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Sean "The Rick" Rickman
(November 2005 Issue)
The Natural In viewing the Compositional Drumming
DVD by Washington, DC born Sean Rickman, one is immediately taken aback
by
his advanced drumming skills. No question, he is in a league with
fusion greats Dennis Chambers, Steve Smith, and Dave
Weckl. Rickman,
also a talented multi-instrumentalist, composed the complex music and
played all instruments on the
DVD.
Sean began performing with the DC reggae band
Blacksheep, then relocated to Memphis,
Tennessee in 1992 to work with
the late guitar master Shawn Lane. The drummer would go on to work on
several recordings
and instructional video performances with Lane.
In 1993, Sean moved to Los Angeles to perform
with
his father, veteran guitarist Phil Upchurch, with whom he toured
Europe. "My mother and father separated before I was
born," notes
Rickman. "My mother was a professional singer and taught me everything
about music. I didn't meet my
father until about 1981, when I was
already playing guitar, bass, and drums.
While doing
sessions in New York for singer Angela
Bofill, Rickman met up with drummer Gene Lake, who has recommended him
for
several gigs, including Meshell Ndegeocello, alto-saxophonist Steve
Coleman, Dapp Theory, and recently a tour with Screaming
Headless
Torsos.
Rickman's philosophy for playing is to understand
the form of the
music first and then decide what technique best fits
the music. "When I was younger I would play the whole form of all
my
favorite songs without the music," Sean says. "I played all the drum
tracks on my DVD with just a click and recorded the
other tracks later.
I feel that you should learn the form first, then the rhythm, and then
decide which techniques will bring the
song to life."
Mike Haid
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