Vital Thoughts
by Steve Smith
(click photos to enlarge)

Hi again everyone.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, March 21 & 22, I had a great time teaching at the Berks Jazz Festival Fantasy Camp in Reading, PA. The other instructors included Kurt Elling, vocals; Mulgrew Miller, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Jimmy Bruno, guitar; John Swana, trumpet; and Bob Mintzer, saxophone.

We each had 8 to 10 students and covered a lot of ground in our individual classes. We then put some ensembles together so the students could play some jazz. The students ranged from teenagers to 70+years-old and all wanted to learn about jazz. Most of the drummers had either never played jazz or had only played rock and not much jazz, so we addressed a lot of the fundamentals.

On Wednesday evening, the teachers performed together at a public concert as part of the Berks Jazz Festival. It was a total thrill to play with such a distinguished group. Christian McBride is one the most incredible bass players I’ve ever played with. Mulgrew Miller (who spent many years with both Art Blakey and Tony Williams) is a monster pianist as is Bob Mintzer on tenor, John Swana on trumpet, and Jimmy Bruno on guitar.

Vocalist Kurt Elling was a revelation to me. I had only heard a little of his work on recording but playing with him and hearing him live was just amazing. Kurt invited me to sit in with his band as a special guest on June 17th at Birdland in NY. His band was excellent and we all had a wonderful playing together. Check out Kurt if you haven’t heard him yet.

The next night, Thursday, March 23, I played at the all-star “Smooth Jazz” jam and that was a lot of fun too. We took more of a funk direction than the night before. I used my small Sonor Jungle kit tuned up high, jazz kit style, for the acoustic jazz concert on Wednesday but on Thursday for the “Smooth Jazz” concert, I debuted a large Sonor SQ2 kit that I borrowed for the Vital Information U.S. tour.

The smooth jazz jam was led by guitarist Chuck Loeb, a great musician who used to play with the group Steps Ahead. We were joined by bassist Gerald Veasley, trumpeter Rick Braun, saxophonists Richard Elliot & Nelson Rangell, guitarist Chieli Minucci, singer/keyboardist Joe McBride, and Vital Information’s very own Tom Coster, who was in town playing with the Air Force Big Band. All of the players were really strong and we had a ball playing some jazz/funk standards.

A drummer friend of mine named Wolfgang Haffner sat in on drums. Wolfie is a fantastic drummer from Germany but was in Reading, PA, to play with Chuck Loeb and Will Lee. When there have been some European gigs that I couldn’t make - such as part of a tour with Randy Brecker and the Bill Evans Soulbop group - Wolfgang is my first call sub. Wolfie taught with me this July at a drum camp in Bavaria, Germany. This is a great camp, by the way, for those of you interested check out: www.modmusik.de

Also teaching at this event was Pete Lockett, Zoro, Russ Miller, Johnny Rabb, and more. All of the Berks Jazz Festival events were organized by John Ernesto and his crew. Since the teaching component went so well, they will continue with this in 2007.

For information on this festival go to: www.berksjazzfest.com

SQ2 – the new drum line from Sonor and Hybrids – the new cymbals from Zildjian

Sonor introduced a new top-of-the-line drum series at the 2006 NAMM show. Sonor had Jojo Mayer, Thomas Lang, and me demonstrate the kits for all of the distributors from around the world. The three of us all had a terrific time working out a drum-trio piece, hanging together and showing each other different ideas and techniques.

As expected, the new drums sound incredible and once again, Sonor has developed a state-of-the-art instrument. Each drumset will be custom ordered and made to the exact specs of the drummer ordering the kit. You can start working on your kit online at www.sonor.com  using their new CONFIGURATOR and then complete the order with a local Sonor dealer.

There are only four SQ2s kits in the USA at this point. I borrowed the drum set that I played at NAMM for the Vital Information USA tour so my fans could check out this new kit. The drumset that I used is one that is featured in the new Sonor catalogue – page 14. The finish is called Silky Oak, it has “medium” maple sells with Black Chrome Plated Hardware. The bass drum looks a like a cannon, it’s 20”x20” and sounds incredible. The toms are 8”x 7,” 10”x8,” 12”x9” and the floor toms are 14”x14” and 16”x16.” The main snare is an X-Ray (clear) 14”x7” and the side snare is an X-Ray 12”x5.”

I’m also using the newest cymbals from Zildjian, two 19” Hybrid Crashes and a 9” Hybrid splash. These cymbals were designed by Zildjian and Akira Jimbo, they have a full body with some very smooth high end - a very musical sound. I’m also using my prototype Hi Bell K Constantinople 22” Dry ride, which I’ve had for two years, an A 19” ‘Beautiful Baby’ Armand Zidjian ride, a prototype K Constantinople 20” flat top and my 14” HHs with a K top and an A Mastersound bottom.

Along with my Vic Firth signature “Steve Smith” sticks I’m using my new signature “Tala Wands” – a bundle type stick -- that have recently been released. For heads, I’m using Clear Remo Ambassadors on top and bottom of the toms and the 12” snare. On the 14” main snare I use a Fyberskin Diplomat because it sounds so great with brushes. I have the bass drum set up with felt strips and a Remo muffle with a small hole in the front head. I find that the hole in the front head fits in with the funkier direction that we are taking with the music of Vital Information.

I’m playing the bass drum with my DW 9000 Titanium pedals, and using a full set of Shure mics all around. I have also started playing a percussion instrument from South India called a Ghatam – it’s a large clay pot with a hole on the top. I’ve been taking some lessons from Ganesh Kumar (www.ganeshkanjira.com)  who has been showing me the basic techniques of this instrument. I’ve been micing this drum with a Shure lavalier mic taped on the drum near the bottom. I also use a vocal mic when I play the ghatam and recite some South Indian konokol – rhythmic syllables. It’s been a lot of fun and quite a challange learning a new instrument and new rhythms.

A little more about my current setup:

SONOR DRUMS
20" BD
14" x 5" main snare
12" x 5" left side snare
8" tom on stand
10" and 12" toms mounted on the BD
14" and 16" floor toms

ZILDJIAN CYMBALS -- From Left to Right
14" K top, A Mastersound bottom Hi Hats
19" K Custom Hybrid Crash
19" Beautiful Baby - Armand Zildjian Ride w/3 sizzles
9" K Custom Hybrid Splash
22" K Constantinople Hi Bell Dry Ride
19" K Custom Hybrid Crash
20" K Constantinople Flat Ride

Remo Fyberskin Diplomat on the 14" snare drum
Remo Clear Ambassadors on all of the toms and the 12" snare
Remo Powerstroke 3 on the BD

DW 9000 Titanium Double Pedal

Shure MicsSM 98s on the toms and the 12" snare.
Beta 57 on the main snare. KSM137 overheads
SM98s clip on mics for the saxes

Pursound Snares

Sticks:
Vic Firth Steve Smith Signature Stick/Steve Smith Tala Wands

Thanks everyone. We have some great stories this month and I hope you enjoy them.

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