Features CHAD SMITH A lot's gone down in the four years since Blood Sugar Sex Magik demanded our collective attention. Now a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album and world tour is around the corner. Chili past, present, and future according to the ever- animated Chad Smith. • Adam Budofsky 20 CHARLI PERSIP Jazz giants like Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Billy Eckstein, Archie Shepp, and Eric Dolphy knew very well the value of Charli Persip's talents, even if they eluded the public at large. These days Persip is better than ever—and still pushing the barriers. • Burt Korall 26 INSIDE LP Next stop, Latin Percussion's Thailand factory, where at least one instrument you carry in your gig bag most likely originated. Learn how the world's largest manufacturer of hand percussion instruments gets the job done. 30 • Rick Van Horn Volume 18, Number 12 Cover Photo By Michael Bloom EDUCATION PROFILES EQUIPMENT 52 ROCK'N' 116 UP & COMING JAZZ CLINIC Jay Lane Ghost Notes BY ROBIN TOLLESON BY JOHN XEPOLEAS DEPARTMENTS 78 TEACHERS' FORUM 4 EDITOR'S No Bad Students OVERVIEW BY STEVE SNODGRASS 6 READERS' 88 ROCK PERSPECTIVES PLATFORM 38 PRODUCT Double-Bass-Illusion CLOSE-UP Ostinato 12 ASK A PRO New Drum Workshop BY ROB LEYTHAM Tony Williams, Products Dennis Chambers, BY RICK VAN HORN 92 AROUND and Scott Travis THE WORLD 44 NEW AND Tex-Mex 16 IT'S NOTABLE Border Drumming QUESTIONABLE Highlights From BY MITCH MARINE Summer NAMM '94 94 DRUMLINE BY RICK MATTINGLY 110 UNDERSTANDING RHYTHM 106 CRITIQUE NEWS Basic Reading: Part 1 Thad Jones/Mel Lewis BY HAL HOWLAND Orchestra box set, 8 UPDATE Fates Warning CD, Gary Chaffee, 112 OFF THE Anton Fig Video, Tim Owen of Carcass, RECORD Airto book, and more Doyle Bramhall, and Van Morrison's Stone Temple Pilots' Eric Kretz 128 MD's 1994 Peter Van Hooke, INDEX UPDATE plus News 114 SLIGHTLY OFFBEAT 136 DRUM MARKET 126 INDUSTRY Including A Blast From The Past HAPPENINGS Vintage Showcase BY CHEECH IERO 124 THE JOBBING 140 CLINIC CALENDAR PASIC Schedule and more 90 MD/LP DRUMMER SWEEPSTAKES The Electronic Drummer: 142 DRUMKIT OF Win a bunch of Being Prepared For The fabulous LP products! Unexpected THE MONTH BY STEVE DOHRING At The School Level Over the past eighteen years, as editor of to play, whenever and wherever you can, particularly in Modern Drummer, I've had numerous occa- your formative years. sions to correspond with young drummers on Since our first issue in 1977, we've interviewed a huge matters involving drumming, music, and edu- number of leading professional drummers and numerous cation. One rather unfortunate trend I've noted up-and-coming players. We've discussed music, drumming, among many school-age players I speak with education, and careers with artists who've been successful is an apparent lack of interest in their school in diverse areas of music. If one were to look back over music programs. Oddly enough, for many players in junior those interviews, I think it's interesting to note just how high and secondary school, membership in concert band, many of those successful artists reflected on their early marching band, orchestra, or jazz band isn't considered the musical experiences within their school music programs. in thing to do. Personally, I think this is a serious mistake. And though the music may not have precisely coincided When young musicians ignore musical activities that are with their future drumming aspirations, that early musical openly available to them during their school years, they're training offered an opportunity they weren't about to pass missing out on a very valuable musical experience. up. It was an experience that contributed to their knowledge Participation in a good school program under a compe- of a wide spectrum of music, and one that I'm certain was tent director offers a young drummer exposure to a wide an added factor in their ultimate success as professionals. variety of music. It's an opportunity to play in a percussion If you're a school-age drummer who feels that your section with other student musicians. It's a once-in-a-life- school music program is not worthy of your involvement, time chance to learn and absorb a great deal about many I'd like to suggest that you give that decision a little more different kinds of music, and to experience the performance thought. This is one opportunity you'll never have again, of that music firsthand. Most importantly, it's an opportuni- and it really shouldn't be missed by anyone who's serious ty to play! If it's been said once, it's been said a hundred about their music. times by artists who have appeared in the pages of Modern Drummer over the years: Never turn down an opportunity MODERN DRUMMER ADVISORY BOARD: Henry Adler, Printed in The United States EDITOR/PUBLISHER RONALD SPAGNARDI Kenny Aronoff, Louie Bellson, Bill Bruford, Harry Cangany, Jim Chapin, Alan Dawson, Dennis DeLucia, Les DeMerle, Len MODERN DRUMMER wel- ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ISABEL SPAGNARDI DiMuzio, Charlie Donnelly, Peter Erskine, Vic Firth, Bob Gatzen, comes manuscripts and photo- Danny Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, Jim Keltner, Peter Magadini, George graphic material, however, cannot assume responsibility for MANAGING EDITOR RICK VAN HORN Marsh, Joe Morello, Rod Morgenstein, Andy Newmark, Neil them. Such items must be accompanied by a self-addressed, Peart, Charlie Perry, John Santos, Ed Shaughnessy, Steve Smith, stamped envelope. FEATURES EDITOR WILLIAM F. MILLER Ed Thigpen, Dave Weckl. MUSIC DEALERS: Modern Drummer is available for resale ASSOCIATE EDITOR ADAM J. BUDOFSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Robyn Hans, Burt Korall, at bulk rates. Direct correspondence to Modern Drummer, Rick Mattingly, Ken Micallef, Matt Peiken, Teri Saccone, Dealer Service, P.O. Box 389, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. Tel.: (800) EDITORIAL ASSISTANT SUZANNE HURRING Robert Santelli, Robin Tolleson. 334-DRUM or (815) 734-1214. ART DIRECTOR SCOTT G. BIENSTOCK MODERN DRUMMER magazine (ISSN 0194-4533) is pub- SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: Modern Drummer, lished monthly by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0480. Change of address: ART ASSISTANT LORI SPAGNARDI 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. Second-Class Allow at least six weeks for a change. Please provide both old TRACY A. KEARNS Postage paid at Cedar Grove, NJ 07009 and at additional mail- and new address. Toll Free Tel.: (800) 551-3786. ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER ing offices. Copyright 1994 by MODERN DRUMMER ADVERTISING DIRECTOR BOB BERENSON Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Drummer, permission of the publisher is prohibited. P.O. Box 480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. ADVERTISING ASSISTANT JOAN C. STICKEL EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER: Magazine Publishers Of America MARKETING AND PATRICIA DONNELLY OFFICES: MODERN DRUMMER Publications, 870 National Association Of Music Merchants Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. Tel.: (201) 239- American Music Conference PUBLIC RELATIONS 4140. Percussive Arts Society OFFICE ASSISTANT DIANA LITTLE Music Educators National Conference SUBSCRIPTIONS: $29.95 per year; $51.95, two years. National Drum Association Single copies $3.95. type of music is somewhat demanding and ignorance. If I placed one particular CD CRITIC CRITIQUE not for everyone. It would have been among similarly undistinguished works, I The "review" of my CD, Noir, in your appropriate for him to admit this very certainly did not intend a personal indict- August issue left me shocked and disap- thing and to pass the assignment on to ment of Mr. Bendian or of his musician- pointed. As a musician who came up read- someone with more time and patience— ship. ('Says he's not sure what music is' ing your magazine, I was truly dismayed and maybe even some background in this was meant to suggest Mr. Bendian might by Hal Howland's unprofessional and irre- area of music. more successfully choose his musical set- sponsible attitude toward me and my My quote, "I'm not sure what music is," tings.) music. Mr. Howland was clearly not pre- related to how one may not always be able "I called Noir 'free jazz' because it pared—and wholly unwilling—to take on to discern the sonic barriers between sounds more like that than anything else. the issues presented by this music. His sar- music and noise, and was used wildly out Yes, labels are nasty little things, but they castic rhetoric only served to hide this of context. Twisting it into a put-down at prevent our buying apples when we really unpreparedness. the close of the article was, frankly, under- want oranges. I reviewed Noir not as an By fronting Mr. Howland's flagrant dis- handed and lame. intellectual exercise but as a listening interest in unfamiliar music, MD ill serves While the merits of Noir were imper- experience. (I review all material with the the drummers your magazine seeks to ceptible to Mr. Howland, this trio's work understanding that the critic is an engage. I think you owe it to them to rep- has not eluded other critics and listeners. arguably unnecessary footnote to the cre- resent all types of music openly and fairly. Noir appears on both The Wire (UK) "Top ative process.) Therefore, the occasional piece on truly CDs of '93" and Cadence Jazz magazine's "Just as there is a place for ugly, for- alternative approaches to music deserves "Top 10 of '93." gettable albums by musicians perfectly more than a sarcastic write-off from a sour I was encouraged and hopeful to see capable of recording beautiful, memorable critic. Needless to say, the opening line of MD's coverage of radically different ones (and just as such albums will reveal the review ("Hey, man, it's, like, free approaches with the large-scale article on variably subtle pleasures to those willing jazz...") completely discredits the writer "Drummers of the Avant-Garde" in the to sit through them time and again), so and the ideas to follow.