Drummer Nation

Stanton Moore updates us on life in New Orleans during Covid, including Galactic, Tipitina's, the Stanton Moore Drum Academy, a new release from Garage A Trois, and teaching at LSU.

Born in Cuba, raised in Puerto Rico, and honing his musical style in the U.S., Walfredo Reyes, Jr. learned drums from a master, his own father Walfredo, Sr. Combining his skills as a percussionist with his love of the drumset, Walfredo has developed a truly global rhythmic style that has kept him in demand with the likes of Carlos Santana, Steve Winwood, Sergio Mendez, Gloria Estafan, and Boz Scag...

Robyn Flans is an entertainment journalist, known especially for her insightful  Modern Drummer Magazine interviews with many of the biggest names in the industry. Robyn has authored four music books, many album liner notes, and currently hosts a live drummer radiocast. She co-authored  Ed Shaughnessy's autobiography, Lucky Drummer. Her newest offering is a biography of the great drummer...

Danny Gottlieb is best known as the drummer in the original Pat Metheny Group. Danny appears on over 300 CDs, including 4 Grammy winners.   He has worked with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Randy Brecker, and Gary Sinese’s Lieutenant Dan Band, to name just a few. Danny’s teachers include Joe Morello, Mel Lewis, Ed Soph, and Jack DeJohnette. He currently teaches at the University of North F...

Dave Mattacks is an English-born rock and folk drummer. He was on the London music scene in the early days, working at the famous shop, Drum City. Dave played with several jazz bands before joining the influential British folk-rock band Fairport Convention,  with whom he worked, on and off, from 1969 until 1997. Along the way, Dave worked with Paul McCartney, Elton John, George Harrison, Jimm...

John Ramsay's interest in playing drums began at the age of ten. He went on to study with jazz greats Joe Morrello, Max Roach, and Alan Dawson, leading to a two-year stint as the second drummer for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He was one of the first teachers at the renowned  Berklee College of Music, where he developed a holistic teaching philosophy which presents music as an avenue f...

Vocalist Cathy Rich,  daughter of the great jazz drummer Buddy Rich, began her career as a child, singing with her father's band. Honoring his wish for the band to continue after his death,  she and husband, drummer Gregg Potter, record and tour the world fronting the Buddy Rich Band. Gregg began his career after winning a national drum contest in his home town of Chicago. Tasked with th...

John Mahon has been Elton John's percussionist for more than two decades. In this far reaching interview, Mahon talks about his initial move to L.A., drum lessons with David Garibaldi, auditioning for Sir Elton, adapting to life on the road, and much more. Assisting me in the discussion is Phil Hood, co-founder of DRUM! Magazine.

Matt Brennan is an author, musician, and academic. He is currently an Associate Professor in Popular Music at the University of Glasgow.  His newest book is Kick It, A Social History of the Drum Kit. In it, he addresses the seeming contradiction between the centrality of the drum kit on one hand and the general disparagement of drummers on the other. He examines the roles of artists and manuf...

During the US quarantine of 2020, Sean Kennedy revisited  the popular 1700’s rudimental snare drum solo, "The Downfall of Paris." After discovering a little known fife part, Sean penned an arrangement for a percussion section with brass quintet. Friends Clayton Cameron and Bernie Dresel were enlisted as additional snare drummers. Over a two week period, the musicians began submitting their au...

Todd Sucherman, best known as the drummer for the band Styx and as an award winning educator, has a new album out under his own name, called Last Flight Home. Coproduced and cowritten by longtime friend, J. K. Harrison, Todd's, sensitive groove based drumming serves to reveal his talents as a solid song writer, producer and arranger, and surprisingly, as a first rate singer.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Duduka Da Fonseca started playing drums when he was thirteen. He moved to New York City in 1975 and was the founder and leader of Brazilian All Stars, Brazilian Express, and the New York Samba Band. He was a teacher at the Drummers Collective and wrote an instructional book, Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset. He is a founding member and co-leader of Trio Da Paz and leads the Du...

