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Free drum masterclass series featuring 8 of the greatest drummers of our timeAbout this Event
JaZzLine INSTITUTE, in partnership with San Jose Jazz Break Room, presents the Give The Drummer Some masterclass series, Thursdays 5:00-6:30pm once-a-month January through August 2024
January 18, 2024: Sylvia Cuenca
February 8, 2024: Dante Roberson
March 21, 2024: Dennis Chambers
April 25, 2024: NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart
May 9, 2024: Greg Hutchinson
June 13, 2024: Ron E. Beck
July 11, 2024: Lenny White
August 8, 2024: Charles Haynes
Whether you're a drummer, vocalist, instrumentalist, or simply seeking to deepen your groove, this masterclass series is a priceless opportunity to learn directly from eight of the greatest drummers of all time. Sign up for one or all and garner the wealth of knowledge and experience these drum legends will be sharing. Masterclasses are open to all ages and levels of experience, including professionals, students, aficionados, and casual listeners alike. Masterclasses are held at SJ Jazz Break Room at 310 S. 1st St San Jose, CA 95113.
This project is supported by California Arts Council
January 18, 2024Sylvia Cuenca Masterclass<h4>Sylvia Cuenca is an active drummer on the New York and SF Bay Area jazz scenes who is contributing outstanding performances in a variety of situations. She has had the honor of sharing the bandstand with saxophone legend Joe Henderson for 4 years and trumpet legend Clark Terry for 17 years. The Joe Henderson quartet toured frequently in European countries Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, England, Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany and venues across the U.S. In a trio setting she performed with Joe Henderson and Charlie Haden in 1989 and with George Mraz in 1994. She performed with the Clark Terry Quintet and Big Band at Village Vanguard, Birdland, Blue Note, Queen Elizabeth 2, Royal Viking, S.S. Norway jazz cruises and clubs, concerts and festivals in the U.S, Europe, the Caribbean and South America. While working with the Clark Terry quintet she had the opportunity to perform with guest artists Al Grey, Red Holloway, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Marian McPartland, Dianne Reeves, Joe Williams and Lou Donaldson to name a few.
Cuenca has also performed with such jazz luminaries as Billy Taylor, Frank Foster's Loud Minority Big Band, Houston Person, Etta Jones, Helen Merrill, John Hicks, Valery Ponomarov, Lew Soloff, James Spaulding, Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, George Cables, Hilton Ruiz, Jon Faddis, Eddie Henderson, John Handy, Kenny Drew Jr., Emily Remler, Richie Cole, Dave Stryker, Gregory Porter, Jessie Davis, Sean Jones, John Clayton, Ralph Bowen, Vincent Herring, Paul Bollenback, Geoffrey Keezer, Mark Whitfield, Ralph Moore, Paula West, Catherine Russell, Dianne Reeves, Dianne Schuur, Denise Donatelli, Ernestine Anderson, Lea Delaria, the European based Vienna Art Orchestra and many others. In 2007 she performed in a live taping of Black Girls Rock concert in New York City with pop star Alicia Keys. In 2015 she performed at Dizzy's Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. with Albert "Tootie" Heath's 4 drum set group called "The Whole Drum Truth" which also included drummers Louis Hayes and Joe Saylor.
She was a guest clinician at the Sisters in Jazz Program at the IAJE Convention in NYC and the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Cuenca has been a longtime faculty member at the Jazz for Teens and Pre-Teen Program at NJPAC and the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California. Recently she has been on faculty at Roni Ben-Hur's Summer Jazz Camp in Vermont. She was an artist-in-residence at various universities in the U.S. and Europe with the Clark Terry quintet, Eddie Henderson quartet and as a leader with her own groups. In 2014 she received a B.A. degree in Jazz Performance from Empire State University in NYC.
In 1988 and 1991 Cuenca received jazz performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 1992 she was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Drum Competition. In 2022 she received San Jose Jazz New Works grant.
