Just Folks: Veteran Lebanon drummer still a student of music
By Les Stewart
UPDATED:   01/11/2015 06:47:06 PM EST

Lebanon musician Dave Lazorcik never wants to stop learning about music.

“I’m going to keep learning until I’m six feet under,” the 63-year-old Lazorcik said. He has been a student of drums and percussion all of his life, studying with a number of memorable teachers.

He went to the Navy School of Music in January 1971, an experience that allowed him to study under several teachers.

He was assigned to the 26th U.S. Army Band in New York, which exposed him to the New York music scene and culture….

After three years in the Army band in New York City, he returned home and studied percussion….

Lazorcik served as executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz for 13 years until January 2007.

Among the many teachers he has studied under was Gary Chester, who played drums on Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle,” John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” and Petula Clark’s “Downtown.”

Lazorcik said Chester was another demanding teacher, describing him as a drill sergeant.

“No mistakes were allowed. Everything had to be perfect,” he said. “You had to sing each part.”

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