Groovin' High FREE Drum Masterclass Series

Ron E. Beck was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. At age nineteen, after reaching the top of the Omaha music scene, Beck decided to go west along with his twin brother Donnie.1975 through 1978 Ron E. toured and recorded with the highly acclaimed group Tower of Power.

Ron E. Beck has also performed and recorded with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. of the 5th Dimension, Bobby Womack, John Lee Hooker, Bill Withers, Bell & James, Robbie Nevil, Sylvester and 2 Tons of Fun Clifford Coulter, Lydia Pense, Faye Carol, Sista Monica, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Fred Wesley, Chester Thompson, and Merl Saunders to name a few.

Known primarily as a funky drummer, Ron E. is also an accomplished singer whose vocal style has been praised by such notables as Tom Bell, Carlos Santana, Steve Cropper and Wallace ‘Scotty’ Scott of the Whispers.

On this latest effort Beck wrote, produced, is playing drums and singing. This endeavor is about Ron's legacy. It features members of his immediate family, his Mom, Jeanne Rogers, his twin brother Donnie, 1 of his 3 Daughters and 3 of his Grandchildren all of whom are musically talented. The songs on this project tastefully covers the music spectrum from Ol 'Skool Jazz through R&B to Hip-Hop.

Beck continues to gig internationally and is now taking drum students as a part of his mentoring program, the Ron E Beck Drum Institute (ReBDI)

www.ronebeck.com

Roy McCurdy is a living legend, having worked with some of the greatest artists in jazz including Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Nancy Wilson, Art Farmer, and Benny Golson. Also devoted teacher, he is on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at USC and the Pasadena School of Music.

Born in Rochester, New York, jazz drummer Roy McCurdy studied at the Eastman School of Music under Bill Street.McCurdy worked with the Mangione Brothers group (Chuck and Gap Mangione) in the early 60’s and later joined the Art Farmer Jazztet and then went with Sonny Rollins. Following Sonny Rollins he became a full time member of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet from the mid-60’s, traveling internationally with the group, including a particularly successful tour of South America in 1972.

In his spare times, McCurdy he does studio work for NBC movies of the week, and is featured on various record dates. When Adderley passed in July 1975, McCurdy started touring with Kenny Rankin. He also played on commercial jingles with Benny Golson and gigs locally with both Golson, Jerome Richardson, Pat Senatore, Peter Christlieb, Conte Condoli, Ruth Price, Jack Sheldon, Super Sax, Robin Ford and The Cunninghams to name a few.

He has toured and has worked with: Blood Sweat & Tears, The Pointer Sisters, John Klemmer, Toshiko Akiyoski-Lew Tabackin Big Band, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer-Benny Golson, Betty Carter, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Timmons, Ron Carter, Harold Land, Bobby Hutchinson, Kenny Burrell, The Count Basie Orchestra, Donald Byrd, Teddy Edwards, Herbie Hancock, Coleman Hawkins, Joe Henderson, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Jackie McLean, Carmen McRae, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Jimmy Smith, Horace Silver, Martial Solal, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Joe Williams, Larry Young, Ernestine Anderson, Chris Conner, Sonny Clark, Kenny Drew, Billy Eckstine, Chuck Mangione, Eddie Harris, Don Ellis, Shorty Rodgers, Stanley Turrentine, Dionne Warwick, Hubert Laws, Charles Lloyd, Hampton Hawes, Patrice Rushen, Joe Sample, Blue Mitchell, James Moody, Mark Murphy, Bud Shank, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vincent, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Henderson.

McCurdy has recorded with: Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer and Benny Golson Jazztet, Bobby Tmmons, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Joe Zawinul, Blood Sweat and Tears, Kenny Rankin, Bobby Shew, Conte Condoli, Mark Murphy, Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, Scott Hamilton, Art Farmer Quartet, Benny Golson Sextet, Count Basie, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vincent, John Klemmer, Betty Carter, Kenny Burrell, Horace Silver and Chuck Mangione to name a few.

