Dave Weckl News

	dave weckl news

	june, 2005 edition

Award winning New York-based photographer Gene Martin is best known for his conceptual portraiture of celebrities and music personalities for record company and editorial markets. Besides photographing the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Bill Cosby and Cyndi Lauper, Gene's colorful portraits of famous jazz musicians has been much heralded.

Since 1988, Gene has shot more than 50 covers for JazzTimes magazine alone. His portraits have also appeared in mainstream magazines including Time, Newsweek, US, People, U.S. News & World Report, New York Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and many others worldwide.

In late 1990, Gene did a photo session with the Akoustic Band - Dave, Chick Corea and John Patitucci, for JazzTimes. A man of many stories, Gene was gracious enough to share photos from the Akoustic Band shoot - and some of those great stories.

q. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, Gene. What was it like photographing the Akoustic Band when they were getting so popular in the early '90s?

a. My pleasure, thank you. It was

very exciting, of course. As a former professional guitar player, I was well aware of Chick Corea. I had studied with a hot local jazz guitarist out on Long Island where I lived at the time. This guy was jamming in clubs with another hot player, bassist Jimmy Haslip (long before the Yellowjackets) who was from the same area. So he was hip to plenty of music that I wasn't. One of the first things he wrote out for my lesson was the chords to Chick's composition, "Spain". This was, of course, long before I made the decision to pursue photography as a career or knew that I'd ever be photographing the Akoustic Band...for the cover of JazzTimes no less!

I remember Chick, Dave, and John being extremely open and friendly. It made my work easy and we had a great shoot. The group photo ran on the cover of JazzTimes in February of 1991. Individual photos ran inside with the story (see middle column below).

q. You have many great stories to tell about all the jazz legends you have photographed over the years. Tell us one of your favorite stories.

a. Well, there are many favorites, but one that stands out is my involvement with the late great Elvin Jones. Back in the early 90's, I shot two Elvin CD covers. One was called "Youngbloods" and the other was "Going home". We did the booklet shots at Rudy Van Gelder's famous New Jersey studio where both CDs were being recorded. At these sessions, I got to meet and photograph up-and-comers like a young Josh Redman, Nick Payton, Javon Jackson, and the son of John Coltrane, Ravi. Interestingly enough, Ravi was named after Ravi Shankar, whom John admired. Just a few years later, I would get to photograph Shankar as well.

Anyway, I photographed Elvin for the cover of "Youngbloods" in my New York studio a few weeks later. I had everything planned out and it came off perfectly. Elvin wasn't crazy about taking the time for photo shoots so I was glad everything was done and "in the can." But when we left the studio, I put my briefcase down for just a few seconds. It contained the film from the shoot. Somebody picked it up right under my nose along with my wallet, credit cards, film...everything...gone!

I was sick to my stomach. I couldn't bring myself to call Elvin and his wife Keiko to tell them we had to do the whole thing over. I finally made the call and, to my great relief, all they cared about was that I was O.K. They thought it was an armed robbery! At any rate, they made an appointment with me for the following week and we did the same thing again. Things went great the second time and, this time, I didn't take my eyes off my new briefcase when we left the studio! Elvin had a pretty busy schedule so I was always grateful for the chance.

Out of respect, I felt I had to attend his wake when he passed away - and another amazing experience happened to me which I couldn't help but feel was being controlled by Elvin himself. The funeral home was packed and photographer Enid Farber and myself were on the outer edge of all the people. It was standing room only... everyone was there. We were listening to Wynton Marsalis playing a New Orleans-style funeral march when the music started to fade. All of a sudden we realized Wynton had led the band out the back door and paraded down the street just like in New Orleans. We raced to the front door in time to catch them coming in marching single file, Wynton in the lead, his brother Delfayo taking up the rear.

