Features
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Kenny Malone’s Quest For Knowledge
The one thing that Kenny Malone wanted to communicate most during our interview was a sense of joy. He told me so, although he didn’t have to. His whole make-up—who he is as a person and how he approaches music—is…
Adam Woods — breaking the rules
In England, it’s not easy to join a top-40 band and make a good living at playing music. It’s also not easy to become a virtuoso on your instrument and then spend five nights a week for years headlining the…
Johnny Blowers
His students know he’s experienced, but it’s doubtful that many realize just how experienced drummer Johnny Blowers is. In a career that spans six decades, Blowers has recorded with jazz greats such as Sidney Bechet, Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, Red…
Steve Jordan
It’s 4:00 in the afternoon, and the set of Late Night With David Letterman is crowded with people. Cameramen are setting up shots, electricians are adjusting lights, stagehands are moving things around, various assistants are checking innumerable details, and Steve…
Mickey Curry — The Man Behind The Big Bam Boom
About four years ago, Mickey Curry’s life changed radically. From the club band he had been playing with, he went straight into the major leagues, recording with Hall & Oates and Bryan Adams. He was out on the road with…
Jerry Allison — Rock Pioneer
Rock ’n’roll was born in the 1950s. The music that came out of that era laid a foundation for rock musicians to follow for years to come. Jerry Allison was one of those founding members of rock ’n’roll, coming to…
Martin Drew — British Jazz
Jazz music is an American art form and, understandably, it is dominated by American performers. However one of the most respected small groups in jazz today, the Oscar Peterson Trio, is led by a brilliant Canadian pianist accompanied by a…
Wilby Fletcher
While Wilby Fletcher is gaining a solid reputation for his steady work with such jazz notables as McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, James Moody and Ahmad Jamal, he is not locked into that single idiom. The 30-year-old drummer is equally proud…
Simple Minds’ Mel Gaynor
Mel Gaynor may be a modest, unassuming guy off stage, but behind his intimidating black drumkit, he speaks with a loud, dominant voice. Gaynor’s percussive contributions have helped Scotland’s Simple Minds develop their distinctively rich, but nevertheless, visceral, sound. Before…
Alan Dawson
In the basement studio where Alan Dawson teaches, a concert poster shows Alan dressed in a tuxedo, looking stately on his throne, drumming with Dave Brubeck. Scrawled across the top is a note from Brubeck: “Alan—thanks for the great job…
Steve Ferrone - Not Your Average Drummer
It is a bit ironic that Steve Ferrone is still recognized most as being the Average White Band’s drummer (and only non-white), after the banner year he had for himself in 1984, He crashed the R&B charts in a big…
David Robinson — Driving The Cars
There are a lot of things I want to accomplish as a drummer. There are a lot of things I want to work out and put down on tape where my ideas can take some real form,” says David Robinson…
Reminiscing with D. J. Fontana
I knew Elvis was different by his clothes and his actions on stage. I said, ‘The boy’s got something. What it is, I don’t know.’ The first show at the Louisiana Hayride was kind of lukewarm. It was a country-oriented…
Garry Peterson — Canadian Beat
What is it about Winnipeg, the lonely western Canada birthplace of two of the country’s biggest rock bands, a city that musicians leave for success? Maybe it has to do with the deep chill of the prairie winters and the…
