Moody Blues’s Graeme Edge: A Responsibility to Play the Hits

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Scott K Fish

Playing the hits: Moody Blues drummer knows what band’s fans want to hear
Alan Sculley For the La Crosse Tribune

Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge says he’s perfectly happy to play the classic songs by his band — even if it’s the 2,000th time he has played a song like “Nights in White Satin.”

In a recent phone interview, he said he learned long ago that what the musicians on stage want to play isn’t what matters.

“You’ve got to do the hits, and I don’t disagree with it,” Edge said, citing a time some three decades ago when he learned that lesson. “I went to see a favorite artist, and he’d just gotten a new album out and he just did the new album. And I was so disappointed because I wanted to hear the songs that I knew. That’s when I realized you have the responsibility to play those songs because that’s what people come for.”

Full story:

Posted in Drum/Music News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Roy Haynes: Still Swinging After All These Years

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Scott K Fish

Roy Haynes… Salute To The Drummer At 88
Sunday, 17 August 2014 00:00, Written by Benson Idonije

Now 88, looking at least 20 years younger and sounding like a young lion, Haynes is one of the wonders of the jazz world; a true survivor who remains a commanding presence at the drums, whipping and driving a band like a team of untamed horses, eyes keen and piercing, face aglow with the joy of music-making. Still swinging after all these years, Haynes is a force of nature whose dynamic drumming continues to astound the jazz world, his athletically supple wrists and agile hands manipulating drumsticks as if they were his birthright.

Full story

Posted in Drum/Music News | Tagged | Leave a comment

Down Beat Reposts 1983 Tony Williams Interview

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Scott K Fish
Tony Williams 1983 K Zildjian ad. Not part of this DownBeat interview.

Tony Williams: Two Decades of Drum Innovation
by Paul de Barros — 11/1/1983
An Exclusive Online Extra

DB: How important is technique?

TW: You’ve got to learn to play the instrument before you can have your own style. You have to practice. The rudiments are very important. Before I left home, I tried to play exactly like Max Roach, exactly like Art Blakey, exactly like Philly Joe Jones, and exactly like Roy Haynes. That’s the way to learn the instrument. A lot of people don’t do that. There are guys who have a drum set for two years and say they’ve got their own “style.”

DB: How can we prevent those kinds of guys from taking up more room than they deserve?

TW: [laughing] Well, we could pass a law.

DB: The Bad Drummer Ordinance?

TW: Exactly. Anyone who does not study is shot!

Full Interview

Posted in Drum/Music News | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

W.S. Holland Drumset at Johnny Cash Museum Exhibit

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Scott K Fish

New Johnny Cash Museum Exhibit Includes Includes Famous Cash Drum Set
August 14, 2014 12:42 PM
By Annie Reuter

The Johnny Cash Museum will add a new relic to its display tomorrow (Aug. 15).

On display will be the famous drum set used by W.S. “Fluke” Holland, who was Cash’s drummer for 40 years. The drum set was used on numerous Sun Records recordings including Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring of Fire” as well as Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Holland’s drum set is legendary in the country music community as it was the first full drum set to appear on the Grand Ole Opry stage. It was also used on Cash’s Live at Folsom Prison and Live at San Quentin albums, as well as Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline record.

Full Story:

Posted in Drum/Music News | Tagged , | Comments Off on W.S. Holland Drumset at Johnny Cash Museum Exhibit

Talking Drums: Master Ghanian Drummer Paa Kow

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Scott K Fish

Talking Drums
Master drummer Paa Kow and Mister Adams at the Hi-Tone
by Joe Boone

Paa Kow says, “I started making my own drums from cans. Making something and playing and make sound out of it, it helps. That’s what everyone does. You can see them making their drums, putting a calf-skin on it. But the sound that would come out of that drum, you won’t believe. It was just the tradition. That helps me make sound out of any drum. You can see a drum that is busted. You get a head on top. It all is going to come from you. You can buy the most expensive drum you could ever buy or drums that are just old. But the way you make the drums to sound, that’s what’s important. That’s what it is. And if you can make sound out of even a can, you can make sound to make a better rhythm out of it. That’s what I’ve been believing since I’ve been growing up.”

Full story:

Posted in Drum/Music News | Comments Off on Talking Drums: Master Ghanian Drummer Paa Kow