJohnette swinging with Miles

Miles Davis Quintet
7/25/69
Antibes, France

This rad live Miles footage is from the rad transitional stage between the rad 60’s quintet and the rad 70’s fusion stuff.

Bitches Brew was recorded during this era, ushering in Miles’ departure from a swing feel. When Tony Williams left the band and was replaced by DeJohnette, the music took an almost immediate turn toward the fusion vibe that Miles held onto for the rest of his career. Not many recordings exist of Jack DeJohnette playing this brand of jazz with Miles. I’m super pumped to find this.

This concludes today’s jazz history lesson.

Drumhead Magazine Article

Hey blog reader friends!

For those who may not know, I’m featured in the July/August issue of Drumhead Magazine! It’s a great article by my new friend Michael Aubrecht. What an honor it was to do the interviews with him, let alone to have had him contact me at all! Awesome.

For those who already knew about this, I found a pdf of the article on Michael’s personal website! This rules because now you can read the article if you’ve been having trouble finding a hard copy, which I am told can be tough.

Once again, a huge thanks to Michael!

Look at this! I’m in a magazine! And I’m smiling and looking to my right and holding a Dark Energy ride!

PS: The above-linked pdf is a pre-edit to the actual print that ran in the magazine. Most notably, my super boss photographer buddy Nathan Dale Larso, who took all the photos, is actually named Nathan Dale Larson. “Larso” = wrong… “LarsoN” = correct.