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No other retailer o ers more for drummers than SweetwaterVolume 44 • Number 9 Cover photo by Felipe “Peeps” Laverde CONTENTSCONTENTS ON THE COVER 21 ONLINE EDUCATION In an exclusive feature, we talk to six of the biggest names in online education—Dave Weckl, Dom Famularo, Bill Bachman, Mike Johnston, Russ Miller, and Don Lombardi—and share with you their successful methods. We also hip you to the live- streaming gear you need to get up and running and eighteen Instagram drummers to watch. Plus, drum students celebrate the teachers that mentor them. by Ilya Stemkovsky, David Ciauro, and Thomas Anello EQUIPMENT 12 PRODUCT CLOSE-UP ddrum Dominion Birch with Ash Veneer Drumset Roland TD-27KV V-Drums Paiste Formula 602 Additions Arturia AudioFuse 8Pre Interface 56 IN THE STUDIO Brothers Osborne’s Adam Box 80 SPOTLIGHT Kentville Drums 82 NEW AND NOTABLE LESSONS 60 STRICTLY TECHNIQUE Stick Technique Revisited, Part 3 by Bill Bachman 64 STYLE AND ANALYSIS Jojo Mayer, Part 1 by Terry Branam 70 JAZZ DRUMMERS’ WORKSHOP The Charleston: The Root Rhythm of Jazz and Beyond by Jordan Young 72 FIRST PERSON Beats and Fills: A Smattering of Favorites by Don Lombardi 74 ROCK PERSPECTIVES Odd Groupings on the Offbeats by Aaron Edgar 76 OFF THE RECORD Remembering Neil Peart, Part 1: “Malignant Narcissism” by Don Lombardi 78 BASICS 5 Fun Lessons to Get Young People into Drumming DEPARTMENTS 4 AN EDITOR’S OVERVIEW Stay Inspired! by David Frangioni 6 READERS’ PLATFORM What Was Your First Favorite Drum Record? 79 A DIFFERENT VIEW Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering 84 RETAILER PROFILE Wood & Weather 88 KIT OF THE MONTH On the Road to Rockford 90 CRITIQUE Rush’s 40th-Anniversary Permanent Waves, plus new releases by Sweet Spirt, Victor DeLorenzo, and more 94 IN MEMORIAM Bill Rieflin 96 BACK THROUGH THE STACK Antonio Sánchez, August 2015 8 JOHN DOLMAYAN System of a Down’s drummer has released a solo album of diverse, reimagined covers— and an exciting new original comic series. by Ben Meyer 10 JAY RUDOLPH He’s contributed to the music of Nick Waterhouse, Rayland Baxter, and Weyes Blood, who he toured with in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. by Lia Braswell 46 AVENUES TO EXCELLENCE 15 MD cover artists reveal the big ideas that put rhem on the road to success. 48 JOE RUSSO The drummer/ leader’s Grateful Dead associations are a connector in his work, but his musical vision extends far beyond. by Keith Carne 54 THE RECORDINGS OF GINGER BAKER, PART 2 A deep dive into the great drummer’s post-Cream work with Hawkwind, Public Image Ltd, and Masters of Reality. by Ken Micallef WINWIN : A VIP VIRTUAL : A VIP VIRTUAL MEET-N-GREET MEET-N-GREET WITH KENNY ARONOFF!WITH KENNY ARONOFF! The Modern Drummer digital edition includes multimedia elements and digital-only features to animate and amplify your experience in a manner not possible in the print world! Click the icons throughout the flip-book magazine, and video or other content will pop up to augment and expand the articles. Please note that the full multimedia experience only works when viewing the digital edition via the web. Offline viewing is available using our pdf version, which can be downloaded here.Modern Drummer September 2020 4 I t’s a great honor to write my first Overview since becoming CEO and publisher of the world’s longest- standing drum publication—and well beyond that, resource—for drums, drumming, and drummers. I’ve been an ardent reader of Modern Drummer since 1979, two years after Ron and Isabel Spagnardi launched the magazine. So much of what the Spagnardis envisioned continues to flourish and evolve as MD, long before my involvement, stood for a community of drummers to celebrate, educate, inspire, and unite the world of drumming. Now more than ever, inspiration is a main focus of the Modern Drummer team. Today all of us face so many distractions, challenges, and conflicts in the world that practicing our art, growing as an artist, and truly experiencing the joy that our art form brings can be a struggle. Being inspired is the antidote for the tough times that we’re persevering through right now. As you go through each issue of Modern Drummer, please check out the interaction between our print and digital products. We add notes to each article and story that has unique, exclusive content on digital. This is brand new and combines the convenience and joy of holding a drum magazine with the edu- cation and how-to visuals that video/online can