This coming Thursday, June 18th, drummers around the world will have the opportunity to see a live interview with three legendary percussionists.

Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio and Doane Perry will give a live interview at 8:00 PM CDT Thursday evening on DrumChannel.com. Details on the broadcast are sketchy at this point, but with a lineup like that, it’s sure to no be boring.

Don’t miss it.

As I mentioned in my post last week, the Zildjian on Tour event came into St. Louis yesterday. It was held at Drum Headquarters in Maplewood and Jim Uding and his team did a great job putting it together.

Craigie Zildjian

As I walked in the door of Drum HQ, I was greeted by CEO Craigie Zildjian. I stopped and chatted with her briefly about the how the tour had been going and the previous day’s stop at Explorers Percussion in Kansas City, Missouri.

Craigie joined Zildjian in 1976 and joined her father, Armand, and grandfather, Avedis III, in running the company, the first time in the company’s history when three generations of Zildjian’s were working together. She became Zildjian’s first female CEO in 1999. She sits on the Board of Directors of NAMM and the Board of Advisors for the International Association of Jazz Education.

I ordinarily don’t get too excited about meeting executives from hardware manufacturers, but this was actually an extremely cool opportunity. I’ve been playing Zildjian cymbals since I started playing in 1978. In fact, I still have a 16” crash cymbal on my kit that I bought from a graduating senior in high school in 1984 – it still sounds as good today as it did back then and is one of the reasons I still play only Zildjian cymbals. Meeting Craigie gave me not only the opportunity to share my great experience with her, but to also learn about some of the many prototypes that were on display at the event.

Steve Gorman

Standing near the front table with Craigie was Steve Gorman, drummer for The Black Crows. I’ve been listening to this cat’s playing for years and it was very cool to get the chance to meet him and talk drumming for a little while. Steve is a very cool and personable guy and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with him in such an informal milieu.

Cymbal Prototypes

Zildjian brought about a dozen or so cymbal prototypes with them that were on display throughout Drum HQ for attendees to try out. The prototypes ran the gambit of styles and sizes and there were some pretty exciting innovations.

My favorite was a 24” thin ride cymbal. It was very dry, but had great overtones and wash. The most compelling feature of this cymbal was the pre-set rivets every couple inches around the circumference of the cymbal. This gave it a sound very reminiscent of Elvin Jones. This wouldn’t be the right cymbal for playing with Lake 32, but if I had a steady jazz gig, I would definitely be investing in this cymbal. There were also some outstanding heavy crash cymbals on display as well. I’m looking forward to seeing the final shipping versions of these cymbals!

What I Bought

Once the conversations were had and the pictures were taken, it was time for me to look around as all the Zildjian cymbals in the place were on sale. I’ve been wanting to purchase a Zil-Bel bell chime to use in a couple of Lake 32 songs. I’ve also wanted to add a heavier crash cymbal to my current kit. I’m currently playing a set of 16” crashes, including an A Custom Fast Crash and a K Custom Dark Crash. These are more appropriate for a classic rock kind of sound, but Lake 32’s sound is evolving into a heavier, modern sound and I need a crash that can double as a ride during the louder choruses.

I was considering the 18” A Custom Projection Crash when I was approached by one of the Zildjian reps working at the event. I told him what I was looking for and he suggested I try one of the A Custom Rezo Crashes. I hadn’t heard of this brand before and learned it’s the newest of the sub-brands under the A Custom series. We setup the 18” version of both the Projection and the Rezo on some stands and I hit both. The difference was subtle, but definitive. While the Projection Crash had solid, metallic sound, the Rezo displayed all the power of the Projection Crash but had a much better high end and a beautiful wash. And at just $200, it didn’t take long to make the buying decision on that.

I also purchased a 6” Zil-Bel, one of the only effects cymbals I have on my kit, and again, I got a great event price for it as well.

This was a great event and a hell of a way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. Thanks and a big shout-out to Jim and the crew at Drum Headquarters for continuing to bring quality drumming events to our part of the country.

As the old saying goes, “It may not be new, but it’s new to me.” That was my reaction when I found out that Modern Drummer has posted a collection of bios from their 2007 publication, Drum Gods, on their web site. While I missed the original publication of Drum Gods in 2007, I did get the follow-up Drum Gods II when it published last year and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Bios included in the online collection are:

• Elvin Jones
• Louie Bellson
• John Bonham
• Dave Grohl
• Gene Krupa
• Buddy Rich

I also discovered that you can order hard copies of both Drum Gods and Drum Gods II from the Books and Library Index on the web site.