Coping with Covid with Sabian CEO, Andy Zildjian

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Duduka Da Fonseca started playing drums when he was thirteen. He moved to New York City in 1975 and was the founder and leader of Brazilian All Stars, Brazilian Express, and the New York Samba Band. He was a teacher at the Drummers Collective and wrote an instructional book, Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset. He is a founding member and co-leader of Trio Da Paz and leads the Du...

Pelle Berglund’s new book, "Buddy Rich, One of a Kind,” offers a precise and highly detailed accounting of the events in the life of one of the foremost musical geniuses of the twentieth century. From Buddy’s early days as a child Vaudeville star, to his emergence as the most in-demand sideman of the swing era, to his eventual success with his own band, Berglund dots the landscape with the names o...

Bill Goodwin began his professional career at the age of seventeen with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. During the 1960s, he worked with Art Pepper, Bud Shank, George Shearing, and many other jazz luminaries. In 1969, Bill moved east to work with Gary Burton and settled in the Pocono Mountains. In 1974, he became a founding member of the Phil Woods Quartet, remaining with Woods for some forty years as...

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and pioneering jazz-rock drummer, Danny Seraphine, is a founding member of the legendary band Chicago. The iconic group has earned 23 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums, as well as 21 top-ten singles. In 2016 Danny and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Critically acclaimed as an instrumentalist and a composer,  Danny Seraphine...

New Orleans drummer Johnny Vidacovich is an expert in the unique Second Line musical drumming tradition. He is highly sought after for his contributions in styles from jazz and Dixieland to blues and R&B. No drummer's trip to New Orleans is complete without hearing Johnny play at one of the many local venues. What do you ask a living legend to talk about on his own show? Anything he wants to.....

Classic Conversations: From the Classic Drummer archives, an interview with Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, recorded at the 2017 NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.

At the age of 23, Los Angeles drummer Paul Kreibich got his first major jazz gig with jazz singer Carmen McRae. Paul later auditioned for Ray Charles, was hired on the spot, and toured with him for four years. Paul became a first call LA drummer, working with jazz luminaries Mose Allison, Anita O'Day, Rosemary Clooney and Lee Konitz. His recording credits include Dianne Reeves, Bob Cooper, Conte C...

Tina Raymond is a drummer based in Los Angeles. She attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the California Institute of the Arts, and studied jazz drum set with Joe LaBarbera, Jeff Hamilton, and the late John Von Ohlen. Her playing style blends traditional jazz vocabulary with African polyrhythms and classical percussion techniques. Raymond is an assistant professor of...

Matt Wilson is truly inspiring. Undeterred by personal obstacles, his playing, like his personality, embodies humor, warmth, surprise, and always an infectious sense of swing.  It’s no wonder he is one of the most in-demand players and educators on the modern jazz scene. For this interview, I decided to ask him to respond to some of the many quotable quips he’s known for. What emerges, is a g...

Rob Wallis is the President/CEO of Hudson Music and Drum Guru.  He owned Drummer's Collective for over 30 years and was the executive producer of some of your favorite DCI Music Video tapes.  He's worked with and is respected by some of the biggest drummers in the world and has produced literally several hundred books, videos and dvd’s over the past 35 years. The secret to his success is...

Bill Platt studied at the Eastman School of Music under William Street. A stint in the US Army Band was followed by 40 years as Principal Percussionist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.   Bill recorded well over 100 recordings covering much of the Symphonic orchestral literature. Bill is the solo snare drummer on that orchestra’s acclaimed recordings of Ravel's Bolero. Also an avid j...

Wayne Salzmann is a versatile and active drummer, best known for his work touring and recording with Grammy winning guitar virtuoso, Eric Johnson. He is one of the most in demand session and live drummers in Austin, Texas, where he is currently the drum set instructor at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also performed and/or recorded with guitarists Joe Satriani, Mike Stern, Robben Ford,...