The Freddie Gruber Scholarship Fund in Memory of Buddy Rich and Nick Ceroli
The Freddie Gruber Scholarship Fund In Memory of Buddy Rich and Nick Ceroli Freddie Gruber began his drumming career in New York in the late 1940s. He played in the only big band to feature bebop sax innovator Charlie Parker, and he became close friends with Buddy Rich, a relationship that continued until Buddy’s passing in 1987. In the early ’60s Gruber played his way through Chicago and Las Vegas, eventually arriving in Los Angeles, where he became a key player in that city’s jazz scene. But Gruber soon discovered his true calling—teaching others how to play drums. Over the next forty years, Freddie’s students included a cross-section of drummers whose playing profoundly influenced the music of the times, among them John Guerin, Ian Wallace, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, Mike Baird, Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez, David Bronson, Peter Erskine, Burleigh Drummond, and Neil Peart. One early student, Don Lombardi, founded the Drum Workshop company. Freddie had an unparalleled understanding of the physical “dance” involved in playing the instrument—the ergonomic relationship of the drummer to the drums. Without ever trying to disrupt a particular drummer’s “character,” he helped each student discover, express, and refine his own voice. One $2,500 prize will be awarded Eligibility: This annual, one year scholarship, is to assist a college student with tuition to an established, accredited institution of higher education, for the purpose of advanced study in the area of percussion, including but not limited to drumset. Scholarship is for one academic year, students may apply in subsequent years (no more than three years total).
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