Dave Weckl

Review By Rob Coen St. Louis, home of great bar-b-que, the Gateway Arch, the Chesterfield Jazz and Wine Festival and drumming legend himself, Dave Weckl. Filmed and recorded at the 2019 Chesterfield Jazz and Wine Festival, this The Dave Weckl Band Live album is a triumph of musical mastery. Accompanying …

Review by Rob Coen Chemical Reactions – Album by Gavin Harrison & Antoine Fafard Chemical Reactions – Released on Dec 11, 2020 – The latest Prog-Fusion meets orchestral music collaboration between Antoine Fafard and Gavin Harrison, UK virtuoso musicians. Add Jerry Goodman on acoustic and electric Violin, and the orchestral …

Guitarist Oz Noy’s upcoming album, Snapdragon, which comes out on November 6, will feature three of the greatest fusion drummers of all time: Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Dennis Chambers. A slew of other recognizable names also appear: bassists John Patitucci, James Genus, and Will Lee; keyboardists Brian Charette, David …

Modern Drummer is rebooting its world-famous Drum Festival on September 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with a live-streaming event honoring the late, great Rush drummer Neil Peart. Proceeds of ticket sales will benefit brain tumor research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The event, which will be produced and distributed …

Hey all! I wanted to share a project that is a little different than my usual jazz/fusion content. Although I don’t get the opportunity too much these days, I’ve always loved playing with, for, and behind great vocalists. I really enjoy finding the right drum part and feel for the …

Nick used a Tama Star Maple kit to bring home the “money.” If the reaction of Modern Drummer readers is any indication, Nick D’Virgilio must have a smash hit on his hands with his new album, Invisible [Sweetwater Studios]. The community has certainly embraced the record, blowing up our socials …

Yamaha bestowed the company’s Legacy in Education Award to Marc Dicciani and Tom Aungst at the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), held November 13-16 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Cathy Rich and I brought Buddy’s band back as a touring, living, breathing sixteen-piece big band. The group features alumni who played with the BR Band at some time in their careers and who now travel the world to bring Buddy’s music back to the masses.

Josh Roossin here and I play drums in the LA-based rock n’ roll band the Jacks.

The reason I’m here “On The Beat” is because I just finished producing a great singer/songwriter, Molly Tentarelli, and she has five of the greatest drummers in the biz on her record as well as one of the world’s best percussionists.

Hey, everybody! First, I want to thank Modern Drummer for inviting me to be featured here “On The Beat!” Hopefully it’s the first of many more to come.

Hello MD! I said rock and roll was a young man’s game. It is. I said I’d retire at thirty. I did.

Hey there Modern Drummer world! I’m Ben Reimer. I’ve been reading MD since the ’80s and I’m thrilled to be sharing a bit about what I’m up to these days.

Mark Love has been promoted to the position of Director of Research and Product Development at Sabian.

(l. to r.) Larnell Lewis, Dave Weckl, Tommy Aldridge Yamaha Drums assembled nearly two-dozen world-renowned drummers on September 30 for live music, a celebration of the company’s innovation and success over the last fifty years, and an exploration of the company’s plans for the future. More than 400 people gathered …

The all-new Dave Weckl online school includes HD video lessons with sound mixed by Dave, full play-along packages, and exclusive live footage from current tours with “lessons from the hotel room.”

Hi everyone, Gregg Potter here! Buddy Rich would have been one hundred years old this September. Unfortunately, his body left us thirty years ago this month, but his soul remains. I know the drumming community can all agree on the fact that Buddy Rich is one of the most influential …

On Nathan East’s second solo album, Reverence, he once again steps into the spotlight as bandleader. Produced by East and Yamaha Entertainment Group of America founder Chris Gero, it’s no surprise that shortly after its debut (less than one month ago), the album hit the number-one spot on both the …

Hello MD! With the nickname “Memphis,” it’s not hard to tell where I’m from. I grew up around a lot of musicians and have been playing drums since age two. I’m currently with the soul/funk/R&B band, Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal. With the band, I get to use various styles …

Grammy-winning guitarist/producer Lee Ritenour will host the biennial Six String Theory Competition for the fifth time with applications accepted in guitar, bass, piano/keyboards, and drums. Registration is open until May 15, 2016 on the website by submitting two YouTube videos….