Tony Coleman has had an illustrious career touring the world with B.B. King, Otis Clay, Bobby Blue Bland, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Albert Collins, Etta James, James Cotton, Katie Webster, Z.Z. Hill, O.V. Wright and Buddy Guy.

His early aspirations led to his meeting soul singer Otis Clay. He quickly joined Clay’s band and toured with him for a couple years, recording a live album in Tokyo, Japan. Out of touring and recording with Otis Clay came opportunities to work with other major R&B and blues artists. After a jam session in a Chicago club called The High Chaparral, B.B. King jammed with Otis Clay’s rhythm section. B.B. King liked the rhythm section so much that he asked them to join him as his touring band. So Tony Coleman, Russell Jackson and Leonard Gill became B.B. King’s rhythm section. As fate would have it, Tony was only with B.B. for a few months when B.B.’s ex-drummer returned.

Tony Coleman returned to Chicago and rejoined Otis Clay’s band for another tour in Japan. From Otis Clay, Tony moved to Dallas, Texas in 1980 to play drums for Johnnie Taylor. Tony toured with Johnnie for a couple of years and was then asked to join Bobby Blue Bland, with whom he worked for a few years. In the middle of a combined B.B. King/Bobby Blue Bland tour, B.B. needed a drummer and Tony ended up playing drums for both artists for the remainder of that tour, playing two shows a night. At that point, Tony rejoined B.B. King and has since been touring with Mr. King’s organization, performing blues music around the globe.

Tony Coleman’s first CD “Out in the Open” featured guest artists Lucky Peterson, Kenny Neal and Frankie Lee, and received great reviews. His second album, “Travelin’ Man”, was released in the U.S. in February 2002 with special guests the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section, Lucky Peterson and other great names from the Blues.

Mike Clark gained worldwide recognition as one of America’s foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Herbie Hancock in the early seventies. His incisive playing on Hancock’s “Actual Proof” garnered him an international cult following and influenced generations of drummers. While Mike digs the funk, he considers jazz his first love, and playing that music is what he says feeds his soul.

Besides Herbie Hancock, Mike has performed and recorded with such well-known jazz greats as Christian McBride, Chet Baker, John Scofield, Nicholas Payton, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Donald Harrison, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Vince Guaraldi, Woody Shaw, Albert King, Larry Coryell, Mike Wolff, Wallace Roney, Billy Childs, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Chris Potter, Bobby McFerrin, Nat Adderly, Oscar Brown Jr., and Gil Evans and his Orchestra.

Born in Sacramento, CA, Mike traveled around the country with his father, a union man for the railroad, and a former drummer himself. His dad had a great appreciation for jazz and blues music, and Mike credits this exposure as forming the foundation for his ability to synthesize many different regional styles. He absorbed the music of America while riding the rails. From age 4, he was a prodigy, sitting in—and getting “house” —- with bands in Texas and New Orleans. By the time he reached his early twenties, he had become one of the founders of the distinctive East Bay Sound coming out of Oakland, California.

During the late sixties, Mike led his own jazz organ trio,. Then he met Hancock in 1973. With Herbie, Mike set the rhythms for the acclaimed group, The Headhunters. Afterwards, he did a two-year stint with Brand X, the British jazz/rock fusion band founded by Phil Collins. With them he recorded ”Do They Hurt?” and “Product.”

By 2000, Mike had made a foray into the popular jam band scene. His group Prescription Renewal pulled together cross-generational talents, such as Charlie Hunter, Fred Wesley, Skerik, Robert Walter, and DJ Logic, and featured special guests such as Donald Harrison, George Porter Jr. of The Meters, Les Claypool, Larry Goldings and fellow Headhunters alumni Bill Summers. He also toured with The Roots Funk All Stars.

