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

Nice post Drumodad!

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

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!

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?

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.

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

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

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

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.