She has studied with jazz master drummers Adam Nussbaum, Victor Lewis, Keith Copeland and Brazilian drummer Portinho. Sylvia endorses Canopus Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and brushes, and Remo Drumheads.</h4>
www.sylviacuenca.com
February 8, 2024Dante Roberson Masterclass<h4>Dante fell in love with music at the age of 5, when he heard the band KISS playing on tv. Since then, his musical influences have just continued to expand, and now run the gamut from pop to jazz, from country to funk, and all of those influences show through in his music.</h4><h4>Although he has produced and written for numerous musicians over the last 30 years, it’s only now that he was inspired to release his own project. Dante' has released his own music, which inventively takes its cues from smooth jazz, funk and R&B to create infectious sounds that just make you feel good. This first album, "Caveat" was birthed from the reminder that everything can change in an instant, and is Dante's way of saying "Thank you" to those he has worked with over the years.</h4><h4>Grammy-winning Dante has performed and/or recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as Najee, Carl “The Rev” Wheeler, Regina Belle, Eric Benet, X-Executioners, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Tank, Dwayne Wiggins, Byron Cage, En Vogue, The Whispers, Cameo, Tony Saunders, Stephanie Mills, Skip Soder, and many others.</h4><h4>Dante credits Anthony King, Joel Smith and his high school jazz band teacher David Machoni for teaching him how to read and music theory. He wouldn’t be where he is without Will Kennedy and Dennis Chambers taking him under their wings, acting as mentors. A resident of the Bay Area, Dante enjoys playing a variety of styles and credits his versatility to the rich musical history of his hometown as well as the patience and skill of teachers and mentors.</h4>
www.dantetaz.com
March 21, 2024Dennis Chambers Masterclass<h4>Dennis Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke,Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, CAB, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among drummers for his technique and speed.[citation needed]Chambers is particularly regarded for his ability to play "in the pocket" but can also stretch very far out of the pocket which is also a hallmark of his technique.[citation needed] Chambers exhibits a powerful style that is technically proficient, yet highly musical and groove-oriented.[citation needed] He can play in a wide variety of musical genres, but is perhaps most notable for his jazz-fusion, funk, and Latin music playing. He is mostly known for his fast hands and triplets on the bass drum. He has helped many young drummers, the most prominent being Tony Royster, Jr.</h4><h4>In 2007, just before Led Zeppelin were scheduled to play at the O2 Arena in London, John Bonham's son Jason was asked in an interview that if he himself were to pass up the opportunity, which drummer would he recommend to fill the coveted drum throne. His reply was 'If I were to choose, I would probably want a jazz drummer with a strong swing feel. You know what - Dennis Chambers. I think he would "get it", whereas other rock drummers wouldn't.'</h4><h4>In an interview by Bonedo in 2011 Dennis Chambers was asked who some of his influences and favorite drummers were and he mentioned Clyde Stubblefield, Al Jackson Jr.,Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Husband, Jack Dejohnette, Billy Cobham, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Tony Williams.</h4><h4>He performed on the critically acclaimed Maceo Parker live album "Roots and Grooves" album with long time friend Rodney "Skeet" Curtis (bass) and the WDR Big Band. He has toured extensively with Carlos Santana and makes appearances with his band Niacin.</h4><h4>He plays and endorses Pearl drums, pedals, hardware & racks, Zildjian cymbals, Zildjian drumsticks & general accessories and Evans drumheads.</h4><h4>Chambers began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Baltimore-area nightclubs by the age of six. He was recruited in 1981 by the Sugar Hill Label to be their "house drummer." Dennis plays on many Sugar Hill releases . In 1978 (at 18 years old) he joined Parliament/Funkadelic, and stayed with them until 1985. In 1986 he joined the John Scofield band. Since then he has played with most of the major figures in jazz fusion music.</h4><h4>On August 26, 2011 Chambers appeared as a featured drummer on the Late Show with David Letterman's Drum Solo Week II, alongside other such notable players as Tony Royster, Jr., Gavin Harrison, Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland.</h4>
www.dennischambers.com
April 25, 2024NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart Masterclass<h4>Billy Hart is one of the most sought-after jazz drummers of his generation, able to perform in diverse contexts ranging from straight-ahead to avant-garde to pop. Throughout his career, he has recorded 12 albums in his own name and performed as a sideman on more than 600 recordings. Hart also teaches widely—nationally and internationally—and has authored the book Jazz Drumming.</h4><h4>Hart grew up in in the nation's capital in a music-loving family who introduced him to jazz early on. His maternal grandmother bought him his first drum set. At age 17, he was hired by the great local saxophonist Buck Hill for an extended gig with his band, which also featured two of Hart's high school classmates, pianist Reuben Brown and bassist Butch Warren. His next important mentor was singer and pianist Shirley Horn. After being established locally, Hart spent most of the ‘60s touring with three of the preeminent working groups of the era, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, and Eddie Harris.</h4><h4>Upon moving to New York, Hart became associated with a group of like-minded and forward-thinking musicians, recording with Pharoah Sanders, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Joe Zawinul, and, especially, Herbie Hancock, with whom Hart spent three productive years in the band now known as Mwandishi. He also appeared on the seminal Miles Davis 1972 album On the Corner.</h4><h4>Other notable associations include four years with Stan Getz, almost ten years with Charles Lloyd, and record dates ranging from standard bearers like Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Horace Silver to experimentalists like Joanne Brackeen, Geri Allen, and James Newton. A working cooperative with Dave Liebman, Richie Beirach, and Ron McClure—Quest—has existed for more than 30 years. Hart is also a member of the current jazz “supergroup” the Cookers, which includes George Cables, Billy Harper, Donald Harrison, Jr., Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, and David Weiss.</h4><h4>His current quartet includes Ethan Iverson, Ben Street, and Mark Turner. In 2016, Hart was featured with the German WDR Big Band on the release The Broader Picture and was honored at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in California with a 40-year retrospective programming in his honor.</h4><h4>Since the early 1990s, Hart has taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, and at Western Michigan University.</h4>
