Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dave Weckl: The Drummer Who Redefined Fusion
Born on January 8, 1960, in St. Charles, Missouri, Dave Weckl discovered his calling early. During his years at Francis Howell High School, he was already making heads turn behind the drum kit. His passion led him to the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, where he immersed himself in jazz studies and refined the technical prowess that would soon make him one of the most sought-after drummers in the world.
Conquering the Big Apple
Fresh out of college, Weckl plunged into New York City’s electric fusion scene—and the city immediately took notice. His combination of precision, power, and musicality quickly caught the attention of major artists. Before long, he was laying down grooves for an eclectic mix of superstars: Paul Simon, Madonna, George Benson, Michel Camilo, Robert Plant, and bassist Anthony Jackson. Each collaboration showcased a different facet of his versatility.
The Chick Corea Years
Weckl’s profile skyrocketed when he joined forces with keyboard legend Chick Corea in 1985. Over the next seven years, he became an integral voice in both Corea’s groundbreaking Elektric Band and the more intimate Akoustic Band. These weren’t just gigs—they were masterclasses in contemporary jazz fusion that cemented Weckl’s reputation as a drummer’s drummer.
During this prolific period, Weckl somehow found time to maintain a busy session schedule, appear with the star-studded GRP All-Star Big Band, and record four albums with the Manhattan Jazz Quintet. His calendar was a testament to both his work ethic and his universal appeal.
Finding His Own Voice
After departing from Corea’s band in the early 1990s, Weckl embarked on new adventures—recording and touring with the brilliant guitarist Mike Stern while simultaneously launching his solo career. Since 1990, he has released ten albums as a leader, seven of them featuring his own Dave Weckl Band, each one pushing the boundaries of contemporary jazz and fusion.
Evolution and Education
Never content to rest on his laurels, Weckl has also shared his knowledge through a popular series of instructional videos that have influenced countless aspiring drummers. But perhaps his most dramatic transformation came around 1996, when his studies with the legendary teacher Freddie Gruber prompted a radical reimagining of both his playing style and drum setup—proof that even masters never stop learning.
Still Behind the Kit
Today, Dave Weckl continues to perform, record, and tour, bringing his distinctive blend of technical brilliance and musical sensitivity to audiences around the world. For anyone who loves the sound of perfectly executed rhythm married to genuine artistry, a Dave Weckl performance remains an essential experience.
More Posts: drums
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Muruga Booker was born Steven Bookvich on December 27, 1942 in Highland Park, Michigan at Highland Park General Hospital. His father played accordion ndfirst played the accordion before taking up drums as a preteen. He studied under Misha Bichkoff, a Russian music teacher and played drums professionally in 1961 with “The Low Rocks” in Detroit, Michigan as Steve Booker, achieving local recognition playing in 1962.
1964 saw him playing with folk-rock singers, psychedelic folk rock band and was a member of The Casuals to back up Brenda Lee. In 1968 he joined Paul Winter and The Winter Consort, and performed on their album Something in the Wind. In 1969,he played Woodstock, met Swami Satchidananda who gave him the name Muruga. He went on to play with Ted Nugent, record with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan before joining Darius Brubeck, and forming the electronic experimental trio MBR. Then he toured as part of the Darius Brubeck Ensemble, and played with Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond and Alan Dawson.
He recorded with Weather Report in the Seventies, moved to New York City and worked on several projects. Back in Detroit he left jazz and became a member of George Clinton’s P-Funk All-Stars. He move to Oakland, California in mid-1985 and formed Murunga UFM, with his next move being to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he established a recording studio called Sage Ct. Studio..
In 2003 Booker returned to playing and recording jazz as the Global Jazz Trio and as a five-piece group called The Global Jazz Project before creating a duo.
Drummer Muruga Booker, who won Outstanding World Music Instrumentalist and six Detroit Music Awards, continues to perform and record in a variety of music genres.
More Posts: bandleader,crums,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš was born on December 6, 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He began the violin at age six, switching to piano after about three years, and then to bass at age fourteen. As a young man in Europe, he was a competitive swimmer but one of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his brother Alan on drums and Jan Hammer on keyboards.
He studied music at the Prague Conservatory and won a music contest in Vienna, Austria in 1966 that gave him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts which he attended one year before going to Chicago, Illinois to play with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and flugelhorn pioneer Clark Terry.
When Miles Davis saw him playing in Chicago with Brookmeyerin 1967 and invited him to join his group playing at the Village Gate in New York City. It was with Davis that Vitouš first encountered saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Herbie Hancock and the Davis-centric scene that was transforming mainstream jazz from late hard bop into what would be known as jazz fusion.
1968 saw the first of Vitouš’s partnerships with Roy Ayers, and Herbie Mann, Bennie Maupin, and Stanley Cowell. The following year, Vitouš recorded his debut album as a bandleader, Infinite Search for Mann’s Embryo label. He recorded with Larry Coryell’s Spaces with John McLaughlin, Corea, and drummer Billy Cobham.
In 1969 he recorded with Shorter, McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Corea, and Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. The following year he continued as bandleader as he recorded Purple for Columbia, supported by McLaughlin, Cobham and the keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Then Shorter, Zawinul, and Vitouš formed the founding core of the jazz group Weather Report. Creative differences between him and Zawinul facilitated his departure from the group. Leaving the group he moved on to an illustrious career leading his own band and winning respect as a composer.
Double bassist, bass guitarist and composer Miroslav Vitouš continues his performing, recording and composing to this day.
More Posts: bandleader,bass guitar,composer,double bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Henry Basil Mayer was born on October 28, 1930 in Calcutta, Bengal, British India, to an Anglo-Indian father and Tamil mother. After studying with Phillipe Sandre in Calcutta and Melhi Mehta in Bombay, he won a scholarship to London’s Royal Academy of Music in 1952, where he studied composition with Matyas Seiber, as well as comparative music and religion in eastern and western cultures.
He worked for five years as a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in 1953 and then with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1965. During that period John was also composing fusions of Hindustani classical and Western classical forms fused with jazz undertones. His Violin Sonata was performed by Yehudi Menuhin and his Shanta Quintet was recorded by jazz sitarist Diwan Motihar and Denis Preston’s Lansdowne String Quartet in 1967.
In the 1960s he worked extensively with the Jamaican-born jazz musician Joe Harriott, with whom he formed the group Indo-Jazz Fusions. John also composed for film, and the BBC quiz show Ask the Family. From 1989 onwards he taught composition at Birmingham Conservatoire where he introduced the BMus Indian music course in 1997. He continued to compose concert works for chamber, solo and orchestral projects and record jazz-fusion albums.
Composer and sitarist John Mayer, known primarily for his fusions of jazz with Indian music, was fatally injured when hit by a motorist in North London and died on March 9, 2004.
More Posts: bandleader,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,sitar
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Adam Rudolph was born September 12, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up on the South Side among jazz and blues musicians. In 1988 he met Yusef Lateef, and the two would collaborate and perform together for the next 25 years.
In 1992 Rudolph helped found the band Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures, a group of improvisers He has been the artistic director of and composer for Hu: Vibrational with Hamid Drake, Vashti International Percussion Ensemble and Go: Organic Orchestra. He has performed as half of the Wildflowers Duo with Butoh dance innovator Oguri.
Rudolph has released several albums as leader and has also recorded with musicians Sam Rivers, Omar Sosa, Wadada Leo Smith, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Laswell, Herbie Hancock, Foday Musa Suso, and Shadowfax
Composer and percussionist Adam Rudolph continues performing in the post-bop and world fusion medium.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion