drum world

May 2015 | DRUM WORLD | 1

DRUM WORLD


DRUMDRUM WORLD WORLD

PETERERSKINE

ON HIS MUSICAL LEGACY, PHILOSOPHY, AND VISION FOR THE FUTURE

HOT NEW PRODUCTS FRESH OUT OF THE FACTORY6

Life lessonsfrom afro-cuban guru

AARONSERFATY

2 | DRUM WORLD | May 2015

EDITOR’S NOTEEDITOR’S NOTEEDITOR’S NOTE

BEAT REPORTINGAs I make my way through my last days

at the University of Southern California, I can’t help but think about all of the people who have made my experience so fulfi lling. The students and faculty of the English and Jazz Studies departments here have helped fostered my passion for both writing and drumming and I’m so glad that I was able to fi nish my time here with a project like this magazine, which attempts to combine the two.

I’d like to thank Peter Erskine for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule to answer some of my questions (he was in Switzerland when I fi rst contacted him about being in this issue). Although our one-on-one interaction

has been minimal over these past four years, I have learned a great deal from sitting in on his lectures, listening to his records, and watching his videos.

I’d, of course, like to thank Aaron Serfaty for sitting down with me and letting me pick his brain, but also for being such a great private instructor. My lessons with him were always challenging and he has opened me up to a polyrhythmic universe of musical styles of which I was woefully unaware prior to studying with him. I’d also like to thank Les Dunseith and Nick Cuccia for acquanting me with the world of design and helping so much with this project. I also owe a thankyou to the great people at Sabian, Vic Firth, Vater, Gretsch and Latin Percussion for allowing me to use their content in this magazine.

Please enjoy the issue!

Patrick Cleland


CONTENTS

GEAR GUIDE

4 ReviewsNew products for 2015 from Sabian, Vic Firth, Latin Percussion, Gretsch, Vater, and Zildjian.

IN CONVERSATION

8 Peter ErskineThe master drummer, composer, and educator reveals the early lessons he learned from his father, how his approach to the drum set has evolved, and the reasoning behind his recent move to TAMA.

12 Aaron SerfatyWant to make it as a drummer? Aaron dishes on exactly what it takes to make a living hitting the skins, and it’s not always pretty. Find out how his love for the drums took him from Venezuela to Los Angeles and continues to keep him going today.


vic firthsplit brushVic Firth’s latest experiment was designed by German brush guru Florian Alexandru-Zorn. The Split Brush boasts two rows of wires, allowing for a fuller range of sound, though the additional wires take some getting used to. The extra weight provides an unusually high level of attack and clarity on the cymbals, which is refl ective of Alexandru-Zorn’s experiments using brushes not only in soft jazz, but also in electronic and world music contexts.

Sabiansick hatsThese futuristic hi hats just made it out of prototype land and are now available for purchase at select locations. At a mon-strous 18”, these cymbals bring a dark, trashy sound originally engineered with Chris “Daddy” Dave in mind. The 2-inch holes in the top hat allow air to escape, which makes for a unique effect, but can also lead to sticks getting stuck if you’re not careful.

GRETSCHrenown walnutBrand new for 2015, Gretsch has unrolled a walnut version of their 5-piece Renown series drum kit. Though though the shells are 6-ply walnut/maple/walnut, they are noticeably more durable, with darker tones than their all-maple predescesors. The high toms are mounted onto the cymbal stands and the bass drum comes in 20” x 16” or the slightly deeper 22” x 18”.

PRODUCT REVIEWSPRODUCT REVIEWSPRODUCT REVIEWS


zildjiankerope rideThe simple, clean look and vintage sound of the Kerope ride recalls the Zildjian K line of cymbals played on classic albums by iconic drummers like Tony Williams and Steve Gadd. Like these drum masters, the Kerope ride is endlessly diverse; it sounds just as great in bebop setting as it does on a pop gig. Available in both 20” and 22”, the Kerope ride is great for the sentimental drummer looking for a sound that harkens back to the golden age.

