An Anniversary is typically a time to celebrate, but it can also be a time to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future. And so, when the editors got together to plan a special issue to mark the beginning of Modern Drummer’s tenth year, it was agreed that the focus would be to assess the current state of the art by looking back at how it was arrived at, and then looking ahead to predict where it might be going. As always, the answers had to come from the drummers themselves. The editors, therefore, had to assemble a list of artists whose diversity of styles would add up to a harmonious overview of today’s drumming trends. And for this list to truly represent the current state of the art, it was essential that all of the drummers chosen be at the very top of their respective areas. […]