www.billyhartmusic.com
May 9, 2024Greg Hutchinson Masterclass<h4>Jazz Magazine describes him as “the drummer of his generation” and indeed, Gregory Hutchinson is one of the most highly respected musicians of our time. His mastery of timing and expression of rhythms is at the core of his personal style. He is a musician’s drummer, soundly rooted in the jazz tradition he is able to approach all styles of music with supreme accuracy and imagination, decorating compositions with his natural feel and mind blowing innovation.</h4><h4>The Brooklyn native began to nurture his passion for playing at the very young age of 3. He recalls his first drum set lasting a total of 5 minutes, “I proceeded to put the sticks through the drumhead and not on top of it. I didn’t know about Ted Reed stick control” he muses, “and now fast forward many years, here I am.” His dedication to the instrument was apparent in junior high school and his instructors took notice. At the young age of 12, he would arrive at school an hour early each day and stay behind an hour after. He was encouraged to audition for two music high schools and describes his not being accepted as “the best thing that could have happened to me.” It encouraged him to spend the next four years practicing and also led him to Justin Diccicio who became his mentor. Diccicio’s former students had been Omar Hakim, Kenny Washington, Marcus Miller and Steve Jordon. By accepting an apprenticeship under him, Greg had not only entered a lineage of supreme musical talent, but he had acquired a teacher who was serious in helping him become a professional musician.</h4><h4>His professional career began right out of high school, when he was introduced to Red Rodney after playing in a Big Band for a year. He quickly became known as a young phenom in the jazz community sharing the stage with the likes of not only Rodney, but Betty Carter, and Ray Brown while still in his early twenties. He is one of the few musicians today who had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the great orginators of jazz music. Since then he has worked with a virtual who’s who of the jazz world including: Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, Roy Hargrove, Charles Lloyd, Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride and Maria Schneider as well as many other’s. His time signatures and beat compositions have won him praise from the hip hop community as well leading him to work with powerhouses Common and Super producer Kareem Riggins.</h4><h4>His experience and technique make him one of the most exciting musicians to watch and hear. He has the creative power to not only nurture, but challenge the very art of drumming. Dianne Reeves describes him as “Pure Genius.” Gary Giddins described his drum work as “Elegant” and more “like dancing.” Joshua Redman describes him as “Inspired.” To Hutch’s credit his goal is to play the drums like Charlie Parker played the horn, “I want to sing on the drums the way he sang on the horn.” If history is any indication, Hutch will indeed continue to be a formidable presence in the musical community.</h4>
June 13, 2024Ron E. Beck Masterclass<h4>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.</h4><h4>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.</h4><h4>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.</h4><h4>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.</h4><h4>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)</h4>
www.ronebeck.com
July 11, 2024Lenny White Masterclass<h4>At 19, Lenny White played with Jackie McLean, recorded Bitches Brew with Miles Davis, and Red Clay with Freddie Hubbard. Lenny is one of the founding fathers of the jazz-rock movement and is a four-time Grammy Award winner. Lenny White earned a worldwide reputation as the drummer with Return to Forever and has played and collaborated with artists such as Joe Henderson, Gato Barbieri Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, and Chaka Khan.</h4><h4>Lenny continues to lead and stay on the cutting edge of music by producing new artists and performing; he is in the process of writing original music to be performed by the NYU Orchestra in the fall of 2022, further expanding his musical footprint. Lenny is currently mentoring and teaching students at NYU Steinhardt and The New School.</h4>
August 8, 2024Charles Haynes Masterclass<h4>Charles Haynes is a true drumming multi-talent. The forty-year-old Boston resident has toured the globe with the pop stars Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, and Queen Latifah. His beefy beats and crafty production have invigorated the R&B of Meshell Ndegeocello, the jazz of saxophonist Marcus Strickland and keyboardist Jason Moran, the blues of singer Ruthie Foster, the fusion of bassist Marcus Miller, the big band blowouts of Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Jazz Orchestra, and Latifah’s early-jazz tribute soundtrack, Bessie.</h4><h4>Performing with keyboardist BigYuki’s trio at Revive Records’ recent ten-year anniversary concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, Haynes took that old Frank Zappa adage “beat it with your fist” to new heights. BigYuki’s music is equal parts progressive hip-hop and power-driven prog, melded into a kind of super funk-fusion. Staring down his kit like an action hero, Haynes delivered deep funk satisfaction with his monster beats and silken grooves, while his blazing combinations dazzled the audience and fired the music. Haynes’ flashy groupings impressed, while his alternate left-hand snare drum recalled an old-school Akai MPC and acted as a trigger point for myriad sampled sounds.Beyond the beat, Haynes has provided production skills for Ndegeocello, Latifah, country singer Christa Gniadek, jazz keyboardist Brett Williams, and gospel artist Isaiah Grigg. And he’s written for almost as many acts as he’s produced. Across all of these platforms, and with all of these artists, he’s had one goal in mind: to serve the music.</h4>
This project has been made possible in part by California Arts Council, a state agency.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
San Jose Jazz Break Room, 310 S. 1st St, San Jose, United States
Tickets
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