When they filed passed Enid and me, we filed in behind them and followed - photographing every step. The crowd parted to let the funeral procession march through. When we got to the edge of the crowd, Enid stopped back where we were originally standing. I whispered in her ear, "Keep going," and we wound up following the procession into a private room where a special presentation was played by the band for Elvin's wife Keiko. Enid and I managed to find ourselves in this very special company and we were the only photographers there, so what we photographed were truly special moments. Keiko remembered me and gave me a hug and then introduced me to her friend Michael who gave me his card. I didn't look at it until walking home as all thoughts were on Elvin. When I did, I was surprised to see I was speaking with none other than fabulous drummer Michael Shrieve, who played that amazing solo in "Soul Sacrifice" with Santana at the Woodstock festival which I attended when I was 18. Michael was a good friend of Elvin's. It was at that moment that I realized how fortunate I was to have witnessed that very private moment with some legendary people. Elvin will be missed!

q. Tell us about some of the great drummers you have photographed over the years. Which shoots stand out in your mind as the most memorable?

a. Once again, they're all memorable. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say, "I really do this for a living?" Besides Elvin and Dave Weckl, I've photographed the great Jack DeJohnette, Max Roach, the late Billy Higgins, Carl Allen, and Dennis Chambers, to name a few. I guess meeting a legend like Max Roach was really special. He was most gracious and did whatever I asked. We had a great shoot. Those images were used everywhere. At one point, I had him holding a pose while standing for a shot I was doing. It involved implying motion via shaking the camera - but Max had to stand still. At one point, he just dove off the backdrop and almost fell on the floor before catching himself! He started to break out in incredible laughter, and told us that he had fallen asleep while standing up! That got us all laughing. Max has a great sense of humor.

next month...

Don't miss out on the special new guest column by a DWB member.

Also, more information on Jay Oliver's latest projects, Multiplicty reviews, contest winners and more Q & A with Dave!

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Hi everyone.

Welcome to the fourth newsletter! Thanks for subscribing, by the way. Hope you're all enjoying it!

I’ve recently returned from my trip in Asia, which included concerts with Chick Corea in Hong Kong and various cities throughout Japan. We had a great tour, everyone playing their rear ends off, meeting lots of great people along the way.

After four weeks with Chick, I continued on my own to do some clinics for Sabian, traveling with my friend and Pacific Rim Sabian dude, Jonathon Yip. We
went to Seoul, Taipai, Beijing and Hong Kong and had a pretty full schedule that week. I did manage to get a half-day of tourism in, walking a few miles on the Great Wall. "Awesome" is the only word to describe it.

Had a great time in all these places, from both the playing and teaching aspects, and also meeting so many nice people! Thanks to all that came!

I'm home now, teaching quite a bit (trying to accommodate those who are interested) and also back into mixing ‘El Negro’s’ CD. I'm enjoying both at the moment, as I love the teaching aspect of sharing with someone else and seeing them "get it!" Horacio’s CD is burning - and is sounding great.

I'm also trying to take SOME time off…..but you know us musicians. It’s hard to stay out of the studio/practice room! My family is looking forward, though, to some down time together coming up in the next couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to it too! Need a bit of a breather...

Multiplicity is less than a month from hitting the streets. As you have, or will see here in the newsletter, we are offering a special offer for you loyal subscribers. Check it out!

I will be taking the DWB out again in mid July to destinations in
Europe. Dates will be on the web site soon (www.daveweckl.com>home page->tours/clinics) so keep an eye out. We also have some U.S. dates being booked for the Fall, so stay tuned and, hopefully, we see you there in a few months!

Ok, I gotta get back to mixing here…. Have a good one everybody!

- Dave

q & a with dave

q. Hi Dave: I'd like to know what's a good practice for getting your chops together and controlling them. I've developed a vocabulary but it's very hard to "use" it in the way I want, to get what's sounding in my head to sound on the drums. Sometimes I "forget" some of my vocabulary, and it limits my playing. How can we get to create and improvise the phrases we want? To get our body and our mind in sync? (I hope this doesn't sound too dramatic).

Thank you for offering us this opportunity.