VATERconcert ensemble malletsVater has just upped their mallet game with their new line of Concert Ensemble marimba mallets, featuring a larger, stronger hard-rubber core. With .3125” birch handles and a variety of sizes in oval-shaped heads, there is sure to be a mallet that brings the right balance of sonority, power, and speed for any

ensemble player.

latin percussioncajon hi hatsThese 9” B20 cast bronze hi hats mount directly onto the side of a cajon to provide an extra sonic texture. The tension is adjustable and the attached beater allows you to get the sound of a stick on the cymbal by using just your hand. These hats are perfect for the percussionist looking to diversify their set up.

Peter Erskine


A LIVING LEGEND OF JAZZ DRUMMING, PETER ERSKINE HAS PLAYED WITH SOME OF THE MOST TALENTED MUSICIANS OF THE 20TH

CENTURY. HE BEGAN AS A BIG BAND DRUMMER

PLAYING IN THE ORCHESTRAS OF STAN KENTON AND

MAYNARD FERGUSON BEFORE BECOMING A PIONEER

OF FUSION WITH THE GROUP WEATHER REPORT.

SINCE THEN, HE HAS CONTINUED TO EXPLORE THE

JAZZ LEXICON WITH GROUPS LIKE YELLOWJACKETS

AND STEPS AHEAD, RELEASED HIS OWN MUSIC VIA

ECM RECORDS, AND PRODUCED HIS OWN LINE OF

EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL. PETER SAT DOWN WITH

DRUM WORLD TO DISCUSS THE EVOLUTION OF

HIS PLAYING STYLE, THE RECENT MOVE FROM DW

TO TAMA, HIS VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC

EDUCATION, AND MUCH MORE.

Peter Erskine

May 2015 | DRUM World | 7


DW: Hi Peter! Thanks for taking the time to asnwer a few questions. First question: WHat was your fi rst experience with the drums?Peter: I began playing the drums when I was four years old, taking lessons from the age of fi ve. My father had fashioned a conga drum with a small rivet cymbal attached to it to function as a drumset of sorts…it was that, also a sort of compass that guided me into this life of music. DW: Who were some of your early infl uences?Peter: My fi rst infl uences were Art Blakey, Max Roach, Jack Sperling and Don Lamond. This orbit expanded soon enough to include such drummers as Louis Hayes, Eddie Marshall, Roy Haynes, Grady Tate, Mel Lewis, Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette and Tony Williams. I was also very keen to listen to classical music, and found a lot of inspiration from the music of Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky, as well as J.S. Bach and Beethoven.DW: Did you have a lot of formal training early on, or was it more “learn by doing” in terms of getting out and touring and performing?Peter: Private instruction from the age of fi ve onward, including classical percussion studies from the age of twelve. I attended summer music camps (both jazz and classical) from the age of seven until high school, when/where I studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. I then went to Indiana

University where I studied for one year before leaving school to go on the road with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.DW: You’ve played with some big names over the years: Maynard Ferguson, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell, Diana Krall, Wayne Shorter, Steely Dan. What lesson, or lessons, did you learn from being around such great musicians?

Peter: Well, Joe Zawinul (keyboardist of Weather Report) taught me an important one early on in my time with Weather Report. One time in concert the beat got turned around, and I did something to try and bring it back in--you know, “Okay everybody, here’s one.” Afterwards, he was really bugged, furious. “Why did you do that? It was great before you

did that.” “Well,” I said, “I was trying to get beat one straight.” And he

Erskine and Weather Report keyboardist Joe Zawinul in 1980.

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“ONE TIME THE BEAT GOT TURNED AROUND AND I TRIED TO GET BEAT ONE STRAIGHT. JOE ZAWINUL SAID, ‘FUCK ONE! ONE’S NOT IMPORTANT.’

BIG LESSON IN THAT.”


said, “One? Fuck one, man! I don’t give a shit about one. One’s not important.” Big lesson in that.DW: You seem to spend a great deal of time teaching, whether it be through teaching at the University of Southern California or through your own educational books and apps. How do you find time to also work on your own material? What percent of your time would you say you spend teaching versus playing? Do you prefer one over the other?Peter: It’s all music and it’s all part of a musical life. An important part of the jazz tradition is to pass along the knowledge and experience gained from learning and playing. I wish that my schedule allowed for some more private time for composing; lately the performing, recording and teaching demands of my career have overtaken my private creative space a bit.