Dave Weckl and his longtime musical partner, keyboardist Jay Oliver, are releasing a two-hour movie about the making of their 2014 release, Convergence. 



Dave Weckl and his longtime musical partner, keyboardist Jay Oliver, are releasing a two-hour movie about the making of their 2014 release, Convergence. 



Over the course of his forty-year career traveling the globe to teach, perform, and conduct clinics, Dom Famularo has interacted with some of the finest drummers and drum instructors in the world. The following list contains many of those names, organized by country/continent. If you’re looking for top-notch drum instruction, …

Vic’s Drum Shop will host the Drum Fantasy Camp at its North Loomis Street location in the Music Garage, Chicago this August 7 through Tuesday, August 11.

Hey drummers! I’m Geoff Daking of the Blues Magoos. I started playing in the early ’60s in Delaware. When I was in high school I came to New York City on weekends to see Monk, Cannonball, and Coltrane with those great drummers like Elvin Jones. I moved to Greenwich Village …

Some great things have happened in my career, but being featured in the current (April 2015) issue of Modern Drummer is a dream come true, especially as I’ve also just discovered that both MD and I were born in 1977….

Hello, MD readers. Vince here. I consider myself eternally blessed. From an early age, I was able to experience music from the very best seat in the house—backstage. My mom took me to all the greatest gigs, giving me a rare chance to see, hear, and really experience music, unlike …

We asked the members of the Modern Drummer Education Team if they felt that it’s important for all drummers to study Latin music and other musical genres, even if they don’t intend to ever perform those styles. Here’s what they had to say….

The term effects, or FX, is applied to a wide array of cymbals, from tiny splashes to giant, oddly shaped sheets of metal to cymbals with tambourine jingles riveted to them. The key to helping customers find that unique voice they’ve been missing in their setup is to know what’s …

See what’s in the January 2015 Issue of Modern Drummer featuring Dave Weckl and where to get it….

As a traveling musician in the traditional big top, I am able to implement my strong music theory background and improvisational skills while providing accompaniment and action on stage as my role of the “Goddess of Rhythm.???

What is the rhythmic essence of progressive music? What makes prog so different from other genres? Does it require a specific skill set on the drumkit, or does the nature of the music make it open to interpretation? MD posed these and other questions to the drummers in Spock’s Beard, …

The “Original??? Long Island Drum Center will present jazz/fusion great Dave Weckl in an exciting drum clinic on Thursday, October 16 at 7 pm….

I’m a twenty-four-year-old session drummer from Sydney, Australia. I’ve toured, played, and recorded for many Australian artists, such as Ngaiire, Mike Nock, James Morrison, Lancelot, Toucan, Phebe Starr, Pluto Jonze, Argentina, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Mrs. Bishop, Tim Fitz, and Iluka….

Legendary GRAMMY® winning guitarist/producer Lee Ritenour has announced the stellar list of musicians assembled as judges for the 4th Bi-Annual Six String Theory Competition.

Aquiles Priester, who recently was announced as Midas Fate’s drummer, will be performing at London Drum Show on October 13….

We asked the members of the MD Education Team to share their thoughts on how they prefer to tune their drums. Here’s what they had to say….

For the seventh consecutive year, Drum Fantasy Camp will allow drummers of all ages, playing levels, and musical genres to spend time in small classes with some of the world’s great drummers. This year’s camp will be held August 8 through 12 at the Hyatt Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio….

Greetings, fellow drummers. Bruce Becker here. I am currently residing in Los Angeles and have been recording and gigging with my brother David for thirty years. I am very involved in teaching as well….

The February 2013 issue of Modern Drummer magazine features renowned bassist Mark Egan sharing some of the lessons he’s learned from working with drumming royalty. Here he focuses the discussion on the unique qualities and skills each of these players brings to the table….

Is traditional grip a useful technique that drum students should learn? We asked the members of the MD Education Team if they think traditional grip is relevant in today’s teachings. Here’s what they had to say.

This October 20 and 21, the Montreal Drum Fest will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary with performances by Horacio “El Negro??? Hernandez, Dave Weckl, Keith Carlock, Stanton Moore, and more….

Hello, Modern Drummer readers. I last spoke to you in January. At that time, I was just beginning this Buddy Rich odyssey. We’re now getting ready to do our first extended tour, starting in mid-August.

