[malletjazz]

I just realized that even tho I've been here a while, I haven't actually introduced myself.

The "Readers Digest" version - my name is James Walker, and I've been playing drums and percussion for almost 30 years now. I grew up (and currently reside) in Connecticut, altho I did leave the state for a while to go to college (undergrad at Ithaca College in upstate New York, and grad' school at Northern Illinois University outside of Chicago).

Most of my gigging is on steel drums or mallet percussion (electric and acoustic), altho over the past year or so I've been getting more and more opportunities to play percussion with some local orchestrasm and an increasing number of drum set gigs (altho still not quite as many as I'd like). I also teach private lessons, mostly drum set but with a little bit of percussion and steel drums mixed in. As some of you may have noticed from my pictures in the "drumset gallery," I've got a bit of a "thing" for snare drums, having caught the "DIY bug" a few years ago.

[DrummerMom]

Malletjazz,

you are one totally cool drummer!

[AvengedDrummer]

A belated welcome to you! Im assuming you like jazz? Who are some of your favorites? Lately I've been listening to alot of Joshua Redman.

[malletjazz]

Thanks, everyone!

Originally Posted by AvengedDrummer

A belated welcome to you! Im assuming you like jazz? Who are some of your favorites?

Jazz, yes, but not exclusively. Like most people, I could list a hundred "favorites" and just scratch the surface, but here are a few of my favorite musicians (past and present), regardless of instrument:

- Airto
- Don Alias
- Mike Mainieri
- Don Grolnick
- Mike Stern
- Michael Brecker
- Pat Metheny
- Herbie Hancock
- Monty Alexander
- Wynton Kelly
- Milt Jackson
- Tony Williams
- Jack DeJohnette
- Billy Higgins
- John Scofield
- Peter Gabriel
- Andy Summers (hell, all of the Police)
- Stevie Wonder
- Bobby Hutcherson
- Joni Mitchell
- Ivan Lins
- Bill Evans
- Tower of Power (esp. David Garibaldi)
- Carlos Santana
- John McLaughlin
- Steve Jordan

Yeah, that's a pretty good start.

	Evans Drumheads Shop for Evans Drumheads at Musician's Friend

[gyutae]

Hey malletjazz,
Great that you finally formally introduced yourself. I think that you're one of the more knowledgable guys on here. And you've been playing drums longer than I've been alive. That's awesome!

What's DIY mean? And which kind of gig do you most enjoy playing?

[malletjazz]

Originally Posted by gyutae

What's DIY mean?

"Do It Yourself." In terms of the snare drums, it means buying unfinished shells (in my case, with the bearing edges already cut, altho I'd like to give that a shot one of these days as well), finishing them, selecting the hardware, marking the shell layout for drilling, shaping the snare beds, and putting the drum together.

And which kind of gig do you most enjoy playing?

Different gigs are fun - and challenging - for different reasons, obviously. These days, I'd say I enjoy orchestral gigs the most, simply because of the fact that for many years, I didn't really have the opportunity to play percussion with orchestras. I've been doing a fair amount of work over the past year or so with a local symphony or two (nothing big, not an orchestra that anyone would have ever heard of, I'm sure), and I'm getting to play some literature that I haven't played since college: Scheherezade, Respighi's Pines of Rome, Polovetsian Dances, etc.

Last July, I got "the best of two worlds" - playing drum set for a couple of "Pops" concerts with one of these orchestras. That was a lot of fun, doing my Fred Buda impersonation.

(For you young'uns, Fred Buda played drum set for the Boston Pops Orchestra for many, many years. I don't know if he still does, but what a wonderful player...)

[Colin Borg Ginger]

Hi James, just going through the forum and i saw that you're into drum building, same here. i have build a full kit in maple, except for the snare drums (birch), i have a 22"bass (x18), 8" (x7), 10" (x8), 12" (x9), 14" (x12) and 16" (x14). i left it all in natural maple. i think it is fun and besides all you can have any size and thickness you want.
my style is not quite jazzy, although i did study it, now i'm more into fusion and prog rock, i'm 37, and been studying since i was 9, or try to learn, sometimes i'm a bit lazy in latin, anyway good to know that there are more drum builders around.