- Alejandro from Argentina

a. Hi Alejandro, thanks for writing. You really have two questions in one here. Getting your chops together and controlling them is one thing, so let’s address that first.

You have ‘hand chops’ and ‘feet chops’, so they need to be developed separately, and then together. I could write a novel here on each, so I will have to consolidate into saying that for me, my approach that I discuss on my latest
instructional videos (A Natural Evolution) is paramount in technique development and control. There are many ways to make the sticks move (wrists, fingers, arms, combinations, etc..) and each has to be experimented with and practiced. Following natural body movements and allowing the physics of ‘action/reaction’, and also setting up your kit with heights and angles to allow ALL of it to happen, are all part of the equation.

Regarding ‘vocabulary’, we all have certain things we have practiced over and over again. This, however, is not the approach I like to follow when playing music, or at least try not to. The problem with ‘vocabulary’ is you start to sound predictable, what I call a ‘lick’ drummer…..’lick A, B, C, etc’…… this to me is not the most musical approach. My idea is to be spontaneous, so you can respond to the other musicians around you, immediately, without having only a ‘vocabulary’ to rely on. To develop this, a lot of foundation-building exercises must be practiced… By this I mean as many hand/feet combinations as you can possibly come up with, leading with each limb separately, performed in duple and triple meter to begin with (sixteenths and triplets for example), all against a pulse (continuous hi-hat on quarters) with metronomic time, inclusive of dynamic contrast. This way, you will develop the ability to play what you hear, instead of what you know.

q. Hello Dave!!

Since I'm having a lot of trouble with keeping steady tempos when I'm
doing sixteenth note patterns, I often wonder what kind of problems you
had when you first decided to play double bass and how your overcame
them. In your opinion, how high on the throne should I sit? I've seen
some pretty good players and it seems like there is no one height that
they are sitting. My problem is (left) leg and ankle fatigue after
just a few seconds.

Thanks for the inspiration and your music. I want to be just like you
when I grow up - even though I'm 10 years older than you...Hope to see
your band around my area soon.

- Dale Standard

a. Hi Dale,

Yeah, I haven’t really figured out what I want to be when I grow up yet either! That was funny...

Anyway, this, like many questions regarding an actual playing situation, is hard to answer without ‘seeing’ what is going on. My approach with the double pedal is to make sure they are set up in a position that naturally follows my feet/leg position as if I was sitting on a seat, just facing someone and talking to them (not at the drum set).

Notice where your leg and feet position are on the floor, then apply this positioning to your pedals when you sit at the drums. Ankle pain can come from having the pedal too close to you, or just doing something you are not used to. Also, if you are playing primarily ‘heel down’ this can tend to cause ankle pain if you are not used to doing this. I personally always play heel up, so I don’t experience the pain problem.

Also, you might consider strengthening your legs by walking/running/biking/working out, to help as well. Check out some other players too that have great feet, like Virgil Donati and Thomas Lang, to mention only a couple.

q. Hi. I'm a drummer from South Africa. I love your music. You inspire, and
are one of the reasons I love drums and music so much.

My question is: Have you ever played in South Africa before? Where can you say have you had your most beautiful and memorable tour?

Jonno, Knysna - South Africa.

a. Hi Jonno. Thanks for writing and for the kind words. I have to say that every place we go is a beautiful experience, no one place is better than the other, because the people we meet and play for make it that way. I look forward to coming to your country, as it is one place I have never been, but get lots of mail from. I hope to come very soon!

Best to you all!

- Dave

Have a question for Dave? About his music? His career? The musicians he's played with? A practicing tip? This is the place to ask.

Each month, Dave will answer your questions right here. He can't answer them all - and can't answer them individually - but using this forum, he'll answer the most interesting ones he gets.

To submit a question, send an e-mail to questions@davewecklnews.com .

We want to know what you think of the Dave Weckl Band's latest effort. Click here to submit a review of Multiplicity!