Along with James Brown's drummer Clyde Stubblefield, Mike's beats with The Headhunters (most notably “God Make Me Funky”) include some of the most sampled in hip hop. He has been featured in Downbeat, Musician, International Musician & Recording World, Modern Drummer, Jazz Times, Guitar Player, Jazz Is, and numerous jazz history and method books.

Mike is a popular and busy clinician. His latest book, “The Post Bop Drum Book” on Hudson Music is a big hit. A previous book, “Funk Drumming: Innovative Grooves & Advanced Concepts” was published in 2012 by Hal Leonard.

As a bandleader, his release “Give The Drummer Some” earned a rare four and a half stars in Downbeat. “The Funk Stops Here,” a joint effort with Hancock alumni Paul Jackson got five stars, as did 2011’s “Carnival of Soul.” In 2001, his solo CD “Actual Proof” met with critical acclaim, as did the 2003 acoustic jazz release, “Summertime,” featuring Chris Potter and Billy Childs, which spent weeks in the top ten jazz charts. 2009’s “Blueprints of Jazz” featuring Patrice Rushen, Randy Brecker, Donald Harrison, Rob Dixon, and Christian McBride was considered one of the top jazz releases of the new millenium by Downbeat magazine.

In 2012 Mike co-led The Headhunters,’ with original founding member Bill Summers. 2012 saw a new Headhunters' release, “Platinum.” which featured guest turns by Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, and Killah Priest.

Another musically exciting year was 2015. His second Wolff & Clark Expedition CD released in February, and his hard bop band “Indigo Blue Live at the Iridium” arrived six months later, both on Random Act Records. Both CDs featured Christian McBride on bass, Donald Harrison on alto, Rob Dixon on tenor, Antonio Farao on Piano and Randy Brecker on trumpet.

Mike has produced three releases for the spoken word prophet Tony Adamo, indulging ”Miles of Blu” with Tower of Power's Doc Krupka, bass legend Paul Jackson, and Michael Wolff. Along with drum legend Lenny White (Return to Forever), Mike is co-leading Nu Brew, a double drummer experience in new music. He also appears on Tower of Power's organist Chester Thompson's “Mixology.”

During Covid, Mike did many online drum clinics and co-led a record date with Michael Wolff and Leon Dorsey: “Wolff, Clark and Dorsey Play Sgt. Pepper.” On this date they played swinging arrangements of Beatles tunes, acoustic jazz style. He also was a sideman on Leon Dorsey's “Thank you Mr, Maybern” with the late great Harold Maybern and Leon in a hard swinging trio setting, “DSC MonkTime” celebrated the music of Thelonious Monk, once again with Leon Dorsey, with Dorsey and Greg Skaff as co-leaders. He also is a founding member of The StickPeople, an online interview show, along with Lenny White, David Garabaldi, Michael Shrieve and Greg Errico. The four drummers do online interviews with great artists playing jazz, funk, fusion and all things music!

As of 2021, Mike still lives in New York City. His latest CD, “Mike Drop” with sax great Michael Zilber is in the top ten on Jazz Weekly. Mike is with Leon Lee Dorsey and Manny Valera on Leon's new record “Freedom Jazz Dance” which debuted on Jazz Weekly at number 16. Leon and Mike have a new jazz release out Aug 2022 featuring jazz great Mike LeDonne entitled Blues On Top. Mike is on Leons newest coming out also in 2022 featuring Russell Malone. A new Headhunters record will drop in this coming Nov. He was in Chicago recently with Donald Harrison and the great Fred Wesley; then Donald and Mike left for Indiana to co-lead an organ trio at the famous Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis. He also just finished a “beats” recording for Yurt Rock which will be out in the fall 2021, along with his newest, “Mike Clark plays Herbie Hancock—Again!” an acoustic jazz recording out next year.

