Feature Stories
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Mike Clark
Ironically, jazzman Mike Clark will go down in history as the guy who cut one of the slickest funk tracks in history, "Actual Proof." Recorded in the '70s with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, it featured a nimble Clark splitting up running…
Aaron Comess of Spin Doctors
When Spin Doctors parted ways with Epic Records several years ago, many wondered if we'd ever see another album from the guys who seemed to rule the early-'90s airwaves. After instant initial success, the future turned iffy, to say the…
Tre Cool: Update
By just looking at Tre Cool you can tell there's a touch of the devil in him. Listening to Warning, the latest collection of tunes he and his Green Day cohorts put out in October, it's obvious Beelzebub rears his…
Ken Coomer of Wilco
For the past five years Wilco has been the ideal forum for Ken Coomer's experimentation. Within the band's swirling mix, which touches on The Beatles, Hank Williams, and many points between, Coomer's ability to play just what's required - and…
Stewart Copeland: An Interview
Following are excerpts and additional coverage from the Stewart Copeland feature in the November, 2001 issue of Modern Drummer. A case can be made that Stewart Copeland is the single most influential drummer of the last twenty-plus years. A…
Jody Cortez: Breathing Life Into Loops
Jody Cortez has recently released a CD of loops under the banner King Cortez called Killer Loops (Big Fish Audio). "It encompasses performances in Latin, bebop, jazz, reggae, rock, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and straight-ahead rock," Cortez says. (It's available online…
Matthew Cross: Orange 9MM's Stickman Is No Pretender
Recording Pretend I'm Human proved to be a radical departure for Orange 9MM drummer Matthew Cross, an old hand at laying out well-rehearsed rhythm tracks while sitting behind the glass. "We demoed like seventy songs in the past year and…
Nick D'Virgilio
Phil Collins began his successful musical career as the exciting young drummer for an obscure prog band from England called Genesis. He eventually worked his way out from behind the drumkit to center stage as the lead vocalist. As lead…
Duduka Da Fonseca: Samba Deep
As a teenager growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Duduka Da Fonseca witnessed Brazil's bossa nova revolution firsthand. With renowned drummer Joao Palma as a neighbor, Duduka was accepted into an inner circle of drummers including Edison Machado, Dom Um…
Damon Delapaz
Just over a year ago, Damon Delapaz was the guitarist for Houston, Texas-based pop-punk band FenixTX, then an underground independent group whose tracks hadn't even hit major radio rotation. Yet, all that changed within a matter of a few short…
Zach Danziger
Like a musical cat, Zach Danziger has had more lives than most drummers have sticks. The New York-born drummer cut his teeth with Michel Camilo, Chuck Loeb, and Wayne Krantz, but just when his rhythmic intelligence seemed destined to make…
Jack DeJohnette
"When I play, I go into an altered state, a different headspace. I plug into my higher self, into the cosmic library of ideas." "The sound of my music was changing as fast as I was changing musicians," jazz legend…
Cody Dickinson: Defining An Artist
"It's a misconception that blues music is simple and easy to play," says Cody Dickinson of The North Mississippi All-Stars. "When you start dealing with the swing element and the feel, it gets tough. It's much harder than straight-8th rock."…
Marko Djordjevic
Marko Djordjevic brought the crowd to life at the johnnyraBB NAMM concert/party last summer in Nashville. The Yugoslavian-born player won over the drum enthusiasts with his mix of impressive chops, quick thinking, and sheer joy of playing. It was clear…