One lucky submitter will win a signed and personalized Sabian 16" HHX Evolution crash cymbal from Dave's collection! Dave will also pick one review to be posted in an upcoming edition of this newsletter!

To write a review...you gotta own the record.

Click here to order Multiplicity on our secure order page. No purchase necessary to enter the contest.

learn online with dave

You can now learn online through the Virtual Drummer School, an exciting new interactive learning system that features Dave and many great international drummers.

The Virtual Drummer School features a wide range of curriculum, including interactive lessons and demonstrations by the artists, tools to assess the right level of learning for each student, a focus on ethnic music, history and a focus on equipment. And that's just the beginning...

Go to www.virtualdrummerschool.com to learn more. return to top...

gene martin (contd.)

Click a photo, below, to enlarge.

The Chick Corea Akoustic Band - 1990

Dave Weckl

Chick Corea

John Patitucci

Special thanks to Gene Martin for his time and for lending these pictures to "Behind the Kit." For more photos and information about Gene Martin, visit his web site at: www.genemartinphotography.com .

Don't forget to order your copy of Dave's new CD, Multiplicity!

Dave's official web site, www.daveweckl.com, is the place to get updated information throughout the month. Dave is always adding music and videos you won't want to miss. Make sure to click the "what's new" icon, which summarizes changes Dave has made to the site and his schedule.

tours and clinics

Dave's schedule for the remainder of the year is starting to take shape. Keep an eye out at www.daveweckl.com for updates. Click "What's New" and "Tour and Clinics" for the latest. Some dates that have been booked so far include:

Europe

July 16: St. Petersburg Peter-and-Paul International Jazz Festival,
Peter-and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia.
July 19: Blue Note Milan, Italy.
July 20: Quasimodo Club, Kantstrasse 12A, Berlin, Germany.
July 22: Jazz-Zeit Mariahiferplatz,Graz Austria.
July 23: Gyulai Varszinhaz, Gyula Hungary.
July 25: Babylon Club, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
July 27: Saulkrasti, Latvia. Master class Noon - 2:30pm.
July 28: Saulkrasti Open Air Stage, Saulkrasti, Latvia.
July 30: Annekoski Jazz Festival, Aanekoski, Finland.

United States

August 25-28: Catalina's Los Angeles, CA.
Sept 22-25: Yoshi's Oakland, CA.
October 7: Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL.
October 8: Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL clinic (clinic to be
held in the morning TBA)
Oct 9: Martyr's Chicago, IL
Oct 10: Jazz Kitchen, Indianapolis, IN Oct 11: Wilbert's, Cleveland, OH (tent.)
Oct 12: Harrisburg, PA (venue TBA)
Oct 13: Avalon Theater, 40 E. Dover St. Easton, MD
Oct 14 & 15: Zanzibar Blue, Philadelphia, PA
Oct 17 & 18: Blues Alley, Washington D.C.
Oct 19-23: Iridium, NYC
Oct 25: Ryle's Cambridge, MA
Oct 26: Oneida High School, 560 Seneca St., Oneida NY
Oct 27: The Colony, Vernon, CT

the "wecklection"

The "Wecklection" is Dave's comprehensive discography, painstakingly created by fan Chris Aleo.

Click here to see it.

Chris has made some updates in the last month that are worth checking out.

Dave says it's pretty accurate, but admits "I can't remember actually playing in half of those projects!"

Good stuff...

great links

Have a site that Dave Weckl fans might want to see? Send us an e-mail at questions@davewecklnews.com and maybe we'll throw it in.

Here are some great sites to check:

www.concordrecords.com - great information about all the artists on Dave's label. Also check out www.fantasyjazz.com .

www.drummerworld.com - check out the fantastic page they have devoted to Dave! Great videos and information.

http://www.erjn.it/ - a great jazz site brought to you by the Europe Jazz Network.

http://www.drumnetwork.co.uk/ - news and reviews you can use.

http://www.thedrumland.com - great all around information for all drummers and a nice tribute to Dave.