January 1984 – Volume 8 • Number 1
Articles in January 1984
Ignacio Berroa and Daniel Ponce
In Verna Gillis' apartment in Greenwich Village's west side, the doorbell rings with a special rhythm—the clave; the beat that underlies almost all Cuban music. And if Verna's phone could ring to that rhythm, it would because she owns Soundscape,…
Abbey Rader
SF: You're a musician who's referred to as an expatriot who started his career in the U.S. and then moved to West Germany. What prompted the move? AR: I moved in about 1978. I'd been living in New York and…
Style and Analysis: U2's Larry Mullen
Larry Mullen plays drums with the very popular three-piece band, U2. Larry and bassist Adam Clayton lay down a solid foundation for the guitar. U2 is a prime example of a drummer and bass player working together as a unit.…
Practicing With Records
When I was a young drummer, practicing with records was very difficult. Headphones and stereo sets were not available. I would turn up the volume on my small record player to the point where I could hear it over the…
Jackie Santos: No Labels, Please
Duke Ellington is credited with grouping all music into two categories: good and bad. And as humorous as it might be to envision record shops with all the records dumped into either a "good" bin or a "bad" bin, I…
L.A. Studio Drummers Roundtable, Part 2
Jim Keltner, Jeff Porcaro, Rick Marotta, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Craig Krampf Times have certainly changed. Circa 1964, the exposure of the Beatles altered the lives of most would-be musicians of that era. For those who fancied playing instruments, the dream…
L.A. Studio Drummers Roundtable, Part 1
Jim Keltner, Hal Blaine, Shelly Manne, Craig Krampf, Vinnie Colaiuta Times have certainly changed. Circa 1964, the exposure of the Beatles altered the lives of most would-be musicians of that era. For those who fancied playing instruments, the dream…
Slim Jim Phantom — The Aesthetics of Bangin' and Yellin'
The first thing you notice about Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats—aside from the tattoos that seem to crawl up and down both arms—is, well, his slimness. Tall and in credibly lanky, Jim Phantom hardly resembles a drummer as…
Papa Jo Jones
"I don't waste time," Papa Jo says, the words snapping upside my head like a malevolent rimshot, the eyes bugging out and his voice becoming as hard and sharp as flint. "Time is too precious. Sheeeeeetttt. I've never wasted time…