This DVD covers the Modern Drummer Festival 2011
with over 5 hours of video. I was there and it was, as always, a very
cool event. Let's check out the DVD.
Disc One
Gil Sharone
I first met Gil when we were both performing at
the Cape Breton International Drum Festival back in 2005. I remeber him
saying that he was a bit nervous about performing for a theater full of
drummers, being as it was his first clinic/festival appearance, but he
did a great job. Afterward, I interviewe
him and told him that this was only the beginning. I saw it then that
Gil would go far in the business and here he is, six years later,
performing at the grandaddy of all Drum Fests! Gil, an expert in
Jamaican SKA, Rocksteady, and Reggae styles does the thing he does so
well.
Trevor Lawrence Jr. with Taki Hirano
Trevor, who has worked with Herbie Hancock and Dr. Dre, performs hip-hop and fusion styles with percussionist Taku Hirano.
The Jeff "Tain" Watts Quartet
Jeff blasts through half a dozen songs with his
cookin' quartet featuring Marcus Strickland on tenor sax, Dave Kikowski
on piano, and Yunior Terry on bass.
Morning Masterclass: Jim Riley
One criticism I always had of the Modern Drummer
Fest was that there was an over-abundance of performances and extended
solos but little clinic-type education going on. They have now corrected
that situation by offering morning masterclasses. This one features the
top country drummer with Rascal Flatts, Jim Riley (who also won Best
Country Drummer in the 2011 Modern Drummer Reader's Poll), who opens
playing to a track that combines country with some rock fusion and
jazz, incorporating some great trading 4's and an extended solo - nice!
He then discusses the importance of good
techique (right on!) and demonstrates some exercises on a single drum
and as applied to the drumset. He also covers how to go about getting
the type of gig that he's got, playing in multiple odd-time signatures
and more.
Disc Two
Aquiles Priester
Prog/Metal drumming Aquiles manuevers his way
through nine arrangements (from Hanger and Freakeys) including an
extended solo. Nice precision work.
Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez and The New World Order
Horacio performs with an all-star music group
that he assembled just for the Fest, featuring Pedrito Martinez (vocals
and percussion), Yosvany Terry (sax and percussion), Benjamin Santiago
Molina - El Moreno (dancer), Sofia Tosello (vocals), Jendez - Horacio's
daughter (vocals), David Oquendo (vocals), Buika (vocals), Fahir
Atakoglu (piano, keyboards), Alain Caron (bass), Amit Chaterjee
(guitar), and Brian Lynch (trumpet).
Morning Masterclass: John Riley
John opens his masterclass expanding on his
definition of the four qualities a great drummer must have. Technique,
groove, creativity, and musicianship. He adds a fifth one, which is
actually a pre-requisite to the others, inspiration. The remainder of
his class is dedicated to getting to the bottom of how you get inspired
and how to make use of that inspiration.
Extras
Included is a printable PDF eBook that
contains transcriptions of selected performances, a preview of Neil
Peart's "Taking Center Stage - A Lifetime of Live Performance" Trailer,
Todd Sucherman's "Methods and Mechanics 2" trailer and more.
Bottom Line: Modern Drummer Festival 2011 DVD
As always, Modern Drummer does a great
job assembling drummers from various bags to keep the audience
interested and entertained. Whether you attended the Fest this time or
not, I recommend picking up a copy of this DVD. It will keep you
entertained and I'm sure you'll pick up some valuable tips and tricks
over the course of its 5 hour and 40 minute running time.
Download: (2 DVD9 + ebook) :
