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WFD
Connecticut
Day of Percussion 2004
Every DrumHead on the planet should belong to the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). It's a great organization that's involved in promoting percussion education and performance not just in the U.S. but around the world. I'm a member. If you're not, I highly recommend that you look into joining up today. The most inexpensive way to get in on all of the benefits is to join as an online ePAS member. (See the sidebar for more details.)
Connecticut Chapter of
the PAS
This was the second year I was invited to cover the Connecticut
PAS Day of Percussion event and I wasn't disappointed. The lineup
of artists was varied and interesting and everyone who attended seemed to have
a great time. Plus, I had the chance to catch James Walker
in clinic and performance. (James is the expert percussionist who moderates
our online Mallet Percussion Forum.)
This year the event, held at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, was hosted by Jim Royle who is the President of the Connecticut chapter of the PAS and owner of the Jim Royle Drum Studio in cooperation with Dave Smith and the WCSU Music department.
Note: All video clips that follow require Windows Media Player, which is normally installed with the Windows OS or you can download a free copy here. There is also a version that runs on the Mac. All audio clips require the RealPlayer, which you can download for free from here.
1-Z's Drum Club
Dave Wonsey is the founder of this African-style drumming club and,
along with three of his high school students, he puts on an extraordinary
performance that speaks for itself. See the video clip that follows. (Appearing
with Dave Wonsey are Andrew Spollett, Mercedes Koehler, and Liz Grilli.)
Video
excerpts of 1-Z Drum Club
Contact Dave at drum1z@aol.com for more information.
Sherrie Maricle - Drumset
Clinic
Sherrie got started in music, as many of us
did, in the fourth grade band program. At age 11 she went to hear Buddy
Rich and his Big Band and knew, from that moment on, that she wanted
to be a jazz drummer. Not only has she accomplished that goal through
her own big band, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and her quintet
FIVE PLAY, but she teaches at New York University, plays classical
musician with the New York Pops, and is a composer and arranger.
(Following Sherrie's clinic, the Western Connecticut State University
Percussion Ensemble performed "Street Beats," one of Sherrie's
original compositions. Click here for excerpts from that performance.)
Although drum clinics are sometimes nothing more than show-off fests, not so with Sherrie's. It was a well-rounded offering of valuable tips and tricks useful to drummers of any experience level. Her clinic included a handout that covering the 'cutting' of common swing figures, Chops, and various examples on how to make your exercises into practical musical ideas. Click the video link that follows for a sample.
Video
excerpts of Sherrie Maricle
See the sidebar for more on Sherrie or, to be politically correct, Dr. Sherrie Maricle, Ph. D.
Western Connecticut University
Percussion Ensemble (WSCU)
This group of talented young performers, a number of whom are students
of Jim Royle, played a number of works including Sherrie Maricle's
percussion composition "Street
Beats." Ensemble conducted by Jim Royle. WSCU also performed with
Dave Smith as the conductor.
The Connecticut Valley
Field Music (CVFM)
This group offered an introduction to the instruments, playing techniques, and
performances of the traditional form of military rudimental drumming exactly
as it was in colonial times. Jim Clark, director of the CVFM, gave an impressive
demonstration of the use of 'straight-arm' technique used in rudimental style
drumming and hadnouts containing drum parts with the original sticking notation
where they wrote notes above and below a single staff line to denote right and
left hand sticking patterns.
For more information on traditional fife and drum music, including recordings and events, contact: fifeonthegreen.com, fifeanddrum,com, www.cooperman.com, or companyfifeanddrum.org.
James Walker - Mallet
Percussion Clinic
James, the Mallet Percussion Forum Moderator on this site, proves that he is
as fine a performer as an instructor as he presents a class that covers both
Classical and Jazz improvisation.
Video
excerpts of James Walker
Tiger
Bill and Dr. Nick Petrella
See the sidebar on this page for more on James Walker and look for Jim on our Drum and Percussion Forums, as he is a seasoned drumset player as well.
Airto Moreira - World Percussion
Clinic
Known more commonly as simply Airto, I have witnessed his clinic
performance before (see my review of the Modern
Drummer Festival 2003)
and he is always a treat. Airto doesn't just play the music, he becomes
the music. Airto professes that energy is music and music is energy and,
when he plays, you can literally
feel the energy in the air.
Airto is more than simply a master percussionist but you have to witness a performance in person to fully appreciate him. Check out this excerpt from his clinic and you may begin to get the idea.
The boy who interrupts Airto's performance on the above video clip is Danny. He has Atypical Autism and, according to his mom, he is still exuding the positive energy that Airto imparted to him and allowed him to directly participate in during his clinic. On behalf of Daniel and his mom, I'd like to request that you donate what you can to the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR).
Jonathan
Haas - Timpani Clinic
This clinic offered a different take on timpani and a very interesting
one at that. Check out the video excerpts.
Video
excerpts of Jonathan Hass
Cindy Blackman - Drumset
Clinic
I caught Cindy's performance at PASIC 2003 (video clips will soon be posted from
that event) and she never fails to amaze me. At PASIC, she was performing under
the 'handicap' of having only one hand, due to a bicycle accident. But, thanks
to lots of hard work and physical therapy, Cindy is back in shape and
playing as good as ever. She opened her segment with a 24 minute drum solo and
she was barely breathing heavy at the end.
Door Prizes
And last, but certainly not least, there were lots of cool drum gear
giveaways. There were also a number of vendors at the event including
a gentleman by the name of Bill Rotella long time instructor from the
Connecticut area.
The Connecticut Day of Percussion 2004 was sponsored, in part, with support from numerous percussion companies including Premier, Drummers Workshop, Pearl/Adams, SABIAN, Gretsch, Zildjian, Remo, Vic Firth, Pro-Mark, Latin Percussion, Audix, Mike Balter, Yamaha, and Cooperman Fife & Drum.
Jim
Royle Drum Studio & WSCU
Percussion Ensembles with Special Guest: Liam Teague
This concert performance included talented students from Jim
Royle's Drum Studio (refer to the sidebar for more info), the
WSCU percussion ensemble, and Liam Teague. Liam, currently on
the faculty of Northern Illinois University, is an expert in
Steelpan and has been called the "Paganini of the Pan." Check out the Liam
Teague Steel Drum Clinic in part 2 of this feature article
for my interview with Liam.
This concert showed the results of hard work, as it literally defined the word "ensemble," with all players in perfect precision. Impressive. Here are some sample audio clips:
Audio
Clip of Liam Teague performing with the Jim Royle Drum Studio and
WSCU.
(Don't
have RealPlayer? Download it
free)
Dave Smith & the Western
Connecticut State University Percussion Ensemble
Dave Smith and the Western Connecticut State University Percussion Ensemble were
next up and they gave a terrific performance, with solid support from
Trevor
Somerville
on the drumset.
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