Mike endorses DW Drums, Istanbul Cymbals, Evans Drum heads, and Innovation Percussion drumsticks.

www.drummermikeclark.info

Internationally acclaimed drummer and composer Victor Lewis was born on May 20, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Richard Lewis, who played saxophone and mother, Camille, a pianist-vocalist were both classically trained musicians who performed with many of the "territory bands" that toured the midwest in the forties. Victor grew up hearing jazz along with popular and European classical music at home, and would go to the local theater with his father to hear the big bands when they passed through Omaha. The first people he remembers seeing were Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Woody Herman.

Victor started studying music when he was ten and a half years old. He began on the cello because he was too small for the acoustic bass, but switched to the drums a year and a half later after watching the local drum corps marching on the Fourth of July and other holidays. He also studied classical piano which is when he learned how to read music.

Lewis began playing drums professionally on the local scene at the age of 15. Because few of the older drummers in Omaha could read music, the young percussionist was called up for a variety of commercial jobs, including jingles, the Bob Hope Show, even the circus. At first Victor's style reflected his attraction to the big band drummers he had seen with his father and heard on records, but after hearing a record of Miles Davis' Quintet with Tony Williams things changed. He began exploring Williams' sound and the styles of other great small group drummers like Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones. Soon afterwards he started his own small group to play around town. His first job with a nationally known jazz musician was accompanying Hank Crawford in Omaha.

On Victor's first gig in Manhattan, a night at Boomer's with bassist Buster Williams' group, he met trumpeter Woody Shaw. Lewis joined the trumpeter's band and a few months later, he made his recording debut on Shaw's classic, The Moontrane. The drummer also began making his mark on the burgeoning fusion and pop jazz scenes, providing the beat on records by Joe Farrell, Earl Klugh, Hubert Laws, Carla Bley and David Sanborn. It was on Sanborn's lps that Victor's compositional skills were first exposed to the public. They recorded Victor's "Seventh Avenue" and "Sophisticated Squaw" (a/k/a "Agaya") on their first outing together and Sanborn would call on Lewis' writing talents again in the future when he recorded "The Legend of the Cheops."

In 1980, Victor left Shaw's group to join another tenor giant, Stan Getz, beginning an association that would last up until the saxophonist's death in 1991. Lewis made many recordings with Getz including videos of the group's performances at the Paul Masson Vineyards and the Robert Mondavi Vineyards. It was Getz who first recorded his composition, "I Wanted To Say."

By the end of the eighties, Lewis was one of jazz's busiest freelancers. He toured and recorded with a wide array of the music's most respected leaders. The long list of artists including Kenny Barron, Art Farmer, J.J. Johnson, Mike Stern, John Stubblefield, Grover Washington Jr., The Manhattan Jazz Quintet, Bobby Hutcherson and Bobby Watson attest to his talent and versatility.

When not driving a group with Bobby from the drum chair, Victor has been the main-stay in the Kenny Barron Quintet since its inception. Among the many tunes he has contributed to this band, his much heralded "Big Girls" can be heard on the pianist's Quickstep disc on Enja, "Hey, It's Me You're Talkin' To" on the Polygram release Other Places.

When he's home in New York, Victor can most often be found in the city's recording studios. In addition to the many jazz dates he's recorded with people like Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Johnny Griffin, Janis Siegel, Larry Willis, John Hicks and Abbey Lincoln, he has recorded a jazz method record with educator-saxophonist Fred Lipsius. An educated drummer, Lewis tries to pass on his knowledge, giving private instruction to students, participating as a freelance instructor with The New School University Jazz School-Mannes Music School Jazz Program in New York City and appearing in drum clinics around the world as often as his schedule allows it. He has participated in a symposium in Modern Drummer magazine and there have been several feature articles about him in publications such as Downbeat, The Wire, Jazz Times as well as Modern Drummer.

In 2003 Victor joined the faculty of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ where he teaches drummers and coaches jazz combos.

