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Artist Update
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Joe La Barbera
The Artistry Of
You have to be careful who you show off in front of, as Joe La Barbera learned early in his career. "I was working with a singer named Frankie Randall," Joe recalls. "He had an offer to open for Buddy Rich in Las Vegas for a month. So I was playing Buddy's drums with Buddy's band while they backed Frankie, and then Buddy would do a set. One night we were doing the show, and I got off a pretty good fill. Buddy pulled me aside later and said, 'Hey, kid. When you're playing with my band, just go boom-boom,'" La Barbera says, cracking up at the memory.

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Abe Laboriel Jr.
Happy With McCartney
Abe Laboriel Jr. was floating on air shortly after the VH1 airing of the Concert For New York, where he performed with Paul McCartney. "You will never get that many amazing people on the stage ever again, and I really hope there never is a reason for it,"

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Abe Laboriel, Jr.
Riding A Wave Of Success
When you meet with Abe Laboriel Jr., you can't help but smile the entire time. It's not just hearing about his success stories, it's that his presence exudes a glow and inner kindness that is both spiritual and contagious. That comes from more than the happiness of a successful career, one that's found the drummer employed by such artists as Paul McCartney, Sting, Chris Isaak, Melissa Etheridge, Jennifer Love Hewitt, k.d. lang, Manhattan Transfer, Natalie Cole, Duran Duran, Dianne Reeves, Justo Almario, Jonatha Brooke, and his father Abraham Laboriel. That kind of contentment comes from upbringing and an inner peace.

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Rob Ladd
Jobbing With Don Henley
Rob Ladd has hit the big time, again. First, he did it by sharing drum duties on Alanis Morissette's smash debut, Jagged Little Pill.

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Mercedes Lander
Playing For Real
Listening to Kittie's new disc, Until The End, you might wonder how much of it is ProTooled. Lately it seems everyone is pasting together parts, and, of course, the end result is always perfect.

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Thomas Lang
Beyond Mere Speed
Thomas Lang was standing at the door of his dressing room, waiting to take his spot at the last Modern Drummer Festival Weekend. The thirty-four-year-old, Austrian-born drummer, now a resident of England, was an unknown quantity to this discriminating crowd. By rights, he ought to have been quaking in his shoes. Bigger names than him were nibbling fingernails backstage.

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Thomas Lang
Where No Drummer Has Gone Before
If The Rock is the undisputed champion of wrestling, then Thomas Lang is the king of clinics. If you haven't seen him, rest assured he's hot on the circuit and will be performing at a venue near you shortly.

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Shannon Larkin
Showman
Growing up, Shannon Larkin worshipped at the twin altars of Neil Peart and John Bonham. To say that he was into classic rock would be an understatement. So getting a call to play a one-off show with Black Sabbath in 1997 was the thrill of a lifetime.

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Wilson Laurencin
Late Night In Canada
If you live anywhere in Canada or the northern states, you're going to recognize Wilson Laurencin from the television show Open Mike With Mike Bullard. And you don't have to wait the whole show to catch a glimpse of Wilson, either. The camera's constantly on the house band as they provide a foil to the host. In Canada, the Bullard show ratings have soared beyond Letterman, Leno, and other late-night alternatives.

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Matt Lawrence
Teaching By Example
Before he took over the drum throne for Sinomatic, Matt Lawrence got some of his biggest drumming kicks as a teacher. "A kid comes in, not knowing how to play, and a year later he can do quads and triplets on the set," Lawrence says.

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Tommy Lee
Bigger Than Ever
Tommy Lee rushes into the rehearsal hall where Motley Crue is preparing for their year-long reunion tour, which begins in February, to support their new best-of album, Red, White & Crue.

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Tony Leone
The Gospel Of Groove
When Tony Leone moved to New York City in 1998, his intent was to focus on straight-ahead jazz, and he started gigging with such jazz icons as Lou Donaldson and Illinois Jacquet, along with saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotunde, and trombonist Steve Davis.

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Shannon Leto

"Music is a language," says 30 Seconds To Mars drummer Shannon Leto, "and I grew up with that language. I haven't had any schooling whatsoever, but because I grew up with music all around me, I just got it.

