Peter Erskine
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.
Out Now March 2025
Modern Drummer is spotlighting new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performances from the drummer and/or musicians in the band. This…
VIENNA TO HOLLYWOOD
Album projects come in different sizes and shapes. Some albums are, literally, “straight ahead” and function like a snapshot capturing a moment in time, and since jazz is a music of the moment (or, in the moment), the essence of…
Brush Playing, Not Air Conditioning Part 2
“And the seasons, they go round and roundAnd the painted ponies go up and downWe’re captive on the carousel of timeWe can’t return, we can only lookBehind, from where we cameAnd go round and round and round, in the circle…
Brush Playing, Not Air Conditioning
Getting Started Brushes are generally associated with jazz drumming more than they are with other styles of music, but they can be played and used effectively in most any genre or category of rhythm section-based music. While the following column…
The Rhythm of One’s Life
Walking from one end of Milano Malpensa to the other, the sheer size of the airport terminal is as impressive as it is daunting. My Apple Watch tells me that I’ve already met my exercise goal for the day and…
The Sounds We Make
“Chances Are.” Composed by Robert Allen and Al Stillman. Sung by Johnny Mathis. Recorded in Columbia 30th Street Studio, where Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue was also recorded.1957. I was three years old when the Mathis single was released, and I can…
Broadly Speaking
Near the conclusion of an album project being recorded in New York City at Sear Sound, I was overdubbing a simple shaker part to a track we had just recorded. Unnoticed by me, the arranger and pianist Alan Broadbent was…
Out Now August 2024
Modern Drummer enjoys spotlighting new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performances from the drummer and/or musicians in the…
It Pays To Listen
The standard advice is to listen. A common admonishment is, “You’re not listening.” There are some good quotes about listening. Malcom Forbes said, “The art of conversation lies in listening.” Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Successful…
Jack Magnet Science
As I was flying high above the clouds en route from Reykjavik, Iceland to the USA. I’d only heard of Reykjavik when I was a younger man in connection with the summit held there in 1986 between the United States…
Out Now June 2024
Modern Drummer is spotlighting new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performance from the drummer and/or musicians in the…
Shelly and his Mannerisms
This month’s column is written by Kevin van den Elzen who hails from the Netherlands and now makes his home in Los Angeles. Kevin received his master’s degree at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California…
Sorry Charlie…
Much like a melodic “ear worm” that works its way into your brain, the running theme of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube drumming videos has gotten its claws into my consciousness and conscience. The idea of “certainty” is not (for me)…
Shelly Manne: “You Can’t Have 2 and 4 Without…”
What is the essence of a musician? How do we quantify their achievements, their history, their sound, and their very being? For many of us, such revelations came by way of LPs — oftentimes not-to-secret communications from the past, but…