DW: What advice would you give to a young person hoping to make a career out of playing the drums? What albums would you recommend he or she listen to in order to get into it?Peter: Advice? Listen to as much music as possible. Play as much as possible. Learn how to combine listening with playing (and don’t just play what your hands know). Always be open to learning, and try not to personalize musical advice or direction when it is given. Most of all, learn to trust your own

ears, the music, and yourself. And have fun!DW: You recently left Drum Workshop to join Tama. Can you talk a little about the motivations behind this move and what changes you think it will bring to your playing in the future?Peter: Changing from one drum company to another is a nice problem to have, but it can be fraught with consequence for all parties, i.e., it’s never easy. I was compelled to make this unexpected move upon the discovery that Tama Star drums were, quite simply, the best drums I had ever played. “Life is short” becomes a very real motivation when you’re 60 years old, and I decided that I wanted to play the very best drums. Plus, the hardware is a delight to use and the company is excellent in terms of drumset support when I travel as well as listening to my ideas for product development. It was painful to walk away from DW — they’re good people and we had a good collaboration going — but this was a musical decision.DW: It seems like in your progression from the early fusion days of Weather Report to your current work with small piano trios and on film scores, your playing has become more sparse and understated. Is this an accurate statement? Do you still feel the need to play something burning now and then to keep up your chops?Peter: That’s a good observation … my playing has

changed over the years, and I’ve embraced a “less is more” approach and philosophy when it comes to drumming. Playing with more space allows different doors and window to open in the music. But I still enjoy generating heat and energy at the drums, and am doing that very thing this week with the Swiss Jazz Orchestra playing the music of Steps Ahead and Weather Report. Quite different from the big band drumming I did last week playing the music from the Miles Davis and Gil Evans collaborations in Los Angeles’ Disney Hall with Terence Blanchard and Sean Jones, et al. I guess it’s just a matter of knowing when to do what. Or, in other words, “listening” … the music will always tell you what to play if you’re really paying attention.DW: On a related note, how do you feel about the current “gospel chops” trend amongst young drummers? Do you think this is the future of drumming, or will there still be a place for people who want to use brushes and play quietly?Peter: Drumming is a big universe with room for lots of different styles and approaches. If everyone else played like me, then I would be out of business! My way is not for everyone. Plus, I enjoy the incredible drumming I’m hearing today, gospel chops or otherwise. I don’t make steady diet out of listening to much of what I hear today, but I appreciate it and recognize that the boundaries are being

10 | DRUM WORLD | May 201510 | DRUM WORLD | May 2015

pushed and expanded, and that’s always a good thing. Good music abides and will always abound.DW: Today, there are more ways of accessing than ever before, from SoundCloud to Spotify to YouTube to simply pirating. Do you think this plethora of options is a good thing for up-and-coming musicians?Peter: Technology is what it is. It’s up to us to call upon our resources as well as ethics to navigate these waters. It’s an exciting time of transition but a painful one as well. The business model is changing radically and faster than most of us can handle. Having operated on the sidelines in terms of my own recorded work, the effect is less dramatic in some ways, though I can’t help but notice that our CD sales have dropped dramatically over the last few years (plus, I am called to do less and less recording work in studios for major labels, etc.). And so it goes. I don’t like plundering and have never supported piracy in any form. Natural selection, I suppose, will winnow out the survivors, and us old-timers will

do well to pay

attention to the clever young people who are getting their music “out there.” Ultimately, I trust music and my own tastes and talents to remain creative while providing for my family. If I have a motto, it’s one I learned from my father who was a doctor: “Do no harm.” That, and “swing.” And “be able to read and know how to play softly.”

All of that said, I subscribe to Spotify so as to have instant access to much of the recorded jazz archives available there for when I teach. YouTube is also useful for fi nding performances of past and living jazz masters. But if I really want to listen to something, I buy the album and support the artist or his/her estate.DW: And fi nally, any upcoming

gigs, projects, or products we should look out for?Peter: Always.

