Photos Of Special Events

Jeff Hamilton
@ Soul Drums.
November, 2006.

Soul Drums, Remo, RegalTip and Bosphorus Cymbals were pleased to host Jeff Hamilton for a special clinic.

Few jazz drummers have had careers as rewarding and successful as Jeff Hamilton’s. And with several new releases and projects in the works—and an MD Readers Poll win—2006 may be one of his finest years yet.

The Los Angeles Jazz Society recently named Jeff Hamilton and his musical partner, John Clayton, Musicians Of The Year for 2006. Jeff was also voted the number-one traditional jazz drummer in Modern Drummer’s 2006 readers poll.

» » Modern Drummer Interview April 2008 click here

John Riley
@ Soul Drums.
July, 2007.

Soul Drums and Sabian Cymbals were pleased to host John Riley for a special clinic.

He has performed with a wide spectrum of world class musicians including Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Bob Mintzer, Gary Peacock, Mike Stern, Joe Lovano, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, John Patitucci, Bob Berg, and many others.

He has a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music in jazz studies from Manhattan School of Music. He is on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music, and SUNY Purchase, and is an Artist in Residence at Amsterdam Conservatory, Holland. John is also the author of The Art of Bop Drumming, Beyond Bop Drumming, The Jazz Drummer's Workshop, and has taught master classes around the world.

» » www.johnriley.org

Bill Stewart
@ Soul Drums.
November 11, 2006.

Soul Drums, Gretsch Drums and Zildjian Cymbals were pleased to host Bill Stewart for a special clinic.

As a drummer, Bill Stewart's playing is distinguished by its melodic focus, and its polyrhythmic, or layered, character. To say his playing is "melodic" means there is a sense in which one can "hum along" to his solos, as there is a clear sense of melodic construction. His improvisations favor the development and layering of motivic ideas over the raw generation of excitement or display of technical prowess. Stewart has great touch, or dynamic precision, so that his ideas are articulated with a pleasing exactness and clarity. He has also achieved a very high degree of independence of his limbs, so that not only the ride and the snare/toms, but also the bass drum and hi-hat, are free to participate as melodic "first-class citizens." His drumming bears the influence of various melodic drummers who preceded him, including Max Roach, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette and Al Foster.

As a composer, Bill Stewart is forward-looking, and seems not to want to repeat what others have already accomplished. In other words, his tunes have a bit of an avant-garde flavor. The melodies, harmonies, phrase lengths, and measure lengths are often altered so as not to conform too closely to traditional jazz language. Some of his tunes (such as "Mayberry") also feature a built-in "free blowing" section, surrounded by a composed "head" (in the case of "Mayberry", a parody of the theme song of the Andy Griffith Show.) The concept of "Mayberry" may have been borrowed from Stewart's long-time collaborator John Scofield, who has written many tunes of the same general shape.

» » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Stewart_(musician)

Soul Drums Recitals