Hello, all! This is my first blog for MD, and I thought I would take a little time to let you know who I am and what I’ve been up to. As for my background, I have toured with Doc Severinsen (seven years), Sergio Mendes (off and on for ten), the Captain & Tennille (ten years), Christine Ebersole, Gloria Loring, and many others. I also, way back in the day, did a couple of articles for MD titled “Brazilian Perspectives” and interviewed the great Brazilian drummer Claudio Slon before his passing. Additionally, I did two articles for Drum Business magazine.

For the past four years I have been the drummer for Steve Tyrell. I live in California, but we are currently playing a two-month run at the Café Carlyle in New York City. Steve took over for the famed Bobby Short, who had the gig at the Café Carlyle for thirty-six years. We have a new live CD from the Carlyle, and recently we performed on the Today show, which will air New Year’s Eve morning. Last year we performed on both Today and The Tonight Show. That is one of the great things about the gig—but what’s even better are the musicians I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. When we play NYC, Steve uses bass players like Ed Howard (who played with Roy Haynes for fifteen years, Shirley Horn, and many others) and David Finck (one of the busiest jazz players in town). As for horn players, we have used Lou Marini on sax (Blues Brothers, SNL, Blood Sweat And Tears), David Mann on sax (he’s worked with everyone in NYC and does many of the Broadway shows), Lew Soloff on trumpet (Manhattan Jazz Quintet, Blood Sweat And Tears), Jim Rotondi (incredible jazz trumpeter who is killing the NY jazz scene), Warren Vaché (cornet legend), and Ryan Kisor (trumpet, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra). Bob Mann (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Dreams with the Brecker Brothers), who plays with us sometimes when we’re on the East Coast, is on guitar. He has also done most of the arrangements for Steve’s CDs.

I’m currently producing a jazz singer named Margie Nelson and have some fantastic musicians on the project, including Christian Jacob (piano) and Kevin Axt (bass) from the Tierney Sutton band, as well as Quinn Johnson, who is Steve’s musical director. In addition, I have Matt Catingub playing sax. I am, of course, playing drums and percussion, and I co-arranged a lot of the songs. Margie has also asked me to sing a duet with her! Advertisement

I hope you enjoyed my little brag fest and that all of you out there in the drumming world are having a safe and happy holiday season!

For more info, including a discography and sound samples, visit www.kevinwinard.com.