July 1977 - Modern Drummer - Alan Dawson

• Published Quarterly
• MODERN DRUMMER
• A Contemporary Publication Exclusively for Drummers
• VOL. 1 NO. 3
• Pearl
• BASIE
• BUTCH MILES
• In this issue
• ALAN DAWSON EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
• MD TALKS WITH BUTCH MILES
• PHIL EHART: KANSAS ENERGY
• CLOSE UP ONTARIO COLLEGE OF PERCUSSION
• DRUM SET SHOPPERS GUIDE
• PART III
• ED SHAUGHNESSY: TUNING TIPS
• BRAZILIAN DRUMMING

FROM THE PAST: THE LEGENDARY CHICK WEBB

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R O G E R S c/o CBS Musical Instruments 1300 E. Valencia Fullerton, Calif. 92631

No question about it, the people at Rogers have given this business of hardware a great deal of serious thought, resulting in some outstanding innovations for the working drummer on the move. The Rogers Memriloc hardware design leaves nothing to chance and has reduced set-up time to a fraction of what it was. This impressive system represents years of research and a tooling,up period of over a year. Based on a series of interlocking grooves and the use of a lock and key mounting principle, the pre-set locking mechanism offers the player his precise three dimensional setup everytime, making minor and annoying instrument position adjustments unnecessary. The o u t f i t , which is acutally 80% setup while still in the case, utilizes 1" tubing throughout, and Rogers claims the added strength hasn't added that much extra weight. The bass drum features 1" tubing spread angle spurs for a solid platform, and a powerful support tube running clear through to stabilize and anchor the receiver and tom holder. Dual or triple tom holders can be used for 1, 2 or 3 toms or any combination of cymbal assemblies, and drilling is unnecessary for additions or changes. The modular construction system offers playing by either right or left handers. A unique cymbal arm extension assembly affords virtually any cymbal position, without drilling into the Rogers 5-ply shell. Extension tubes are available for extra height to snare, tom, cymbal or hi-hat stands. The Supreme foot pedal has some excellent features including industrial belting strap, stroke and axle adjustment, easy lever lock hoop mounting, and a strong, wide footboard. The hi-hat stand is equally impressive with up to 40" height and smooth quiet action due to nylon moving parts. The Memriloc system, plus a dual-matic clutch which drops the top cymbal with the flip of a lever for closed position playing, all make for one of the most functional pieces of equipment on the market. The improved

"Dyna-Sonic" snare drum has a die-cast snare frame and snare wires that are manufactured to exactly 7 coils per inch, epoxy mounted. The snare frame floats and the bottom head is untouched by snare plates. A few other fine ideas include springless lugs which eliminate buzzing and rattling; external clip-on mufflers for instant on-off adjustment, and a Memriloc boom stand attachment which can be added to the standard cymbal stand. Rogers has given the discriminating drummer a lot to think about in terms of options and innovations. They've come up with some truly remarkable and progressive designs. Slightly expensive perhaps, but it's outstanding equipment and worth every red cent in our estimation.

ALAN DAWSON ... chops and brains equal a Boston master by PETE DANCKERT

"Yeah, Alan Dawson", Max Roach reflected recently. "I consider him to be a key man. Alan was the drummer we had to contend with whenever we played New England", Roach chuckled, remembering. "Man, we trembled when we knew we had to deal with him." Dawson hears of Roach's praise midway through a lesson with one of the 30 students he teaches each week in the studio of his rambling split-level home in the Boston suburb of Lexington. "That's real nice of Max", he says with his typical half-smile. He turns back to the student, a twentyish man facing him across a wide practice pad. "Hey Patrick", Dawson trembling".

cracks, "you're not

Patrick looks up from his six-stroke rolls just long enough to laugh; he's only got an hour with Dawson and he wants to make every minute count. But on his way out, he confides to a visitor, "Alan is a monster. For ten years I thought I was playing, but I really just started when I began studying with him". Those two appraisals-one from an awed disciple, one from a long-time idol of Dawson's-tell much about how far the 47 year old Boston drummer has come in doing what he loves: playing and teaching. As a performer, he has long since won the respect not only of legendary drummers like Roach, but of an astonishing array of jazz instrumentalists he has backed live and on records. Apart from his recently completed seven-year stint with Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Jack Six, Dawson has recorded with Phil Woods, Jaki Byard, Richard Davis, Booker Ervin, Illinois Jacquet, Al Cohn, Reggie Workman, Lionel Hampton, and other luminaries on more than 35 albums. His live performance credits are more staggering still. From 1963 to 1970, Dawson's steady gig as house drummer at Lennie's, the late, lamented Boston Jazz Club, had him backing diverse talents ranging from Roy Eldridge to Mose Allison. His appearance at George Wein's Festival of Jazz in Nice, France last July found him in the company of similar giants like Kenny Clarke. But despite his travels (the Brubeck gig included 50 road concerts a year), Dawson has called Boston home since his f a m i l y moved to the Hub shortly after his birth on July 14, 1929 in Marietta, Pennsylvania. Emerging from a childhood spent banging away on any available table or chair, he got his professional start playing with the Basielike riffs of Tasker Crosson's local band

in 1943. The only formal instruction of his career followed in 1947 when Dawson began four years of fundamental study with Boston percussionist Charles Alden. Army duty in 1951 ended his private lessons, but began Dawson's long association with top jazz names of the post-bebop era. Dawson's short-lived job with Lionel Hampton's band would seem to have been his first big break. But he discounts that stay with Hamp as "three months that seemed like 15 years". His 1950 - '51 gig with Gigi Gryce and Joe Gordon in Sabby