Victor has recorded albums under his own name as well, featuring his own compositions and unique style of drumming. The first, Family Portrait, on AudioQuest includes performances by John Stubblefield, Edward Simon, Cecil McBee, Don Alias, Jumma Santos and a six-voice chorus led by Pamela Watson. Even Victor gets an opportunity to participate on some of the vocal selections and on one track plays a little piano. The album features suite-like compositions dedicated to his whole family - "Family Portrait," his parents on "A Mis Padres," children "Bella y Cosima" and "Lil' Sis."

Victor's working quintet - featuring Seamus Blake (whom Victor discovered while teaching at Gunther Schuller's jazz camp in Sandpoint, Idaho), Terell Stafford, Stephen Scott and Ed Howard - has recorded the second band offering on Enja Records entitled Eeeyyess!. The record showcases six of Victor's original tunes including the title tune "Eeeyyess" & "Here's To . . . You Babe" with lyrics written & sung by Lewis. Know It Today, Know It Tomorrow on Red Records, the first quintet album's contributors include Eddie Henderson, Edward Simon, Christian McBride and introduced tenor player Seamus Blake. Six more of Victor's compositions can be heard on this project including "Hey, It's Me You're Talkin' To" and "The Loss of a Moment."

The fourth release as a leader is Three Way Conversations on Red Records and features different trio combinations of Victor on drums and Ed Howard on bass with either Seamus Blake on tenor, or Steve Wilson on alto or Terell Stafford on trumpet. Here again is a sampling of the compositional talents of the multi-talented drummer-composer-arranger with ten new original tunes.

"Lewis is a master of shading and color, and the kind of timekeeper that could teach a clock new ways to tick" says jazz writer Bill Kohlhasse. As his ever increasing talent becomes more and more obvious to the general public, it is clear that Victor Lewis is an important artist on the horizon.

Originally from Richmond, Indiana, Harold Jones is one of the legends of the straight ahead style of big band drumming. You've heard his drumming - he's played, toured and recorded with artists like: Count Basie, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Sarah Vaughan, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Sonny Cohn, Benny Carter, Natalie Cole, Hoagy Carmichael, Benny Carter, B.B. King, Scott Hamilton, Marian McPartland, Paul Winter, Luther Vandross, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Marlena Shaw, Bing Cosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Crosby, Nancy Wilson, Billy Eckstine, Carmen McRae, The Mills Brothers, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Harry James Orchestra, Benny Carter, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Griffin, Ira Sullivan, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, James Moody, Benny Goodman, Joe Williams, Roger Williams, John Lee Hooker, Roosevelt Sykes, Ray Charles, Kay Starr, and many others.

He worked and toured with the Count Basie Orchestra for five years, cutting no less than 15 albums in that timespan, and went on to work for ten years with Sarah Vaughn, touring the world, and playing the White House five times "because she was Nancy Reagan's favorite singer," according to press releases. Harold Jones was also the drummer on Natalie Cole's famous album, Unforgettable, and toured with the show.

He has also recorded with Sammy Nestico, and is featured on the famous Count Basie album, "Warm Breeze." In 2001 Harold Jones was on the staff for the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles, and performed on Quincy Jones' new CD, "Basie and Beyond" and Robbie Williams' "Swing When You're Winning."

Currently, Harold can be seen on tour with Tony Bennett, and leading drumming workshops at colleges and unversities throughout the country.

"I teach how to interpret music on drums," he says. He also fronts his own 17-piece big band, The Bossmen, playing for community events and corporate occasions. "I want to bring the Basie swing style back to the music world."

Larry Vann has made an impressive mark on the Bay Area music scene over the years with his authentic, piercing, all-encompassing musical technique. One listen to his compelling, penetrating and intoxicating grooves clearly demonstrates why he has been in such huge demand for sessions and tours with the likes of Elvin Bishop and Merl Saunders. His top-notch drumming and percussion has garnered him popular and critical success throughout the United States and Europe, but Vann has also wowed critics and crowds alike with his sultry singing voice, buoyed by his melodic, inventive songwriting.

