Home » Jazz Musicians » Steve Fidyk

Steve Fidyk

Known for his versatility and musical approach, jazz drummer Steve Fidyk has earned national and international acclaim as an artist, author, composer and columnist. For more than 21 years, he was the drummer and featured soloist with The Army Blues Big Band, a premier 17-piece jazz ensemble stationed in Washington D.C.

Fidyk currently performs with small groups led by tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf and guitarist Jack Wilkins. He is also a member of the jazz studies faculty at Temple University, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is also an educational consultant for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington Program.

Steve Fidyk Live Wire Broad Band: Red Beats

Read "Red Beats" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2023

Would a big band by any other name swing as hard? That's really hard to say (pardon the pun) but is certainly true on Red Beats, an implacably swinging album deftly performed by drummer Steve Fidyk's fashionably named Live Wire Broad Band. Fidyk, who spent more than two decades keeping flawless time for the U.S. Army Blues and now serves as chair of the drum set department at the University of the Arts School of Music in Philadelphia, enlisted a ...

Radio & Podcasts

Steve Fidyk, Joe Magnarelli & Gregory Porter

by Joe Dimino
March 21, 2021

There was so much good music that came out in 2020, we are still catching up. The 691st Episode of Neon Jazz begins with veteran drummer Steve Fidyk with music off his new CD Battle Lines. We also look into some quality music from Stephane Spira, Mark Masters, Gregory Porter and Benny Benack III. Finally, we say good-bye to a few jazz warriors and wonderful people in both Chris Barber and Ralph Peterson. Enjoy the show, my friends.

Album Review

Steve Fidyk: Battle Lines

Read "Battle Lines" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
May 26, 2020

Battle Lines, the inaugural release of Steve Fidyk's Blue Canteen Music label, bears the stamp of a rhythm section capable of adroitly assuming multiple identities. During large portions of three amiable, bop-oriented tracks, “Bebop Operations," “#Social Loafing" and “Sir John," Fidyk's drums, bassist Michael Karn and pianist Peter Zak move the music along without any fuss or extraneous effort. Sometimes it's easy to take them for granted, particularly if your attention is focused on Xavier Perez's tenor sax or Joe ...

Album Review

Steve Fidyk: Allied Forces

Read "Allied Forces" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
November 13, 2016

The military reference in this record's title is right on the mark. For over a quarter of a century, Steve Fidyk has held down the drum chair in the U.S. Army Blues (part of the United States Army Band “Pershing's Own"), an 18-piece ensemble that has performed America's original art form in a variety of venues throughout the U.S. and around the world. Like any great jazz trapster, Fidyk plays the role of commander in chief--which is not to say ...

A longtime student of the late Joe Morello, his cleanly swung ride cymbal beat and articulate, artful punctuations are pure straightahead, while his soloing recalls modern masters like Dave Weckl and Steve Gadd.

- Ken Micallef, Downbeat Magazine