Lewis's eight-piece group was what made him in Boston, says Dawson. Yet even local renown and nationwide rumors of his prowess couldn't give Dawson steady work in what he calls, "those years around 1956 when that terrible rock of the SO's took over". Regardless of his stature among his peers, Dawson's name crops up less often than those of younger stars like Cobham or Mason. Part of the reason stems from his reluctance to quit the Boston area for longer than the time taken up by brief tours, clinics, and his numerous New York recording dates. "If somebody ever calls from California and says I can do one three-hour date a day for $200,000 a year guaranteed for ten years, then I'll go", he chuckles. But his influence is everywhere. When you hear Joe La Barbera, Joe Corsello, or any of the drummers produced by the Berklee College of Music in Boston, you're hearing more than a bit of Alan Dawson. He was the famed school's original drum instructor, teaching there for 18 years before resigning in 1975 to pursue a lighter, private teaching schedule. His decision to limit his teaching to 30 hours a week has spawned an ever-growing waiting list of students anxious to learn first-hand the coordinated freedom and lightning chops that are the hallmarks of the Dawson style. It is an oversimplification but no understatement to say that listening to Dawson is like hearing four drummers at once, each devoting all his energies to do the work of one hand or foot. Sure, some guys may have their bass drum together and others have made a religion of freeing the left hand or knocking out hi-hat accents. But Dawson has come as close to achieving ultimate hand and foot independence as any drummer now sitting a stool. Once more, he can switch complex polyrhythms among his four limbs, play them fast, slow, loud or soft and make it all flow out in one logical, musical groove.

If that weren't enough, he swings his tail off. That he makes it look easy testifies to his musicianship. But his approach with his students makes it obvious that he's put in almost as much time figuring out how to teach the instrument as how to play it. So, because he's thought through the different technical methods-innovating some and improving others-Dawson has most answers at his fingertips.

And, he relishes clear explanations. Developing coordination Dawson style is a case in point. He uses Ted Reed's Syncopation for The Modern Drummer and George Stone's Stick Control according to their original purposes. But . he's added a few wrinkles of his own.

"I've got about 35 or 40 different ways to study the Reed book", Dawson says casually.

"One of them involves playing the snare drum line with the bass drum while the hi-hat

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A Study in Styles

The rock drumming scene has progressed a great deal since the fifties. Those of us who played through that era remember the monotonous eighths and afterbeats, and those relentless right hand triplets. During the past decade, we have witnessed a remarkable evolution, as those simple rhythmic patterns have evolved into increasingly complex drumming, demanding much greater levels of independence, coordination and creativity. Though numerous players have made great contributions in this area, this author has found the rhythmic creativity and coordinative ability of Carmine Appice, Harvey Mason, Bobby Columby, Steve Gadd and David Garibaldi to be amongst some of the most exciting and inventive drumming in the field, and certainly representative of this facet of playing. The following brief transcriptions were taken from assorted recorded works of these five important and influential players. Note" o = A quick opening and closing of the hi-hat.

• CARMINE APPICE
• BOBBY COLUMBY
• DAVI D GARIBALD
• HARVEY MASON
• STEVE GADD

A great deal can also be gained by intelligent listening to the time and drive of big band greats like Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson; the rhythmically precise execution of Ed Shaughnessy and the classic tastefulness, balance and blend of Mel Lewis's phrasing. Each one of these players combines all of the above-mentioned to varying degrees and can offer much to the aspiring drummer. Listen to fully appreciate the masterful drummer who can keep steady, swinging time, make all figures and accents unerringly, set-up figures with imaginative and tasteful fills, and choose colorful and musical phrasings. Most pros not only do all this, but also can do it the first time through a new chart. Perhaps it is here where clearly the thin line between the novice and the adept artist can be drawn. Note: Two of the finest books on the subject of big band playing are Get Your Fills

Together by Sonny Igoe, published by Sonny

Igoe, Emerson, N. J. and Stage Band Drummers Guide by John Pickering, published by Mel Bay, Pacific, Mo. Both works should be part of the standard library of any serious big band aspirant.

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LENNY WHITE: An exclusive MD interview with one of the most dynamic and exciting young drumming talents on the scene

TABLA TALK WITH BADAL ROY: Another MD exclusive with the renowned jazz tabla master.

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON: This new drumming talent has played with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Les McCann, Sonny Stitt and Dizzy Gillespie. Her age? Twelve. Lookout!

GARY MARSHALL: The famed producer of TV's "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley" is just one of show businesses successful personalities who've been known to dabble in the fine art of drumming. A lighthearted, humorous look at Gary's less than earth shattering drumming career.

NORTH DRUMS: An MD close-up on a company producing some of the most revolutionary drum equipment - ever.

MILESTONE PERCUSSION: Hand-crafted, custom built drums using new materials and formulas best describes Milestone; an exciting new firm building equipment that's making a lot of heads turn.