Going into the

studio next month to create a big band play-along app with Bob Mintzer and some of LA’s fi nest musicians (many of them associated with the Thornton School of Music at USC). I believe that this will be the best big band training apparatus ever offered, certainly on an iOS app! Plus making a couple of new trio recordings under my own name.

A couple of new Tama signature drums will be on their way, plus some incredible new hardware. Also developing some new cymbals with Zildjian. Investing in my home studio to do more projects there, and

composing more for classical chamber music as time allows. Will being work on two new books this next year. All of this while being asked more and more to travel the world and play (oftentimes to perform the concerto for drumset and orchestra, composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage, titled “Erskine”). I thought that I would be slowing down as I got older but instead I seem to be getting busier. Part of this might be the need to work more nowadays to keep up … but more of it, I suspect, is the urgency and the need to make music.I am still following

the compass that my father

so lovingly made for me when

I was four years old.

“IF I HAVE A MOTTO, IT’S ONE I LEARNED FROM MY FATHER, WHO WAS

A DOCTOR: ‘DO NO HARM.’ THAT, AND ‘SWING.’”

Aa

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Se

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DW: So when did you start playing drums?Aaron: I started really late, when I was fi fteen years old. On the suggestion of my high school sweetheart, I started taking lessons. I didn’t have to study, I was a straight-A student, didn’t have to study…go fi gure. I had a cousin who was in a rock band and my cousin was incredible; she was a great guitar player, she played piano, she played drums. So, my high school sweetheart said, “You’re not doing anything in the afternoons. Go take a lesson, learn guitar, learn piano from your cousin.” Then she said, “Learn drums” and immediately the light bulb went off. It was like, “Okay, drums it is.”

DW: And then you were on the road pretty soon after that, right?Aaron: I was gigging and recording when I was 18…I was doing jingles and albums, all

sorts of stuff.DW: So you were just thrown out there?Aaron: Pretty much. I had never played with a metronome until I went into the studio, which was a scary proposition. So, very little formal training. I

took a trimester at a vocational music school down in Caracas in 1981 or 1982 and that was the extent of it until 1991 when I moved here to the States to go to college. I was a

27-year-old freshman…with a wife and a kid, mind you. Most of the stuff I did was just watching videos.DW: Any drummers in particular you remember watching?Aaron: Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Jeff

Porcaro, Elvin Jones…anything that was available on VHS.DW: When you fi rst started, were you on drum set or percussion?Aaron: Drum set. [Points to his drum set] That’s the love of my life right there.DW: So, when did you start getting into percussion, hand drums, all of that?Aaron: Probably…30 years ago. 1985 was when I started dabbling with timbales, a little bit of bongo, then congas. Then when I moved here, I started playing pandero. You know, it’s been an evolution, but the love of my life is the drum set. That’s the start of the show for me.DW: When you moved

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My HIGH SCHooL SWeetHeart SaID, ‘Learn DrUMS’ anD

IMMeDIateLy tHe LIGHt BULB Went off. It WaS LIKe,‘oKay, DrUMS It IS.’

IN THE GAMEaron Serfaty’S LoVe for tHe DrUMS tooK HIM froM HIS HoMetoWn of

CaraCaS, VeneZUeLa to LoS anGeLeS, CaLIfornIa In 1991. SInCe tHen, He HaS HoneD HIS Craft tHroUGH toUrS anD StUDIo SeSSIonS WItH SoMe of tHe HeaVIeSt HItterS In tHe afro-CUBan anD JaZZ SCeneS. toDay, He ContInUeS to PLay eXtenSIVeLy anD foSter otHerS’ LoVe of tHe DrUMS aS a MeMBer of tHe faCULty at tHe UnIVerSIty of SoUtHern CaLIfornIa’S tHornton SCHooL of MUSIC.


here to go to CalArts, did you fi nd that there was a different approach or philosophy towards music than in Venezuela?Aaron: Well, CalArts is a completely different music school [than USC]; it has nothing to do with any other music school I know. It’s all about…art, you know? So, if you want to play in 17, 14, 72, whatever, you’re welcome to. If you want to yell while you’re playing, that’s fi ne. If you want to play naked, that’s fi ne, too. It’s a very, very free environment, which I wasn’t ready for. It was shocking. The amazing thing about it when I was there was that it had an unbelievable World Music program. We had two brothers from Ghana teaching African music and we had Poovalur Srinivasan from South India and Amiya Dasgupta from North India. Each one of them was teaching Indian music, but either from the North or from the South. And we had