deliver. We now offer the best of both worlds. The ironic thing about print is that while the industry as a whole is experi- encing historic challenges, the Modern Drummer community is embracing it as much as ever. At this year’s NAMM show (hard to believe it was just a few months ago that thousands of us were shoulder-to-shoulder on the show floor) I asked many people if they still had their back issues of MD. They unequivocally all said yes! They had piles—libraries and drum rooms filled with the maga- zine, going back to the first issue they ever bought. It’s indicative of how we drummers love to collect, learn from, and reference articles for inspiration. From youngsters who only recently discovered MD, all the way up to our forty-plus- year subscribers, the sentiment is the same. Drummers love the feeling of hav- ing and holding a printed magazine—one that is all about drumming—with the added convenience and power of digital. That inspires us and continues to drive the quality and community within Modern Drummer to higher and higher levels every month—every day, really. I truly hope that you search and dive deep into the vast archive that Modern Drummer has online 24/7/365, every issue since Number 1 with Buddy Rich on the cover. Plus there’s so much more online, as we regularly post relevant news and education alongside historical articles, so that there is truly no end to the amount of inspiration that can be had from moderndrummer.com and our so- cial media. Stay tuned for even greater collaborations, drum-community expe- riences, and events as MD blasts into 2021. Ron and Isabel created a brand and community in drumming that is respected worldwide. Every drummer knows Modern Drummer, and that is something that we never take for granted—quite the opposite—as we serve the drumming community. Stay inspired, and please know that whenever you need a dose of inspiration, we’re always here for you. The honor is ours! David Frangioni Publisher/CEO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Patrick Berkery, Stephen Bidwell, Keith Carne, David Ciauro, John Colpitts, Bob Girouard, Mike Haid, John Martinez, Ben Meyer, Ken Micallef, Jeff Potter, Will Romano, Ilya Stemkovsky, Lauren Vogel Weiss, Paul Wells. MODERN DRUMMER magazine ( ISSN 0194-4533) is published monthly by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. , 315 Ridgedale Ave #478 East Hanover, NJ 07936. PERIODICALS MAIL POSTAGE paid at Fairfield, NJ 07004 and at additional mailing offices. Copyright 2020 by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: MODERN DRUMMER Publications , 315 Ridgedale Ave #478 East Hanover, NJ 07936. Tel: 973-239-4140. Email: mdinfo@moderndrummer.com. MODERN DRUMMER welcomes manuscripts and photos but cannot assume responsibility for them. SUBSCRIPTIONS: U.S. $32.95, Canada $40.95, other international $47.95 per year. For two-year subscription prices go to www. moderndrummer.com. Single copies $6.99. SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: Modern Drummer, PO Box 274, Oregon, IL 61061-9920. Change of address: Allow at least six weeks for a change. Please provide both old and new address. Call 800-551-3786 or 815- 732-5283. Phone hours, 8 am –4:30 pm Monday–Friday CST, or visit Subscriber Services at www.moderndrummer.com. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Drummer, PO Box 274, Oregon, IL 61061-9920. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 41480017 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: PO Box 875, Stn A, Windsor ON N9A 6P2 MEMBER: National Association of Music Merchants, Percussive Arts Society THE MD PRO PANEL/ADVISORY BOARD: Chris Adler, Kenny Aronoff, Eddie Bayers, Gregg Bissonette, Jason Bittner, Bill Bruford, Will Calhoun, Terri Lyne Carrington, Matt Chamberlain, Peter Erskine, Daniel Glass, Benny Greb, Matt Halpern, Horacio Hernandez, Gerald Heyward, Taku Hirano, Susie Ibarra, Jim Keltner, Paul Leim, Peter Magadini, George Marsh, Pat Mastelotto, Allison Miller, Rod Morgenstein, Andy Newmark, Stephen Perkins, Dafnis Prieto, Rich Redmond, Brian Reitzell, Jim Riley, Antonio Sanchez, Gil Sharone, Chad Smith, Steve Smith, Todd Sucherman, Billy Ward, Kenny Washington, Dave Weckl, Paul Wertico Music Key MODERN DRUMMER ONLINE: www.moderndrummer.com PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES Founder Ronald Spagnardi 1943–2003 Co-Founder Isabel Spagnardi Publisher/CEO David Frangioni CFO & Marketing Director Carolina Frangioni COO Santiago Cortés Associate Publisher Tracy A. Kearns Senior Art Director Scott G. Bienstock Editorial Director Adam J. Budofsky Managing Editor Michael Dawson Editor at Large Billy Amendola Head of Digital Marketing Ricardo Rodriguez Worldwide Education Dom Famularo AN EDITOR’S OVERVIEW facebook.com/moderndrummer@modern_drummer Stay Inspired!Modern Drummer September 2020 6 Want your voice heard? Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. READERS’ PLATFORM What Was Your First Favorite Drum Record? Vivid by Living Colour. Will Calhoun plays masterfully and with tons of power. It was perfect: playable but loaded with nuance. Scott Sparks Manu Katché on Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live. I was around five, and it just blew my mind. That’s when I realized drumming was what I wanted to do with my life. Johnny Chavez John Coltrane’s Impressions (Live at the Village Vanguard). Elvin Jones changed how I approach drums after this. Charles McCormick III Meg White with the White Stripes. Her beats may be simple, but they are catchy and rhythmical. She inspired me to become a drummer because you don’t see a lot of girl drummers. @_emilyalton Axis: Bold as Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Mitch Mitchell’s groovy intro to “Little Miss Lover” had me mesmerized at age four. My parents were never the same. Chris O’Brien Charlie Watts on the Rolling Stones’ “Get Off of My Cloud,” opening fill. That’s all it took! Dr. Jeffrey Weintraub Gene Krupa playing “Sing Sing Sing” on Benny Goodman’s Live at Carnegie Hall. I found it in my dad’s cassette collection as a child, and from that point on I was going to be a drummer. Darren King Larnell Lewis on “Shofukan” from Snarky Puppy’s We Like It Here album. Changed drumming for me forever. Kyle Dorny In 1970 at age ten I heard Led Zeppelin I [John Bonham] for the first time and listened to “Good Times Bad Times” with headphones. Pop radio died for me that day. @skulmoskigreg Chris Daddy Dave on the Robert Glasper Experiment album Black Radio. It’s the first time I’ve heard a drummer approach the drums as if it were an electric guitar. There are so many colors and textures when he plays. Eric Kilbourne U2’s War changed the way I saw drums and the role drummers played in a band, especially Larry Mullen Jr.’s playing on “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” @ascetix76 Alex González on Maná’s “De Pies a Cabeza.” In school the band teacher had me and another kid listen to the song on a boombox and learn it. Andres Narvaez Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, The Drum Battle. My grandfather used to play it for me. dnanderson1106 Hearing the Flintstones and Batman theme songs. @edchristenson Exit…Stage Left by Rush [Neil Peart]. I was eight years old. I’m still playing, thirty-six years later. Blaze Infernus Brian Downey on Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous. My dad would always turn the radio up when it got to the drum solo on “Sha La La.” Mark Wogan Hearing Sandy Nelson’s “Let There Be Drums” and Cozy Cole’s “Topsy II” as a ten-year- old. Jeff Seitz Dennis Chambers on Tom Coster’s Let’s Set the Record Straight album. Danny Moore Tommy Lee on Mötley Crüe’s self-titled album (without Vince Neil). The sounds of the drums totally caught me and had me asking, “How did he make that sound?” @rob.apk Album: Rainbow’s Rising (vinyl), Song: “Stargazer,” drummer: Cozy Powell, me aged twelve: mind blown! Dave Eales Seconds Out by Genesis [Phil Collins, Chester Thompson, Bill Bruford]. I was nine years old when I first heard it. The rest is history. @ananiagram_official The Who’s Quadrophenia [Keith Moon]. I was nine when my older brother gave it to me for Christmas. He knew my parents had bought me a drumkit! I was never the same. Vincent E. Naman The one and only Stewart Copeland on Outlandos d’Amour by the Police. I was eleven and rode my bike to the record store to buy it. @festgirl Roots and Herbs by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Dad’s record! “Ping Pong”! First drums to really grab me—still do! @vtadrumschool Nirvana’s Nevermind [Dave Grohl]. I used to beat up my parents’ couch for kick and toms while using my middle school music stand as a cymbal and Pearl practice pad for the snare. Jordan Clark The earliest drumming I remember was definitely Def Leppard. I used to play drums like [Rick Allen] when I was very little. But the drummer that really changed the way I play and view the drums today is Greg Saunier from Deerhoof. His style is just so freeform and creative. @jellybean_johnsonNext >