April 2020 – Volume 44 • Number 4

November 1981 — Jim Keltner

A few years ago, Emil Richards took me and my wife to see Buddy Rich play at a musician’s night in a restaurant in Glendale. All the musicians in town were there, especially drummers. So after his set—which was incredible—we…

Joe Clegg’s You’re So Hybrid: Ableton Live for Drummers

Ellie Goulding’s drummer and music director has taken away our excuses for not embracing electronic-drumming technology. For a dyed-in-the-wool acoustic drum player, it’s been difficult to avoid the news that professional drumming has become hybridized. Whether the gig is with…

MD Reader's Weigh In

How old were you when you first started playing drums? Three years old. Haven’t looked back since! Herman Watson Four! It’s the best thing in the world being a student of this amazing instrument. It has given me so much.…

Sepultura’s Eloy Casagrande

Power. Passion. Precision. Eloy Casagrande was only twenty years old when he joined the legendary Brazilian metal band Sepultura. The group has roots in metal that date back to the days of MTV’s Headbangers Ball, and Eloy was born the…

Wilco’s Glenn Kotche

For a drum journalist, it was the greatest unboxing ever. Well, it would have been, if the kit that Wilco drum tech Ashwin Deepankar was about to unveil was ours to keep. Of course it wasn’t. It belonged to Glenn…

Gretsch 5.5x14 Brooklyn Standard Snare

A classic maple/poplar option designed to be one drum you can’t leave home without. Gretsch recently teamed up with endorsing artist Mike Johnston to develop a snare drum that would be extremely versatile, have a wide dynamic range, and be…

The Flower Kings’ Mirkko DeMaio

The Flower Kings—the name alone conjures images of prog-rock luminaries like Genesis and Yes, who in the late ’60s planted the seeds for all the fantasy-laden symphonic rock to come in the following decades. Swedish prog ensemble the Flower Kings…

New Releases by Charles Lloyd Quartet, Antoine Fafard, Dor Herskovitz, and More.

RECORDINGS Charles Lloyd Quartet Montreux Jazz Festival 1967 Live JACK DEJOHNETTE at a career crossroads. By the time master drummer Jack DeJohnette joined the Charles Lloyd Quartet in 1966, he’d earned sporadic cred with notable jazz leaders. But it was…

Modern Drummer 2020 Readers Poll Winners

HALL OF FAME Nicko McBrain Past Hall of Fame Winners 2019: Dave Grohl 2018: Clyde Stubblefield 2017: Peter Erskine 2016: Vic Firth 2015: Ian Paice 2014: Carmine Appice 2013: Bernard Purdie 2012: Phil Collins 2011: Jim Chapin 2010: Hal Blaine…

Social Distortion’s Dave Hidalgo Jr.

Dave Hidalgo Jr. joined Ludwig in 2010 shortly after becoming a full-time member of legendary punk band Social Distortion. “It’s pretty rad to become a part of something that you grew up listening to and being a fan of,” says…

10 Reasons to Love Jimmy Cobb

In the pantheon of late-1950s master jazz drummers, Philly Joe Jones had rudimental brilliance; Art Taylor an immaculate sense of time-feel burn; Elvin Jones, combustible triplet ferociousness; Roy Haynes, intellectual brilliance; and Shelly Manne, musical inventiveness. But when it came…

April 2020 – Volume 44 • Number 4

Meinl Artist Concept Super Stack and 16" Sand and 8" Crasher Hats

Specialized pairings designed with two of today’s most distinct and discerning players. It’s been thirty years since Meinl first teamed up with one of its endorsing artists to develop some signature models. While that original collaboration, the Tri-Tonal series, has…

The 2019 Hollywood Drum Show

A year shy of twenty, the popular gathering offered its usual mix of classic gear, new offerings from contemporary manufacturers, and thrilling performances. The nineteenth Hollywood Drum Show was held this past October at the Glendale, California, Civic Center. Packed…

Eric Kretz on Stone Temple Pilots’ Perdida

STP’s eighth studio album exchanges the group’s trademark driving rock sound for a melancholy ’60s and ’70s vibe, realized with an array of vintage instruments.   Written primarily by guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo during Stone Temple Pilots’…

Percussion Playing for Drummers

Part 1: Congas, Bongos, and Timbales As a working drummer, it’s likely that you’re going to be asked to play some hand percussion instruments at some point. This could range from overdubbing a simple 16th-note shaker part to pulling off…

Mobius’s Adrien Brunet

Being from one of the most exotic locales on earth proves to be a helpful background for a drummer interested in exploring the cross-sections of world music styles—even one with a heavy-music heart.   World-music metal? Sure, why not? The…

Drumbite Music, Jerusalem, Israel

Being a drum retailer anywhere in the world is tough. But given the divergent religions and political instability of the region, the challenges of operating a drum shop on the border of East and West Jerusalem are a bit more…

New Gear from Alesis, Tama, Gretsch, Innovative Percussion, and more

Alesis Strike Pro Special Edition Eleven-Piece Mesh Kit The new Strike Pro Special Edition drumset utilizes all-new dual-zone mesh heads for the snare and toms. The 16" ride cymbal, 14" crash, and 14" movable hi-hat are covered with a new…

Maná's Alex "El Animal" González

Mexican rock band Maná is huge. But there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard of them. And “huge” is not hyperbole, because Maná has sold millions of records since its formation in 1986, and today continues to sell out…