Johnny Vidacovich

 

Philadelphia

                 Thich Nhat Hanh

     Brian Blade             New Orleans

 James Singleton Brian Prunka

                        Seattle

                                                           

Ed Petersen    

                                                                    PORTLAND

                            

                              Brian Seeger

Jesse Lewis      Stanton Moore     I grew up in Philadelphia, PA..."Philly". I started drumming at age 16 with the support of my Uncle Dennis who gave me a drumset and my family who dealt with the noise. Shuffled off to college at Pennsylvania State University where I somehow earned a B.S. in Physics but more importantly met some of my best friends....<OVERDRIVE>.

In 1993 I moved to New Orleans seeking to tap into the source of jazz. Almost immediately I began to study with New Orleans drumming master Johnny Vidacovich. By 1999 I had toured Austria and Italy, graduated with a M.M. in Jazz Performance from the University of New Orleans and had recorded the "Best new Jazz Album in New Orleans, 1999". Playing on the scene in New Orleans with great bands such as Astral Project, Quintology, The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, James Singleton and Ed Petersen shaped my person and my performing.

In 2002 I left The Big Easy to wander through the forests and search for something or nothing. I had a short and difficult time in Brooklyn, New York and then a few months at Plum Village, Thich Nhat Hanh's buddhist monastery in Thenac, France. Back to New Orleans in the beginning of 2005 and back to music. Hurricane Katrina flooded me out of that magical city and I washed up on the west coast in Portland, Oregon.

Portland and the people have been kind, helpful and gracious. I was performing all over the city with great local musicians as well as a small contingency of displaced New Orleanians and now I find myself in Seattle.

                                                                Fixed up by friends with Lilla Fiumi who soon became Lilla DiFlorio brought me up another state to Washington.

I'm just breaking into the Seattle scene and I see that deep inside this city is the kindness of the NW with the edge of a big city.  I am teaching drum lessons privately out of my home studio and toddler/parent music classes at NW Musicworks as well as gigging with singer/songwriter Jill Cohn.

My musical interests are widely varied and I see that my performing and listening interests are sometimes different. I most enjoy listening to music that touches my heart as well as my mind but rarely enjoy music for my mind only. I enjoy performing music and in a situation that deeply connects with the listener. I've just recently seen that for me, music is about connecting with people.
I have a few drum sets, a 4 piece custom Ayotte, a 4 piece Gretsch Catilina Club but I mostly gig on my five piece Yamaha Maple Custom drumset. I am ecstatic to announce that I now endorse Bosphorus Cymbals . They are some of the finest cymbals being made today.  Currently I am using a 22" Master Series Ride, a 21" Master Series Ride and 13" Master Series hi-hats. More to come. I also have studied the Indian Tabla as well as the Egyptian Riq, Darbouka and Tar.