Results for "Steve Smith"

Zakir Hussain: The Best Jazz / Crossover Albums

by Ian Patterson
March 4, 2021

Zakir Hussain turned 70 on March 9th. In an unparalleled career, which began in earnest aged 7, the man widely acclaimed as the world's greatest tabla player has played with the giants of both Indian classical music and jazz. It is hard to think of another musician who has straddled both worlds to such a prominent ...

Tom Kennedy: Stories From Behind and Beyond The Bass

by Jim Worsley
January 10, 2021

Tom Kennedy has never considered himself a prospector, but surely has tapped into a goldmine. As if releasing a hotshot new record wasn't enough, the world class jazz and fusion bassist is in compositional bliss with a bevy of new material yet to be recorded. Kennedy and I talk at length about his new writing technique ...

Drumology

By Rob Silverman

Label: Autumn Hill Records
Released: 2020
Track listing: Inferno; Waverunners; Konnakol; Brave New World; Ten Times Ten; Drum Duet in C Minor; Spark.

Steve Smith

Born: August 21, 1954

Steve Smith was originally drawn to the drums by hearing marching bands in parades as a child in his native Massachusetts. At age nine, in 1963, Smith began studying the instrument in earnest with local Boston area teacher Bill Flanagan, who played in big bands in the swing era.

Smith performed in the usual school band program and garage bands while in his teens, but also began to broaden his performing experience by playing in a professional Brockton concert band and even the big band at the local college, Bridgewater State. After high school, Smith began studying music at the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1972. There he received valuable instruction from such renowned drum teachers as Gary Chaffee and Alan Dawson.

Los Angeles Based Independent Jazz Label, BFM Jazz, Wins Five Grammys

February 20, 2019

BFM JAZZ is a boutique record label based in Los Angeles that garnered six Grammy nominations and turned them into five wins this past Sunday. In the company’s brief, nine-year existence, they’ve put out 27 projects that have accumulated 17 nominations collectively. In 2018, BFM Jazz released just three projects. All three received nominations and all ...

Sabir Khan, Steve Smith, Billy Childs, Pamelia Stickney & Sam Amidon

by Martin Longley
July 4, 2018

Sabir Khan & Aditya Kalyanpur The Rubin Museum Of Art March 23, 2018 The Rubin Museum now seems to have eased off on its penchant for strictly all-acoustic performances, with microphones in place for this recital by the Indian sarangi player Sabir Khan, returning a long time after his ...

Where's The Beat? From Ancient Rhythms To Future Grooves For Gizmos, Gadgets And Thingamajigs

August 10, 2017

The classic “world beat bible" by Matthew Montfort is now bringing these ancient rhythms into the grooves of the future with content for digital audio workstations, sequencers, computers, tablets, smartphones, CD players, and other gizmos! Where's the Beat? A. West Africa, Bali, and India, birthplaces of polyrhythm, gamelan, and tala. B. Within every performer, ...

A Conversation with Mike Mainieri

by Anthony Smith
June 2, 2017

The following is an excerpt from the chapter “A Conversation with Mike Mainieri" of Masters of the Vibes by Anthony Smith (Marimba Productions, 2017). So you've been working on a new project this week? Yes, just finishing some overdubs... it's a project I'm involved in with some friends, but I really can't ...

Rolling in Rhythm: Philly Joe Jones and Charles Wilcoxon

by Dustin Mallory
February 17, 2017

Drummer “Philly" Joe Jones is known as one of the most recorded drummers in jazz history, appearing on more than 200 albums. His legacy as a studio drummer appears on seminal classics like John Coltrane's Blue Train, Thelonious Monk's Blues at the Five Spot, Miles Davis's Milestones, and Bud Powell's Time Waits. Beside these recordings, Jones ...

Modus Factor: The Picasso Zone

by Dave Wayne
January 24, 2017

Versatiity is the key to the musical success of The Picasso Zone by the multi-national, polystylistic electric jazz trio Modus Factor. Based in Toronto, Modus Factor is comprised of Canadian drummer (and putative bandleader) Chris Lesso, trumpeter Brownman Ali--originally from Trinidad--and Uganada- born bassist Ian De Souza. Clearly, these guys' diverse origins contributed to their abiding ...