Portraits
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.
Gary Chaffee
One would think that a drummer of high enough caliber to play with Pat Metheny, Dave Samuels, Steve Swallow, Jaco Pastorius, Abe Laboriel, and Gary Burton would be in the middle of an exciting playing career.
Jimmy Nicol
What thoughts could you generate if you were asked to step in and play for the most famous pop/rock group of all time?
Andy White
The group that was soon to revolutionize the music world was yet to make its first recording. This event occurred on September 11 of that same year.
Jules Moss: Prepared For The Unusual
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…
Kevan McKenzie: Canadian Studio Star
Toward the end of my college years, in 1974, I joined a symphonic band. Between engagements, a master class was scheduled with Ian Bernard, during which he demonstrated the finesse that got him the job with the National Arts Centre…
Ron Krasinski
Ron Krasinski is a member of that seemingly endless fraternity of talented but unheralded drummers, without whose skills most of today’s popular recordings and live entertainment could not be produced. Not surprisingly, Ron has a strong and varied musical background,…
Chuck Riggs
Eddie Cantor used to say, “Sometimes it takes ten years to become a star overnight.” Chuck Riggs, 34, knows the feeling. He had been working with tenor sax player Scott Hamilton for a full ten years before the release of…
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…
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…
The World Of Henry Adler
JD: How did you start playing drums? HA: Both my brother and sister played instruments. I was the youngest, I loved music, and I had a feeling for drums. I grew up during the Depression, so it was very tough…
Bill Lombardo
Bill Lombardo has had an interesting career already, and he hasn’t hit 35 yet. Beginning in the early ’60s as a rock drummer, Bill participated in the San Francisco psychedelic scene. He went on to play funk, country, and top-40…
Allen Herman
Eight times a week from 1978 to 1981, an extraordinary feat of drumming took place at a Broadway theater. A Broadway show drummer sat behind an elevated drumset up on stage and re-created the artistry, excitement, and magic of Gene…
Jim Capaldi
Jimmy Miller, producer of Traffic’s second album, in 1968, quipped in the liner notes that Jim Capaldi’s time is so perfect that even the drops of sweat falling from his brow keep the beat. A flawless time-keeper he is, but…