Drummer Cafe Community Forum

Anyone go this year? If so, how was it?

Wish I had time to write a review like last year. But briefly,,,,,,,,,,
It was very good.
Steve Smiths band was awsome. He makes it look so easy to sound so good. He played with his band, Steve Smiths Jazz Legacy,( Buddies buddys).
Finally got to meet him. Sent Bart a picture of me with Steve, wearing my Drummer Cafe shirt of course.
Copelands band was very good. Stewart is a great entertainer.
Mike Mangini was quite interesting to watch and listen to. He had two sets ,one set up lefty, the other righty. He played both ways ,jumping back and forth, very inspiring.
Thomas Lang,amazing !  He playied with Luis Conte. What a duo.
The R&B/ Gospel Summit was a festival within itself with Aaron Spears, Marvin McQuitty, Gerald Heyward and Teddy Cambell, all masters at thier craft.
Ronald Bruner Jr demonstrated why at the age of twenty four he is much in demand, he has the ability to play a broad range of genres,he has a great personality as I found out talking with him.
Jason McGerr, what a cool presentation. He started out with a snare, as he was playing his tech added the rest of his set piece by piece.
I have to admit I had never heard of Bobby Sanabria before, he played with his band Ascencion, lots of Afro/Cuban grooves.
Glen Kotche, drummer for Wilco. Glen performed Monkey Chant, a performance piece. I was waiting for him to break out the kitchen sink and start hitting that.Getting the dvd when it comes out will give you an idea of what I mean here. He even uses the boxed Crickets you can get in China town. His prepared snare seems like something that would keep us all busy for a few weeks. Check out his website for more.
Dave Dicenso was impressive, very deep pocket, great chops and very good at expressing himself.
Brann Dailor, drummer for Mastodon. I liked everything about this guy except his haircut.
It seemed that alot of the people there were there to see the return of Danny Seraphine. Danny and his band, C.T.A., put on a great show. His drumming is probably better than ever. It was very touching when Rick Van Horn introduced Danny, saying he still woodsheds to Chicago records, I think Rick had a few tears of joy seeing Danny back where he belongs.
They did a few song with vocals, not sure of the singers name, from Tower of Power, I think it was Larry Braggs, whoever it was, the guy can sing.
It was a great show, cant wait until next year!
Oh, both days I got to spend some time with a few old friends, a few new friends, and some of the best drummers in the world.
I would like to add that I was able to spend some time both days with the legend, Joe Morello, I think he was trying to pick up my girlfriend.
I would like to thank Billy Amendola for all he has done for me the past couple of years.
Isabel is a sweetheart.
Hope to see a few Drummer Cafe shirt wearing drummers there next year.
Pictures at, http://www.myspace.com/drumodad

Thanks for the great review.  Can't wait for the DVD!

Nice post Drumodad!

I also enjoyed your webpage.  Nice collection of photos.  What was Gadd like?

Dizz,thanks for the compliment!
Gadd was just as you would imagine,spot on with everything he played.
For a drummer with his reputation, he is quite humble.
He played the Late in The Evening groove, then he said ,well thats pretty much my rep. I get alot of miles out of that one.
I told him that I saw the picture of him, looking serious while reading, wearing a giant red clown nose. He knew who has that picture, (at Dom`s house), and told me to come back stage and talk to him after the clinic. I figured there would be a couple hundred people trying to get back there, so I opted to not even try. I played the scene in my head, " Steve told me to come see him after the clinic, honest", would be my case with security.
If any of you ever meet me, kick me right in the @#$ !.

I'm posting some video clips, every few days, from the festival. The 4 disc DVD pack won't be out till the middle of May, 2007 ... but you can enjoy some of it now!

Jason McGerr has a killer right-hand ride. That much I know.

Gaddabout, your right , he has a wicked right hand, his whole performance was someting to see. It was tretty cool to see him start with just a snare and add a piece, then another,then another,,,,,,,,

 Joe Morello jokingly told me " If that Smith kid keeps at it, he`ll be pretty good someday ", I think he was trying to make up for hitting on my girlfriend.
 Is it september yet?

The MD Festival was incredible!!  I was so inspired by all the performers and trying to pick one that was my favorite???  Impossible!

I will tell you I was very impressed with Mike Mangini and also Danny Seraphine & CTA...CTA ROCKED!!  Plus it was an emotional performance for Danny...

I got a whole new prospective being back stage and hanging out with all the drummers in the green room.  Yes, that's right!  I had a back stage MD Guest pass the entire show and even got to go in on Friday and hang with the MD staff...some of the nicest people I've ever met.

The weekend was a very special one, where I got the opportunity to meet successful people in the drum world and make a lot of new talented friends.

You will definately want to get yourself a copy of the DVD!

Hannah

Hannah, I saw you but didnt know who you were.
I would have introduced myself if I knew it was you. Did you see Joe?
He was back there everytime I went in there.
Oh, I spelled you name backwards again.

Yes I did see Joe but didn't really have the opportunity to speak with him.

Don't worry about spelling my name backwards, my own Dad does it all the time!  :D

Hannah

The only downside to being comped at M.D. Fest is you dont get a T shirt.  :(

I'm definitely looking forward to the dvd, especially since there is not going to be a 2007 MD Festival  :(

Say it aint so JW.
Where did you hear this?

Unfortunately, it is so.  My friends at MD Magazine tell me that the NJPAC could not offer them dates in 2007 or 2008 so they had to go looking for a new venue.

Not to worry though, a new venue has been found!  The Performing Arts Center at the State University of New York, in Purchase (about 30 miles NW of NYC).  Unfortunately, it is booked throughout 2007.

So there will be no MD Festival WEekend this year.  On the bright side they have a lot of time to plan the next great event that will be held on September 20 & 21 in 2008!!  Mark your calendars now......

Wonder who'll be on the line up?????  Hmmmmm

You can bet it will be a good one.

Hannah

Yep, and it's printed on the editor's column at the front of the current issue.

Yes, I saw it in the current MD. Thought it was a little strange that just because they could not find a venue in NY/NJ that the best option was to cancel it..   ???
I'm going to write them anyway about that, there are alot of readers outside the NY/NJ area and I would suggest that they look at different venues and not always have it in that area.

These things take months and months and months to plan and coordinate.  Its not only the performance space that needs to be booked, there are sleeping rooms for the attendees, ground transportation, arrangements and logistics for all the supporting vendors and exhibitors, etc.  Its not a trivial undertaking. 

If MD has already scrapped it for this year (and I'm sure they looked at other potential options), its highly doubtful they're going to be able to cobble together a quality festival in 07.

Oh, I'm sure it takes months and months and lots of people to plan. It just looks like they are set on having it in the NY/NJ area and when that venue didn't pan out, scrapped it. They said they are not having it for '07. I didn't expect they would at this late time in the year, as you stated, it would probably have to already be planned at this point.
I was meaning in the future that they shouldn't have to always have them in that area when there are so many readers in other areas of the country. (I know the headquarters are up there, just suggesting to 'spread the fun' to other parts of the country at least once in a while)