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Dean Mucetti

Rhythm Real is the brainchild of Los Angeles drummer, bandleader, and music educator Dean Mucetti. Dean formed the band in August of 2015 as a type of workshop ensemble in order to create a way for a couple of his former middle school music students to gain playing experience after graduating. Since then, Dean Mucetti & Rhythm Real has been bringing together the talents of younger players with more experienced musicians in order to facilitate a collaborative meeting of diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and generational backgrounds. Dean would soon invite friends from his college days at the California Institute of the Arts and other musicians he knew in hopes of finding a creative meeting point between the variables of experiences. A consistency with this process of engagement over time eventually resulted in the band playing some of L.A.’s most coveted clubs such as the Baked Potato in Studio City, the Blue Whale in Little Tokyo, the World Stage in Leimert Park, and Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

The music itself began as a composite type of sound where the James Brown funk of Clyde Stubblefield, Bootsy Collins, and Jimmy Nolen was combined with the spontaneous music tradition of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane. Along with these luminaries as inspiration, Dean was also conceptually influenced by the work of modern day musician-composers such as Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, and Tyshwan Sorey. These influences were filtered through the band's particular methods of study, practice, and development during rehearsals one to two times a week, a schedule which has continued on for most of the band’s existence starting seven years ago.

As Dean’s former students had become quite proficient at playing a more modal groove type of music, he was hoping for them to develop a greater understanding of harmony to go along with their acquired sense of rhythm. They began putting the static groove music they were steeped in through the more complex chord changes of “jazz standards” in order to work on a deeper understanding of harmony and melody. The rhythm section, forming the backbone of the band, would then work to develop cueing systems, looping structures, and forms within forms to create a base from which spontaneous composition could flourish. Week after week, month after month, and year after year, the rhythm section under Dean’s direction would build on what they had learned through studying the music of Charles Mingus, John “Jabo” Starks, Bud Powell, Alfonso “Country” Kellum, Sonny Rollins, “Sweet” Charles Sherrell, and others. This resulted in consistent growth and change over time, with the music becoming more complex and very particular to the band itself. It was a type of progress where each stage of development became a step in an overarching process of coming into their own band’s sound.

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Drummer And Music Educator Dean Mucetti Releases 'Isolate//Integrate' With His Band Rhythm Real – Out March 30, 2023 On Orenda Records

Drummer And Music Educator Dean Mucetti Releases 'Isolate//Integrate' With His Band Rhythm Real – Out March 30, 2023 On Orenda Records

Source: Mouthpiece Music

Like most young musicians setting out to learn their craft, drummer Dean Mucetti had plans to earn a living playing music. Little did he know he would become a full-time music educator and a mentor to many young people who may not have had access to a music education otherwise. Mucetti is now releasing his debut album, Isolate//Integrate, with his band called Rhythm Real, which has featured some of his students who have grown up to become top-notch musicians. Isolate//Integrate ...

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