A professional performer since age 15, Vann draws from a deep well of musical influence, including gospel, blues, funk, jazz and soul. These various genres have collectively shared his unique sound, which is in full display on his recordings.

Vann's resume reads like a “Who's Who” list, having toured and recorded with those musicians listed above, as well as The Whispers, Martha Reeves, The Marvalettes, Charles Brown, Buffy Saint-Marie, Randy Crawford, Faye Carol, and many more. His work with the popular San Francisco Bay Area Blues Group, Ron Thompson and the Resistors contributed to the band earning two Bay Area Music Awards. Be sure to check out his discography to get a comprehensive look at his recording career.

His impressive career also includes a motion picture role as a nightclub band member in the Academy Award-nominated “Peggy Sue Got Married”. World tours with jazz pianist Brian Auger and blues harp legend Charlie Musselwhite round out a phenomenal career of music-making.

Vann’s honors and awards include:

The Blues Society’s West Coast Hall of Fame, “Blues Drummer of the Year” award

The Jazz Institute’s “Man of the Year” award.

He has also had the honor of serving as a Governor on the Governing Board of the San Francisco chapter of The Recording Academy® (GRAMMY).

www.larryvann.com

Known for his versatility and dynamic performances, Austin plays the drums professionally in all styles of music, and is now one of the most recognized and sought-after drummers in Southern California. He has toured and recorded with many established artists in the entertainment industry, including Lauryn Hill, Carlos Santana, Robbie Krieger, Terrence Howard, India Arie, Roy Hargrove, and more recently Willow Smith, Gwen Stefani, Patti LaBelle and Dave Chapelle, to name a few. He has composed for and appeared on numerous TV and film projects, including “Step Brothers” (Sony), “Studio 60” (NBC), “E-Ring” (NBC), “One on One” (UPN/CW); The Cloverfield Paradox (Netflix) and “Truth or Dare” (NBC/Universal). He has also travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan, performing double-duty as tour manager and drummer, entertaining US Troops on numerous Army bases.

Tony is the Drummer, Engineer and Producer for the acclaimed Los Angeles- based group, the West Coast Get Down (WCGD), a collaborative group of musicians born and raised in Los Angeles. Apart, they are some of the most sought after musicians in the world; together they are uninhibited innovators moving effortlessly through multiple genres of music. He Produced, Engineered and was the Drummer on the critically acclaimed WCGD albums: The Epic by Kamasi Washington, a triple CD named one of Rolling Stone’s and Pitchfork’s “best albums of 2015”, with The Epic Tour selling out arenas worldwide for the past three years; and UPRISING, by vocalist/upright bassist Miles Mosley, an album that debuted in Jan 2017 at #4 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart, #2 on the ITunes Jazz Album charts and featured on Apple Beats 1 Radio. He also engineered and performed on trombonist Ryan Porter’s ‘The Optimist’, pianist Cameron Graves’ ‘Planetary Prince’, and Kamasi Washington’s 2017 EP "Harmony of Difference and 2018 release ‘Heaven and Earth’. He also partnered with Kamasi Washington as recording engineer and performer on the Emmy and Grammy Nominated music score for the Netflix documentary - "Becoming", A chronicle of former first lady Michelle Obama's life via her book tour

Currently Tony Austin is touring sold out shows and festivals with the WCGD world wide for Kamasi Washington’s critically-acclaimed new album ‘Heaven and Earth’ (which along with being the drummer he also engineered). The tour started with both weekends at the acclaimed Coachella Festival. When off the road Tony is also currently Producing Miles Mosley’s second album for Universal Music Group/Verve and a duo project, BFI featuring Miles and himself.

Tony Austin proudly endorses: Tama drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drum Sticks, Remo drumheads, & SKB Cases.

www.tonyaustindrums.com

This project has been made possible in part by California Arts Council, a state agency, and by a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Host or Publisher The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol