Search - Modern Drummer Festival 2006 Saturday & Sunday on DVD

Both entertaining and educational

Fred Schultz | BOISE, IDAHO United States | 08/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really bought this dvd for its entertainment value. You see I've been a Danny Seraphine fan for about 30 years, and when I saw that he and his new band, CTA, were being featured on the dvd, I knew I had to have it. What I got was much more than entertainment.

First off, the band performance of CTA is great. Danny sounds as good as he ever has, and he has managed to surround himself with some outstanding musicians who bring a fresh sound to the music of Chicago. After seeing this dvd I would much prefer seeing CTA in concert over Chicago. There are several other great performances as well. I found Stewart Copland's band, Gizmo, to be very interesting. They had a really different sound, although Stewart's drumming sounded like Stewart's drumming. Steve Smith played with his band, Jazz Legacy, and showed once again what an incredibily versatile and talented drummer he is. Mike Mangini, though he played with recorded tracks, also demonstrated that he too is a excellent drummer of many different styles. Thomas Lang and Dave Dicenso both gave blistering drum solos, though demonstrated through very different approaches. Jason McGerr had his drumset assembled on stage as he played through the entire assembly process.

The educational portion of this dvd is found throughout the performances as well as the interviews. First, the performances provide camera angles of the drummers, and their technics, that can be watched over and over again. Since this dvd features drummers, the drummers get tons of camera time. Second, the interviews, followed up by actual drum demonstrations are invaluable.

As a drummer of about 38 years, I can't stress how valuable this dvd is as a learing tool and motivation for a young drummer. Spend the money. It's worth it.

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