A few months back Michael and I finally had time to jam out in one of the studio sessions I had planned. We mesh really well together and are musically in sync, so when we get together it just works. I love classical styles and blurring it with contemporary music, …

The Buddy Rich 25th Anniversary Memorial Concert takes place for the first time in the UK at the London Palladium on 2nd April 2012. The  lineup is confirmed as Dave Weckl,  John Blackwell and Gregg Potter from the USA and Ian Paice, Ginger Baker, Gavin Harrison and Elliott Henshaw from the UK. Singing supremo Tony Christie will also appear. One of Buddy Rich’s …

This article originally ran in the September 2005 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

Right up until his passing on October 11, Freddie Gruber was a source of deep and important knowledge for many top drummers.

Sabian gives drummers from around the world the ability to choose the brand’s next four cymbals.

As a result of the tremendous success of SABIAN U, SABIAN has just announced the launch of a Band & Orchestral curriculum. Comprised of 4 brand new courses, the new curriculum is specifically designed for retailers who sell Band & Orchestral instruments…

Welcome once again to the MD Readers Poll, where the greatest drummers on the planet are honored by the most educated drum fans around. Let’s get right to it: the envelope, please….

More with the phenomenal drummer/educator, who was featured in the January 2011 issue of MD. His is one of the most closely observed careers in R&B, fusion, gospel, and pop drumming, with acts like Israel Houghton & New Breed, Chaka Khan, Christina Aguilera, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, Randy Brecker, and New …

Story by Billy AmendolaBetween his appearance on this year’s Grammys and his upcoming performance at the Oscars, JR continues his conversation with MD about what a typical day in the studio is like, his early influences, his upcoming DVD, drum solos, reading charts, and taking a break from the studio …

I’m Jason Ganberg of the British rock band Purple Melon. Just dropping you guys a few lines about what I’ve been up to out in L.A. and how everything has developed for me since I started drumming back in England fifteen years ago!…

Photo by Marc Rouve You can probably guess I dabble a bit on the old drumkit myself, and it is always difficult trying to explain to someone what it looks like sitting on that throne—the best seat in the house. With my images in the book I try to give …

Photo by Marc Rouve You can probably guess I dabble a bit on the old drumkit myself, and it is always difficult trying to explain to someone what it looks like sitting on that throne—the best seat in the house. With my images in the book I try to give …

Very few drummers have had as dramatic an impact on the entire drumming industry as Dave Weckl…

Ciao, MD readers! Let me just savor this moment…. Wow! I could never imagine, not even in my wildest dreams of glory as a teenage drummer, that one day I’d have been given the chance to write a blog for Modern Drummer! Okay, what can I tell you? My name’s …

What’s up, MD readers! Thanks for taking the time to read this blog entry, and a huge thanks to Modern Drummer for giving me the opportunity to do so! My name is Kevin Hogle, and I play in a band called 500 Miles To Memphis. We hail from Cincinnati, Ohio, …

Yo, what up, MD? This is ya boy Chris Johnson from Los Angeles, California. Like many others in this field, I started playing in church—my dad’s church, to be exact. So I was always there to play, practice, and everything. Needless to say, I was born in the church. Due …

Hey, everyone, this is Cole Marcus. I recently turned eleven years old, and I’ve been playing drums professionally since the age of three.

Alan Dawson was an outstanding jazz drummer and a legendary teacher. Alan was known for his ingenious use of rudiments, his melodic approach to drumming, and an extremely advanced level of hand and foot coordination.

In celebration of the great, sometimes groundbreaking drumming performances of TV’s golden age, we present to you highlights along the illustrious Drumming On TV timeline…

I am Brandt Frenchman, and I’ve been a drummer for most of my life. I love all types and styles of music, although I’ve always gravitated toward the heavier rock side of things.

Talking with Perkins, you get the vibe that the L.A.–based rocker’s life is way more than hitting the skins for the duration of a show or recording session….

Los Angeles–based drummer Steve Holmes started the Vinnie Colaiuta/Dave Weckl fan site HouseOfDrumming.com several years ago because, as he puts it, “They’ve shown me what it sounds like to obtain freedom on the instrument.”

My name is Stephen Nicholson. I grew up in the city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I became interested in drumming around the age of nine….

