Hudson Releases Modern Drummer Fest 2008 DVD
In keeping with the time honored tradition of taping things and then selling a DVD of said things to people… Hudson Music has released the DVD of last year’s Modern Drummer Festival. Way to go guys.
billy ward
MD 2008 Festival Lineup Finalized
Source: ModernDrummer.com
We’ve been following this for a while, but here is the final, official roster of artists for MD’s festival weekend to be held September 20 and 21 in NYC.
Will Calhoun
Living Colour
In 1988, Living Colour’s Will Calhoun exploded onto the world stage with a unique mix of power and finesse. Will’s continued to evolve in startling ways, and today he’s considered one of the most profound drummers alive.Bill Stewart & Special Musical Guests
John Scofield/Pat Metheny
For two decades, Bill Stewart has been a wildly imaginative go-to drummer for today’s most successful jazz artists. And he’s a daring leader in his own right.
Billy Ward & His Trio
Joan Osborne/Robbie Robertson/Bill Champlin
Billy Ward is a world-renowned drummer of relentless creativity and purpose. He’s also one of the freshest, most incisive drumming scholars around.Thomas Pridgen
The Mars Volta
Thomas Pridgen’s been winning drum-offs, endorsements, and scholarships since the second grade. And now he’s in the coolest, most advanced rock band of the age. Read more
Musical Mushin
Athletes call it “The Zone,” Billy Ward calls it “Playing with the Creative Side of the Brain,” and samurais call it “Mushin” which loosely means “mind of no mind.” If your brain is a band (metaphorically) then Mushin is when the improvisation guy gets to take a solo. Every one shuts up and he does his thang. There’s no miscellaneous thoughts to impede improv guy from expressing himself. It’s just him, the music, and the instrument. Read more
DVD review – Billy Ward’s Voices In My Head
Billy Ward follows up “Big Time” with “Voices In My Head.” I’ve gotta give Billy props right here right now. I thought big time was an odd title for a drum instructional but he surpassed himself with this one. Never in a million years would I have thought “voices in my head… sounds like a drum vid.
“That’s enough slamming on the title, so lets get to it!
I gotta say that if you own Big Time, some of this stuff is going to seem like an refresher course. He might have wanted to make the assumption that you hadn’t seen Big Time so he rehashed some of the same stuff. On the other hand, on some of the old stuff he goes over you’ll probably think “why didn’t he explain it this well in Big Time?” I kinda wish that there wasn’t so much overlap between the two dvds. There’s a few too many “I already know this” moments. That being said, even with the rehash factor, it’s still very very good. Read more
DVD review – Billy Ward’s Big Time
Big Time is Billy Ward’s first Drum instructional dvd and really redefined what a drum instructional could be. It’s not as out there as Brain’s drum instructional videos, but within 20 seconds of viewing you know that this is definitely something very different from the rest. Big Time mostly takes place in Billy’s studio in Long Island City where you look in on him giving a clinic to a few of his private students. I’ll say right off the bat that because he’s teaching actual students and not just explaining stuff to a camera in an empty studio; you don’t get that impersonal air that some dvds have. It makes for a more pleasurable viewing experience that, I think, makes the learning process easier. The movie cuts in and out, moving from lesson to lesson in a manner that keeps you off balance enough to keep the viewing experience interesting, but not to the point where you feel like a schizoid. Read more
Drummer Talk 06/15/2007 – Billy Ward Interview/Drumming Careers
Billy Ward joins us this week and we discuss drumming professions.
