October 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 10
Articles in October 2018
Sugar Percussion - Stave Mahogany Bop Kit
A gorgeous handcrafted instrument with supreme sonics to match its flawless appearance.
The “Bam Bam” Kit
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based drummer Patrick “Pattycake” Morris custom ordered this 3.1 mm aluminum-shell drumset from Trick Drums. The kit features a unique pine-tree wrap, which the drummer specifically requested from the manufacturer. “My idea for the kit came from being…
Drumset Ergonomics - Part 4: Snare and Floor Tom Positioning
If you’ve been applying the concepts we’ve discussed so far in this series, you should now be seated comfortably at your kit, with the throne and pedals placed so that your hips and back are in the safest possible positions.…
Bon Jovi’s Tico Torres
When singer Jon Bon Jovi quit his cover band to front the New Jersey originals group the Rest, most who witnessed his passion and drive knew it wouldn’t take long for the charismatic frontman to put his own band together…
Joe Magistro on the Magpie Salute’s High Water I
Long-running relationships, veteran perspectives, and killer tones power the first studio release from a collective of seasoned pros.
Bernard Purdie
On every track of his new album, Cool Down, the iconic R&B drummer burns like a house on fire in a live-in-the-studio setting. “And would you believe,” the pretty one adds, “with no overdubs at all!”
Paiste - Masters Dry and Extra Dry Rides
Ultimate articulation and control without sacrificing tone and expressivity.
Pre-Gig Calibration
Photo by John Leiby Being an employable drummer in 2018 carries more demands than it did in 1918, especially when it comes to melding live performances with the variety of A/V technology being used by most pop, rock, and R&B…
John “Jabo” Starks: 1938-2018
“He had that ‘stop-your-heart’ groove.” That’s how Fred Wesley, former bandleader for the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown, describes the drumming of John Starks, who died this past May 1 at the age of seventy-nine. And the description is apt.…
Lamb of God’s Chris Adler
Legion: XX (pronounced “legion twenty”) commemorates the twentieth anniversary of Lamb of God’s first album release. As most metal fans are aware, that original album was actually the self-titled debut of Burn the Priest; drummer Chris Adler, bassist John Campbell,…
Conrad Choucroun with White Denim
The longtime Austin drumming workhorse reflects back on touring and recording with the stylistically diverse rock band.
Jethro Tull’s Stand Up
As the drummer for the progressive/folk/hard rock band Jethro Tull in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Clive Bunker infused the group’s music with a frenetic, raw energy. Body twitching, using the butt end of his sticks, Bunker beautifully brutalized…
Jonathan Barber, Kobie Watkins Grouptet, Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band, Jack DeJohnette, and more!
RECORDING Taking the Reins Photo by Gulnara Khamatova Jonathan Barber VisionAhead The debut recording from the top Up & Coming drummer in this year’s Readers Poll isn’t your typical young-gun-goes-for-the-jugular release. Jonathan Barber’s feel is light and propulsive. You can…
Damian Marley‘s Courtney “Bam“ Diedrick
(Featured Image by Francesco Sciolti) Courtney “Bam” Diedrick grew up in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica, only a few miles from the birthplace of Bob Marley, the leader of the Wailers, reggae’s most iconic band. Diedrick couldn’t have imagined that…