Chris Bailey was born in Sheffield, England, on January 5, 1974, and has been surrounded by music his whole life. His dad played guitar and his mom sang, and early on Chris discovered he had an uncanny talent for the drums. At age eight he was already playing in his …

For the past five years, Michigan native Derico Watson has held one of the most coveted chairs a drummer could imagine, touring regularly with pioneering bassist Victor Wooten.

“I stopped focusing on the muscles in my arms and started focusing on the big fat muscle in my head. That’s where the good stuff comes from.???

Jon Wysocki has been laying down his tasteful, well thought–out grooves with the chart-topping band Staind for thirteen years. The group, which hails from Springfield, Massachusetts, also includes lead singer/guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, and bassist/vocalist Johnny April. They’ve recorded six studio albums and four number-one singles, and …

I've been playing for about twelve years now. I started when I lived in Helsinki, Finland.

I started off as a rock drummer, but over time I’ve evolved into classical, jazz, and world-music playing styles…

I was introduced to drumming as a source of self-discipline at the age of eight. That's when I got a five-piece drumkit, fell in love with rhythm, and became obsessed. It became the center of my life….

I've been incredibly blessed in life. I've been playing drums for nearly thirty years, and like many of you out there, I started out playing at home as a child and was quickly hooked on playing the instrument….

Hello, MD family! 2008 has been a blessed and busy year, with more great things to come! My name is Marcus Baylor, and I am the drummer with The Yellowjackets.

Facility vs. humility. (Being a professional Modern Drummer.) And the winner is?

I started studying drums at the age of twelve, when my parents gave me permission to switch from the piano over to classical percussion at the conservatory….

Shawn Glyde’s Alternate Rhythm CD combines complex arrangements, rhythmic displacement, and technical expertise to create a brilliant, time-tumbling debut….

A new breed of drummer has emerged over the past decade. This elite group of international super-drummers has changed the face of drumming and raised the bar on speed, ambidextrous technique, soloing, stick tricks, multi-pedal coordination, and independence to levels that seem unimaginable to most drummers….

As the drummer for one of the hottest acts working today, you might think that Bob Bryar is a “flash in the pan??? success story. But he’s had to go through a lot to get to where he is today….

Last summer I got to experience what it might have been like at Beatles concert at the height of Beatlemania. On separate occasions I saw shows by two new bands: The Click Five, from America, and McFly, from the UK. Not since I saw Hanson a few years ago did …

Growing up on a mix of R&B, pop, rock, and country, David Northrup, originally from Syracuse New York, moved south in the early ’90s playing sessions and gigging the Florida club scene. One of those gigs led him to meeting and working with ace session guitarist Les Dudek…

‘N Sync, a pop band backed by live musicians, have gained a reputation of spectacle and not-to-be-missed precision. MD Online recently caught up with rising drum star Billy Ashbaugh, the man who keeps it all together….

In between those gigs he’ll squeeze in a performance with Ricky Martin, Stevie Nicks, or Jennifer Lopez, among other top acts. But Danny’s brain is always thinking: How do I make my playing better? Equally important to him these days: How do I make the instruments I play better? Enter …

When twenty-five-year-old Eric Harland was a teenager, he weighed an astonishing 380 pounds, making him a target of cruel children, mean-spirited teachers, and sometimes, his own family. “I would walk into a clothing store and the employees would just laugh,” recalls the Texas native. “Man,” they would say, “we don’t …

“There are several cool things about the recording of the new Fates Warning release, Disconnected,” says drummer Mark Zonder. “For me, one of the best things was being able to record my drum parts in my own studio. I practiced a lot for this record, and in doing so I …

In viewing the Compositional Drumming DVD by Washington, DC born Sean Rickman, one is immediately taken aback by his advanced drumming skills. No question, he is in a league with fusion greats Dennis Chambers, Steve Smith, and Dave Weckl. Rickman, also a talented multi-instrumentalist, composed the complex music and played …

Four years ago, when John Otto was first featured in Modern Drummer, the then twenty-three-year-old spoke with a wisdom and knowledge that belied his age….

The scene: a cold night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at North On Sixth, a multi-level hole in the wall jook joint where the bathroom graffiti is more political than obscene. Attracting a crowd of Manhattan intellectuals and Brooklyn deadheads, North On Sixth is tonight showcasing Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra. A collection …