Nanik Wenten teaching Japanese and Indonesian gamelan, so for percussion, it was unbelievable. It was heaven. And then, Joe LaBarbara was teaching drums and I had two classical percussion teachers. One of them was John Bergamo, who played with Frank Zappa, so it was quite an experience for me. I’m glad I was an adult when I went there because otherwise I would’ve gotten sidetracked really quickly.DW: How did that differ from the scene in Venezuela?Aaron: Well, we had really rich African infl uence in Venezuelan music, but most of the stuff that you listened to on the radio was American music, so you had Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, you know, the usual suspects of the Top 40 at the moment. Not a whole lot of jazz, a little bit of Brazilian music, little bit of

Cuban music—quite a bit of Cuban music, actually. Mostly Colombian music, so it was very diverse, very…eclectic, but not quite as “art school” as CalArts.DW: Speaking of Venezuela, you’ve been pretty outspoken about what’s going on right now with Maduro and all of the corruption. How do you think that’s affecting musicians there?Aaron: They’re all leaving. In the last there have been ta least ten musicians I know that have moved just to L.A. and 20 or 30 that have moved to Miami.DW: And you think that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t so bad in Venezuela?Aaron: Oh, it would have never happened. You’re getting taxed on musicial instruments, you’re getting taxed on C.D.’s, everything. It’s unbelievable. Let’s say you want to buy a pair of sticks. Here, you pay $8, or let’s say $10.

There, you’re paying $30 or $35. Minimum salary—last time I checked—was $52 per month. So, let’s say you make $100 per month, a pair of sticks is still $30. The math doesn’t add up.DW: Do you think that’s diminishing the infl uence of Venezuelan culture and music?Aaron: Well, they’re listening to American music anyway. They’re listening a little more to Venezuelan music…because of this old Nazi trick, this nationalistic thing, you know? So there’s a little bit more listening to traditional Venezuelan music, but it’s just a mirage, it’s just a trick. Now, El Sistema (the national youth orchestra) is still running, but that has been running for 40 years. It’s not a new thing. They get pretty much unlimited resources from the government because it has become a

propaganda tool for socialist bullshit.

[laughs] Sorry.DW:You’ve toured

with the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Sergio

Mendes, Jon

May 2015 | DRUM WORLD |

Amiya Dasgupta from North India. Each one of them was teaching Indian music, but either from the North or from the South. And we had

the usual suspects of the Top 40 at the moment. Not a whole lot of jazz, a little bit of Brazilian music, little bit of

you’re getting taxed on C.D.’s, everything. It’s unbelievable. Let’s say you want to buy a pair of sticks. Here, you pay $8, or let’s say $10.

new thing. They get pretty much unlimited resources from the government because it has become a

propaganda tool for socialist bullshit.

[laughs] Sorry.DW:You’ve toured

with the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Sergio

Mendes, Jon


Anderson. Do you have any stories that stand out from your experiences with any of them?Aaron: I don’t think they’re fit for print. [laughs] No, but I have a few funny stories. Not so many with Sergio, a couple with Arturo, but my favorite story is with Jon Anderson (the singer from Yes). I was touring with him on a student Visa. They hired me for a tour and I see on the itinerary we go to Caracas and then we fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory, so I could not enter with a student Visa to work. So tell them, “I need a working permit.” They say, “Oh, don’t worry about.” So, we go to Mexico, we go to Costa Rica, we go to Venezuela and I say “Listen guys: working permit” and they say “Don’t worry about, just tell them you’re a tourist.” And I had my wife and kid here (in the U.S.) and I had my student Visa and I decided I wasn’t going to jeopardize all that for a lie, for one gig. It’s their fault, not mine. So, I tell the immigration agent I should have a working permit because I’m here for a gig. So,

