Modern Drummer Magazine

Hall of Fame: 1980 Big Band: 1979,’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85 Jazz: 1981, ’82,  ’83, ’84 You’ve got to love the guy. Let’s face it: He doesn’t have to be out there on the road all the time. He could be taking it easy, because the contribution he has made to drumming has ensured […]

Hall of Fame: 1983 Rock: 1980, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85 Recorded Performance: 1981, ’82, ’83, ’85 Multi-Percussionist: 1983, ’84, ’85 Percussion Instrumentalist: 1982 Most Promising New Drummer: 1980 Like attracts like. As I’ve traveled about the northeastern portion of the U. S. over the last two years. I’ve run into Neil Peart fans in […]

Hall Of Fame: 1984 Studio: 1979, ’80, ’81, ’82. ’83. ’84, ’85 All Around: 1979, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85 Recorded Performance: 1979 Steve Gadd hardly needs an introduction here. Maybe he would in People magazine or in the newspaper, U.S.A. Today, but not in Modern Drummer. Actually, if you’re a drummer and don’t […]

  Hall Of Fame: 1985 One thing never changes—Louie Bellson’s constant desire to change. When I interviewed Louie for MD five years ago, that fact struck me. When we got together recently, that aspect remained most blatant. His open mind and continual quest to keep abreast of the times have certainly made him one of […]

Electric Jazz: 1985 (co-winner) It was a fairly typical Monday night at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was grooving along, supported as usual by the mellow swing of the drummer. In this particular band, the role of the drums isn’t so much to cut through as it is […]

Country: 1985 WHEN Steve Perry called Larrie Londin to do Steve’s solo album last year, it was obvious that Perry knew something that a lot ofpeople don’t know—or at least weren’t aware of yet: that Larrie is so much more than a country drummer. Perry wanted someone who could give him a great R&B feel, […]

  Electric Jazz: 1985 (co-winner) Don’t try putting a label on Omar Hakim. Warner Bros, tried it a couple of years ago: They wanted to promote Hakim as a multi-instrumentalist/singer, but before the album could be made, Omar accepted an offer to become Weather Report’s drummer. Okay, so that gig defined what Hakim really was: a […]

  Reggae: 1984, ’85 Kingston, Jamaica is full of young, aspiring musicians. Ride past any of the city’s recording studios—Tuff Gong, Dynamic, Channel One, Aquarius—and you’ll see barefoot kids hanging out, listening to the riddims that escape through the fence or wall, and occasionally skanking in the hot sun. You can tell the kids who […]

Mainstream Jazz: 1985 I’ve had several phone conversations with Alan Dawson over the years, but I never had the opportunity to meet with him face to face until we did this interview. I was excited about questioning Alan on musical trends and styles of the past ten years, and getting his thoughts about the future. […]

Rhythm & Blues: 1980, ’81, ’82, ’83 Funk: 1984, ’85 You have to admire someone who is successful and happy doing something, but stops because he doesn’t feel that he is growing. Such was the case with David Garibaldi when he left Tower OfPower in 1980. The question that arose was whether he felt truly […]

It’s hard to describe just what Jules Moss is playing with the Graham Moses band. If you had to give it just one name, you ’d probably say “jazz,” because that’s the term usually applied to unique or unusual music of almost any style outside mainstream rock or pop, and not readily indentifiable as an […]