The official web site of drummer Jon "bermuda" schwartz.
Bermuda has been the drummer with "Weird Al" Yankovic
since 1980, and is seen and heard on all of Weird Al's albums,
videos, and concert and television performances.
Born in Chicago in 1956, drums came into Jon's family from Wm. Ludwig Jr. as a gift to Jon's older brother in return for some advertising work their father did for the drum company. After a family move to Phoenix, Arizona, Jon inherited the kit and began taking formal lessons in 1965. He also listened and played along to the radio hits of the day, as well as albums including everything from Gene Krupa to Elvis, Latin orchestras, and especially the Beatles.
Another family move took the Schwartzes to Los Angeles in 1968, and it was then that Jon decided to be a professional drummer. He continued to take lessons, joined his school's advanced band class and a local junior marching band, and later drummed in a precision marching band where he brushed up on his rudiments. In high school, Jon was in the theater arts band playing for school productions of the Music Man, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music, and had even managed to join another high school's stage band for a semester.
Other early accomplishments include Jon's first recording session (at age 13) with studio guitarist Al Casey, playing with youth orchestras, performing at California state and national junior band competition finals, teaching beginning and intermediate students, and his first group (formed in 1971) winning the 1974 L.A. County Battle of the Bands at the Hollywood Bowl. And some of the home recordings made by Jon and fellow school band members received airplay on the Dr. Demento show, which would later lead to a turning point in Jon's career.
By his late teens, Jon already had a good feel for working with other musicians in a variety of situations and musical styles. 1975-76 were quiet drumming-wise, and Jon attended a local college, left home, and landed in retail management for about a year until he joined his first top-40 band in 1977. Jon was beginning to live his dream and make a living playing drums. The band had a steady 6-night a week gig and worked together for over a year, and Jon started to pursue other groups and session work ...
Online biography of drummer Joshua Jacobsen.
The first percussive sounds began with card board boxes, ice cream buckets, and old pans. Joshua, a mostly self taught musician at the age of 13 had realized his dream to become a drummer and pursued it.
Joshua began his first musical learning career in the musical setting at the Benton Community Middle / High School. At BC he performed in Jazz Band, Pep Band, Marching Band, Show Choir, Musicals, Concert Band, and even Concert Choir as a percussionist. He received numerous honors in Jazz band at Eastern Iowa Contests. One of the most notable awards is the most outstanding performance and Solo award presented by N.E.I.B.A. (North Eastern Iowa Bandmasters Association). Joshua has for over 8 years and is currently the drummer for the Billy K. Murray Parade & Concert Band based out of Atkins, Iowa.
The problem with high school was finding a band of his own. Since the school was a community school of about 400 people, there were few serious musicians interested in a rock band. As a result, A large amount of time and free time was devoted to focusing on technique and skills of various percussion instruments.
Upon enrolling at Iowa State University, Joshua begins to seek out musicians in order to fill the musical band void he had desperately craved throughout his life. Unfortunately, as a result of college dorm life Joshua was forced to abandon his drums and leave them to sit unbeaten at his childhood home. Practicing on pillows, boxes, trash cans, & Dorm Chairs with various acoustic guitarists in the dorm was his only way to practice and continue to develop as a drummer.
Joshua's first band was born in 2001. Mechanistry, a progressive rock group that surprised the local scene with a totally new sound and technically advanced musicians was born. Mechanistry performed throughout Iowa for 2 years. Unfortunately, it was inevitable that it would not succeed as guitar and singer turnover was high. The loss of drive to continue finding and training new members and no practice place, ultimately ended the group.
After the first year of playing with Mechanistry, Josh began playing with a local band named Atrophy. Atrophy was a simpler style of music that won over the bar crowd and nearly anyone that listened to the group. They also had the chance to open for Momento (Sony Records label). Atrophy is still performing today. A full length album is due out by 2005.
Today Josh is actively performing in the Des Moines based Heavy Metal band, Anubyss! He has also bridged over into the studio & recording realm as a Drum Technician at the Dawg House Recording Studio based in Nevada, IA and been sharing his knowledge and style through drum lessons since 2003 ...
Herve Chiquet, drummer: His professional career begins very soon in his birthplace “Blois” (North of France) where he sets up many funk, rock and jazz bands. Yet, the opening of all the music predominates in his artistic process. His teaching course starts in 1980 by the general study of drums and classical percussions, guided by Carol Leroy at the Blois conservatoire.
In 1987, he approaches the jazz, from the Ario to the big band, at the CIM in Paris with Guy Hayat, Jean Michel Davis or Jean Pierre Aupert. A training period with Billy Hart completes his knowledge. Finally, 3 years of studies at the Agostini School in Toulouse directed by Daniel Dumoulin bring him another instrumental experience. The live music stays his sparehead and during his course in Paris, he accompanies the French Rock band « CAPALDI » with Sébastien Chouard, plays with the Panam Jazz Quintet too, with Patrick Bocquel and works especially for afro-west indian formations as « SILENCE » directed by Christian Combette or also « CHOUKAS » foundated by Joby Garnier.
He moves to Toulouse in 1994 and comes looking for a different inspiration as he begins his metal drummer career in the trio “Jack in the box”. At the same time he integrates the « CADILLAC BAND » of José Haro, big ban Jazz-Salsa during two years then go back on the roads with “Jack In The Box” ...
Sa carrière professionnelle commence très tôt dans sa ville natale de Blois où il fonde de nombreux groupes Funk, Rock et Jazz. Déjà l’ouverture à toutes les musiques prédomine dans sa démarche artistique. Son parcours pédagogique débute en 1980 par l’étude générale de la batterie et de la percussion classique, guidé par Carol Leroy au conservatoire de Blois.
En 1987 il aborde le Jazz, du trio au big band, au CIM à Paris avec Guy Hayat, Jean Michel Davis ou encore Jean Pierre Aupert. Un stage avec Billy Hart vient compléter ses connaissances. Enfin 3 années d’études à l’école Agostini de Toulouse sous la direction de Daniel Dumoulin lui apportent un autre bagage instrumental. La musique Live reste son fer de lance et durant son parcours parisien il accompagne le groupe Rock Français « CAPALDI » au côté de Sébastien Chouard , joue également dans le Panam Jazz Quintet avec Patrick Bocquel et travaille surtout pour des formations afro-antillaises comme « SILENCE » dirigée par Christian Combette où encore « CHOUKAS » fondée par Joby Garnier.
Il se délocalise sur Toulouse en 1994 et vient chercher une toute autre inspiration puisqu’il démarre sa carrière de batteur Métal au sein du trio « JACK IN THE BOX ». Parallèlement il intègre le « CADILLAC BAND » de José Haro, big band Jazz/Salsa pendant deux ans, puis repart sur les routes avec « JACK IN THE BOX » ...
The Official Website Of Young 17 Yr Old Drummer Andy Finch.
Andy is from Leigh Park, close to Portsmouth along the south coast of the UK. He is a drummer and has been drumming since he was aged 9. He lives with his parents in the centre of Leigh Park. He attended the local "Park Community School of Arts and Drama" and left school with 10 GCSE passes. He also attended "Havant College" for half a year after his schooling ended but couldn't adapt to the lifestyle.
Now he is currently in part with an apprenticeship within I.T. His ambitions in life are to be a Professional Drummer. Of course, this costs money to participate in. Andy has a drum lesson every 2 weeks and throughout enjoys them; he is in a band Wishlist who play a more pop kind of music rather than rock. Andy likes all types of music but his favourite band is Dream Theater no 1 Progressive Rock band in the U.S. He has seen them live in concert and is inspired by the bands drummer "Mike Portnoy".
The Official Website of Keith Carlock, drummer for Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Sting, Steely Dan, Wayne Krantz, David Johansen and more.
In 2003's Modern Drummer cover story on Keith, Ken Micallef writes, "Since his arrival in New York City from Clinton via North Texas State University, Keith Carlock has scurried up the drumming food chain with an inventive style that is equal parts Zigaboo Modeliste fire, Jon Christensen finesse, and Bernard Purdie funk.... Keith Carlock's achievements prove that talent, skill, and determination is no respecter of locales."
Clinton, Mississippi is is where Keith Carlock was born and raised and where he started playing the drums at age 5. In High School, he joined the jazz band, show choir and drum corps. During that period he would also listen to a lot of rock, R&B and soul music - artists including Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, and Tower of Power.
He would spend countless hours playing along to records from John Scofield, Michel Camilo and The Meters, to name a few. Keith also joined several top-40 bands. "I practiced all the time, so much that my parents built me a soundproof room in the garage. I began taking lessons with George Lawrence and later Quinous Johnson in Jackson, Mississippi. And they both turned me on to jazz and fusion."
After receiving music scholarships to Berklee, University of Miami and North Texas State, Keith chose to attend North Texas State University in Denton, Texas because he wanted to study with Ed Soph (pictured left). Of his experience with Ed, Keith says, "He completely changed my approach to the drums; thinking of the drums in a musical way instead of only being a timekeeper for songs. He's able to find your weaknesses. He teaches you how to play jazz standards on the drums, soloing concepts, and ways to get different sounds out of the drums. My technique changed drastically. I came from a drum corps background. I was in a really good high school band, but I wasn't loose. Soph helped me to loosen up by teaching me the 'Moeller' technique. Depending on the style and feel of music being played, I learned to change my technique to make the music hopefully feel better and have a flow" ...
Hello, and welcome to the Russ T. Blades website! Russ is a drummer who has worked with the likes of Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) , Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), and the Andrew Pearson Band. He also had his own original band, Blades. Russ has traveled to many parts of the world making music, and has produced music for the soap opera 'General Hospital.' He is a melodic player known for his groove and creating an "envelope" of sound around the band. Right now he is a involved with The Vince Martell Band.
Russ T. Blades, AKA Russell Taubner was born May 17, 1952 in Manhattan, NY approx. 5:15PM.
The 4th of 5 children, Russell was artistic and sports minded. He moved from The Bronx to Bergenfield, NJ when he was 3. Having blown out his knee when he was 8, art grew in importance.
A fan of Sam Cooke at an early age, the arrival of The Beatles was a true wake up call. They brought out his true love of music. Having come from a non-musical family, they became his musical family.
At first Russ thought of studying guitar, but drums became his instrument. Starting at age 12 he studied drums for two years with Dennis DeLuca, a brilliant marching band writer. But his refusal to teach match grip, and his less than foward look to the evolving music scene, stopped Russ from studying with him.
As with a great number of musicians, Russ continued on self-teaching himself with his ears. Studying Ringo, and Dino Danelli (Rascals), Russ played with local bands. When he was 16 he formed a Jimi Hendrix type 3-piece band with a phenomenal 15 year-old guitarist Eddie Caldron, and bassist Kevin Katzel. Playing 3-piece gave him great freedom to be creative. When Eddie got in trouble with the law, Russ continued on forming one of the area's first two lead guitar bands, called Silk.
It was through this band Russ met guitarist/singer/songwriter Rick Blakemore. Russ's belief was that the combination of drums and guitar was the basis of Rock 'n Roll's spirit. Rick and Russ shared a facination with guitarist Jeff Beck's guitar work, and would go to every show they could when Jeff was in the area. After Rick briefly filled in with Silk, Russ went on to join a band Rick was in, called Legs ...