Keep Drumming History Alive

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Scott K Fish
Edited page from the transcript of my Fred Gruber interview.

SKF NOTE: Several decades ago there emerged political activists who said the teaching of US history prior to 1950 was irrelevant to modern students. Pre-1950 US history, they said, didn’t matter. If taught in classrooms at all, protested the activists, pre-1950 US history deserved brief mention.

I am not aware of any public calls to limit or ban teaching drum history prior to any past decade. But I am concerned, as time goes on, fewer young drummers will care about the development of the drumset; of the people who gave us the modern drumset, and the the language we use to play it.

Sometimes, in my darker moods, after spending hours reviewing my 1980s drummer interview tapes for excerpts to post, I think, “Does anybody care about this drummer or what he has to say about anything?”

But that’s not the point of preserving drum history. Maybe at the moment I’m digitizing an interview excerpt nobody does care about the drummer interviewed or what he has to say.

That’s not to say no one will ever care.

Plenty of times while researching for a writing project, I have spotted a jewel of information, a significant fact, buried in some obscure album or concert review, a letter-to-the-editor; an old drummer profile, or a decades old magazine editorial. It is, in a way, finding a missing piece that completes a jigsaw puzzle.

Perhaps it has always been the case that the percentage of drummers interested in drum history is small. Surely there is room for more. Until then, I trust those drummers interested now are sufficient to keep the history alive and moving forward.

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Max Roach and the Beijing Trio

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: A week or so ago, after updating my Instagram page, I was impressed by erhu musician Jiebing Chen‘s playing in a short rehearsal video also posted on Instagram. The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, sometimes called a Chinese vertical fiddle.

I was inspired to find out if Jiebing had any albums. She does. Among them is the 1998 Beijing Trio with Jiebing on ehru, pianist Jon Jang, and Max Roach on drums!

Jang, on his web site, tells how the album happened. He said, “At a private meeting with Max, I invited him to produce and perform a recording with me…. A 74 year old Max jumped up with excitement: ‘Let’s do it next month! I am not getting any younger!’”

Jang continues. “Originally, the Beijing Trio was going to be a Max Roach-Jon Jang duo. However, when erhu performer Jiebing Chen visited one of our rehearsals, Max and I decided in a matter of seconds to add her to our ensemble,” he said, adding, “Because Max also made it a rule that we do not read music while we are performing, the whole recording was improvised.”

The Beijing Trio track, “Fallen Petals,” featuring Roach using mallets, is from Jiebing’s web site. [SKF NOTE: The track volume is very soft for the first 12 seconds.]

Roach has this quote about the Beijing Trio on Jiebing’s site: “One of the most refreshing and enjoyable experiences in my career. In this cross-cultural artistry, I heard and did things musically I had never done before.”

Before hearing any of the album music I was ready to buy and download the digital version. Disappointingly, there is no digital album. The CD is available from Asian Improv Records for $20.00 plus $10.00 for shipping. I did write the label to suggest they offer a digital album as well.

I’ve heard Roach play drums in many settings including solo, duets, trios, percussion ensembles, quartets, quintets, big bands, and choirs. But, until yesterday I was unaware of Roach playing drums as a member of the Beijing Trio.

I look forward to hearing this whole album..

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Barry Keane Modern Drummer Interview 1981 Pt 2 of 2

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: This is Part 2 of my interview with Barry Keane, published in the August-September 1981 Modern Drummer magazine as a feature interview titled, “Barry Keane: Canadian Studio Kingpin.”

Our discussion was as much about Keane’s studio drummer work in Canada as it was about his membership in Gordon Lightfoot’s band. In August 1980, Barry had been with Lightfoot five years. I was freelance writing for Modern Drummer, two months away from being hired as MD’s first Managing Editor.

This interview, I believe, took place after the band’s soundcheck at the Performing Arts Centre, Saratoga Springs, NY on August 2, 1980. Gordon Lightfoot’s album, “Dream Street Rose,” was released two months earlier.

Researching drummers in 1980, even well-known drummers, was often labor intensive, yielding few results. There just wasn’t much backgrounder information available on most drummers.

Modern Drummer was successful, in part, because it showcased drummers in-depth. No other magazines had done that.

When Barry and I, along with my friend and Lightfoot fan Wayne Pasco, met at Saratoga Springs in 1980, I didn’t know much at all about Barry’s background or his studio drumming career. Re-listening to this interview after 43 years, my nervousness, my trying to ask the right questions to gather the best elements of Barry’s story, is quite evident. At least in spots.

Of course, neither Barry nor I could have known we would sit down for another interview 42 years later

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Barry Keane Modern Drummer Interview 1981 Pt 1 of 2

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: This is Part 1 of my interview with Barry Keane, published in the August-September 1981 Modern Drummer magazine as a feature interview titled, “Barry Keane: Canadian Studio Kingpin.”

Our discussion was as much about Keane’s studio drummer work in Canada as it was about his membership in Gordon Lightfoot’s band. In August 1980, Barry had been with Lightfoot five years. I was freelance writing for Modern Drummer, two months away from being hired as MD‘s first Managing Editor.

This interview, I believe, took place after the band’s soundcheck at the Performing Arts Centre, Saratoga Springs, NY on August 2, 1980. Gordon Lightfoot’s album, “Dream Street Rose,” was released two months earlier.

Researching drummers in 1980, even well-known drummers, was often labor intensive, yielding few results. There just wasn’t much backgrounder information available on most drummers. Modern Drummer was successful, in part, because it showcased drummers in-depth. No other magazines had done that.

When Barry and I, along with my friend and Lightfoot fan Wayne Pasco, met at Saratoga Springs in 1980, I didn’t know much at all about Barry’s background or his studio drumming career. Re-listening to this interview after 43 years, my nervousness, my trying to ask the right questions to gather the best elements of Barry’s story, is quite evident. At least in spots.

Here’s the link to Part 2 of this 1981 MD interview.

Of course, neither Barry nor I could have known we would sit down for another interview 42 years later:

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Alan Dawson – MD 10th Anniversary Interview Pt 1

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: In 1985, freelance writing again for Modern Drummer magazine, I was asked to contribute two drummer interviews to MD‘s upcoming January 1986 10th Anniversary issue: Neil Peart and Alan Dawson.

Unlike MD‘s other feature interviews, 10th Anniversary interviewees were asked to answer two basic questions: In the last ten years, what were the drum world’s key moments? And, gazing into the crystal ball, what are the probable key moments in the ten years ahead?

This is part one of my conversation with Alan Dawson at his Massachusetts’ home. Listening to it almost 40-years up the road, I’m reminded of how music styles like “fusion,” and electronic equipment like the LinnDrum machine, had, and were, blurring the lines among music styles.

At the start of this interview, when I ask Dawson who he thinks are the greatest jazz drummers to have emerged in the last ten years, the two of us first have to answer Dawson’s question: What’s a jazz drummer?

Looking ahead ten years, this great drummer/teacher had learned to take drum innovations and fads in stride. We talk about Dawson’s own drum sets over the years, where his choices are based on need versus practicality. In 1985, Dawson played a five-piece kit. Maybe he would play more drums, he said, if he had a roadie.

Starting with a mutt set of drums acquired at different times from pawn shops, Dawson graduated to Gretsch drums, then Fibes drums, and then to Ludwig drums. Partially influenced by the times (All the BeBop drummers like Max Roach and Art Blakey were playing Gretsch.), Dawson’s drum choices were based primarily on sound and functionality.

Regrettably, part two of this conversation seems to have survived on paper only, not on tape.

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