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Lee Levin
Laying It Down Miami Style
Miami's Lee Levin has played drums on the last several Ricky Martin recordings, as well as on some recent live dates. He's also on the Latin star's upcoming English-language record.

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Brian Levy
Looking To Be Different
When LA-based alternative rockers Portable released their 1999 debut, Secret Life, their decidedly retro sound was very similar to Britain's arty post-punks Gang Of Four; a late '70s/early '80s influence echoed in the band's visual image of matching dark suits and skinny ties.

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Jaki Liebezeit
Can's Rhythm Wizard Builds A New Kind Of Beat
In a way, I think the drumkit is finished."

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Zach Lind
Playin' It Right Down The Middle
It's ironic that Jimmy Eat World, one of indie rock's front-runners (alongside peers like The Promise Ring and The Get Up Kids), a band that's seen their fan base swell in exponential proportions in the past year, have never released a full-length album on an independent label. Unlike their contemporaries who've hashed it out for years on struggling, bedroom-based record companies with minimal tour support and microscopic recording budgets, the Eat Worlds inked their first record contract with Capitol Records fresh out of high school in 1995. And though many would think signing a deal with a major label would equate to instant success, Jimmy Eat World's two-album tenure on Capitol hardly put a blip on the radar of mainstream rock.

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Joe Lizama
Subtle Support
Twenty years is a long time to work with one artist, but Joe Lizama has no complaints about his employer, Johnny Mathis. "He's a great singer," Lizama says, "he's a nice person to work for, and the check is in the bank every week.

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Sam Loeffler
Kickin' It In Gear
Literally a few days before our interview with Sam Loeffler, the news came that Chicago trio Chevelle had just been awarded platinum status (sales of one million copies) for their sophomore effort, Wonder What's Next. And that's exactly the question that's been on the minds of Chevelle fans - after an impressively sudden surge in popularity, what is next for the heavy rock outfit that bears the classic Chevrolet moniker?

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Sam Loeffler
Change For The Better
When bassist Joe Loeffler left Chevelle in 2005, brothers Pete (guitar, vocals) and Sam (drums) kept the group’s family vibe by inviting their brother-in-law Dean Bernardini to join them.

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Dave Lombardo
Back In Slayer!
Just as Modern Drummer went to press with the Update on Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph (February 2002 issue), word came in that Bostaph had to forfeit the gig due to a chronic elbow injury that could worsen if he continued to perform with the act. Slayer's management looked no further than a man of the past for a temporary tour replacement, legendary Slayer skinsman Dave Lombardo.


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Dave Lombardo
Return Of The King
Instead of waxing poetic about what metal drumming living legend Dave Lombardo does behind the kit—you know, those punishing 16th-note kicks at rapid-fire tempos, incredible runs across his half-dozen rack toms, spastic patterns, and awe-inspiring phrases—it might be better to start off telling you what Lombardo doesn’t do.

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Mike Lowry
Jamming On Beats
After nine years of non-stop touring, Baltimore's Lake Trout is regarded as one of the top jam bands in the country.

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Troy Luccketta
Now Happening
It's not unusual for bands that enjoyed success during the glory days of glam-metal to still tour today. What is rare is finding any of these groups producing new albums that don't sound hopelessly dated.

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Stan Lynch
A Heartbreaker’s Work Of Staggering Genius Behind The Music, Behind The Scenes, And Behind The Boards With Stan Lynch
When Tom Petty was asked to describe original Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch in the 2005 book Conversations With Tom Petty, the bandleader responded with, “Stan. Now there’s a book in itself.”

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Darren Lyons
The Day Gig That Kept On Giving
Darren Lyons wasn't in a rush to quit his day gig as a New York City club employee back in the early '80s. One day Peter Erskine would be setting up his kit. The next it might be Steve Jordan or Al Foster. Then, at the end of the night, when Darren had stacked all the chairs, he'd sit down at their kits, all the while accumulating the impressive chops he now uses leading The Darren Lyons Group.

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