they say, “You have to go to an immigration facility and tomorrow you’ll be deported. You’ll be flown back to Venezuela.” I’m fine with it because they’re flying me back there and my mom is there, my mother-in-law is there. I have no problem with it. So, I’m calling my wife from the immigration detention place and Jon Anderson walks in pale white

and panicking. And I just started laughing thinking, “How surreal is this?” So I ask him what was up and he’s a British citizen and he needed a working permit. However, the tour manager and the promoter told him to say he was a tourist. Except the immigration agent had tickets to the concert. [bursts out laughing]. So we spent the night in the

immigration facility and were flown back to Caracas. We went to the American embassy, got our passports stamped again and we came back and played the concert and kept going on the tour. And it could’ve been avoided if they had listened to me! So, that’s my favorite story.DW: That’s a great one.Teaching is such a big part of what you


do, but you still play gigs and came out with your own CD recently. What is the ratio of time spent on your own work versus teaching others, and how do you balance the two?Aaron: Teaching takes at least 60% of my time, maybe 70%. I’m part of the furniture here [at USC]. That’s the one thing…I would like to find a better balance. I would like to play a little more. To be honest, I had no idea I was going to love teaching as much as I do…this is sort of the most fun thing I’ve ever done because you run into talented students and you give them an idea and they come back with that idea turned on its head and it’s really, really fun to watch.DW: People have been saying that jazz is dead for a long time now, but people who otherwise wouldn’t be interested in jazz drumming seem to be talking about it now because of movies like Whiplash and Antonio Sanchez’ soundtrack for Birdman. How do you feel about this exposure?Aaron: Well, I haven’t watched Birdman, so I don’t know. I have

a bunch of friends who loved it, a couple who hated it, but I don’t know. I watched Whiplash and I thought it was a great comedy. I went with my comapdre, one of my oldest friends, and we were the only people in the theatre laughing. The hands, the close-ups of the hands, were Kyle Crane’s, who is a USC alumni, a former student. So, yeah, I hated that movie. DW: So you don’t think that despite its inaccuracies, it’s good that people are talking about jazz drumming?Aaron: They’re not talking about jazz drumming, though. It’s a sports movie; it’s not a music movie. Replace it with the kid being a quarterback and the teacher is a tough coach. We’ve seen that movie a million times.DW: At least more people know “Caravan” than they would have otherwise.Aaron: Yeah, maybe you’re right. The funny thing is a friend of mine recorded the original version of “Whiplash” with the Don Ellis Big Band. And he would say the same thing: it’s a little ridiculous. But I guess I appreciate the exposure it gave

to the truest American instrument. It’s an American invention, which is why i came here to study it. I didn’t fall in love with any particular music; I fell in love with the drum set and I assumed I had to play all kinds of music that had drum set in it. My playlist back then was very schizophrenic. I has Oscar Peterson and I had Judas Priest and I had Led Zeppelin and I had Louie Bellson. DW: What advice would you give to a young person trying to make a career out of the drums?Aaron: Advice? [sighs]. If you’re good at or enjoy doing anything else…go for that. Because the musician’s life is not an easy one. However, if you’re like me and like most musicians, we have no choice. We have to play. We put up with making hundreds of dollars a year playing jazz because you have no choice but to follow your heart, which sounds ridiculously cheesy to say. But, if I couldn’t play drums, I’d be even more of a curmudgeon than I am right now [laughs]. DW: That’s maybe not the advice peo-

ple want to hear, but probably good advice. So, say you are one of those people who have no choice but to play drums. What would you suggest that person listen to?Aaron: Well, there are iconinc “drummer” albums that you need to listen to. You need to listen to Jimmy Cobb in Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, you also need to listen to John Bonham in Led Zeppelin, any of their albums, that’s some serious drumming. You need to listen to Buddy Rich: Channel One Suite or West Side Story. You need to listen to The Meters, Sly & The Family Stone, Earth, Wind & Fire—early Earth, Wind & Fire, not now that it’s a retirement home. Blood, Sweat & Tears, Danny Seraphine from Chicago back when they when they CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) not now that it’s a sappy love song thing. You need to listen Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bill Haley & His Comets, Earl Palmer with Little Richard, the drummers of Motown. If you want to be a drummer, those are things you need to be listening to.

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