Claus Hessler’s 5/4 Drum Solo on “Thunderstorm” With Flux Trio

In this video, German drummer/educator Claus Hessler, who’s featured in the June 2016 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, takes a solo on the tune “Thunderstorm” with his trio Flux at the Australian Drummer’s Weekend 2015. “This footage was captured live in Germany last November when performing with my trio Flux, which is Paul Gehrig on Hammond and Rhodes and Thomas Langer on guitar,” says Hessler. “This excerpt is taken from our song ‘Thunderstorm.’ The drum solo section is in 5/4. Of course, you could also look at it as 10/8 or a quintuplet-based structure, depending on how you hear it.

“The first part of the solo is accompanied by Paul on Hammond doubling the cowbell part of my foot ostinato. The major challenge is to allow for as much musical freedom as possible while keeping the feet accurate with the organ. Making it look easy, relaxed, and effortless is one of my goals in music. Unfortunately I always look like I’m not having any fun when I’m in this relaxed mode. I need to practice my smile while playing!”

Read more about Claus in the June 2016 issue of Modern Drummer,  which is available here.