Philly DrumPhest
May 17, 2015
11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Levitt Auditorium | Gershman Hall
401 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
$30 Advance / $40 Door
The University of the Arts and Philly Drum Project present DrumPhest, Philly's own drum clinic festival and expo. DrumPhest brings together some of today's best drummers and educators for a full day of workshops, performances, gear sales, product demos, games, food and giveaways. Artists will include Jojo Mayer, Lil John Roberts, Mark Guiliana, Jason Gianni, Pablo Batista and a limited-capacity OpenDrum Philly Jam with George "Spanky" McCurdy.
Additional support for DrumPhest provided by Drumtacs, Steve Weiss Music, Modern Drummer Magazine, Gaither Drums, Dale's Drum Shop and Hudson Music.
11:00am
Lil John Roberts
2:15pm - on the Drumtacs Stage
Pablo Batista
2:15pm - in the Gershman Chapel
OpenDrum Philly Jam with Spanky McCurdy, presented by Steve Weiss Music with house band Ode to Omni
Sign up for this special session >>
2:30pm
Jason Gianni - Polyrhythms for Drumset
6:00pm
Mark Guiliana
7:30pm
Jojo Mayer
Philly Drum Project
Founded in 2011, Philly Drum Project is a Percussive Collective dedicated to making drumming more accessible in the Philadelphia area by helping drummers in the region share gear, lessons and beats in an environment where community, creativity, education and diversity are valued. In addition to DrumPhest, Philly Drum Project hosts a free monthly workshop series called "Beats, Brews & Banter," a free annual one-day drum intensive clinic for high school students called "DrumPhil," and special ticketed fundraiser concerts and jam sessions. Follow @PhillyDrum on Twitter.
Lil John Roberts joins us in his hometown of Philly just after the second leg of the "Songs in the Key of Life" tour with the soul/pop/R&B icon Stevie Wonder, which brought him across the country and featured a Grammy performance with Beyoncé, Tony Bennett, John Legend, Pharrell Williams and others. One of the most sought-after jazz and R&B drummers of his generation, Lil John Roberts has maintained his status in the industry as the ultimate heartbeat. A native of Philadelphia, John quickly became noted as a child prodigy, playing alongside Christian McBride and Joey Defranceso at the age of 16. Collectively, the trio was also a part of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, a project created and directed by Wynton Marsalis. John's formal studies began in 1991 when he was awarded a full scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. John studied at Berklee for two years before leaving to pursue his touring career with Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith), Dionne Farris, Xscape, Monica and – at just 23 year old – Janet Jackson. After Jackson, John found himself working nonstop with jazz artists such as Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Najee and George Benson, to name a few. His list of credits also includes, Quincy Jones, Prince, Sheila E, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Al Green, BB King, Paula Abdul, Yolanda Adams, NeeYo, Bruce Parham, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Paf Labelle, Juanita Bynum, India.Arie, Queen Latifah, Joss Stone, Raphael Saadiq, Lucy Pearl, Musiq Soulchild (musical director), Jill Scott, Kindred, Bilal, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dog, Mos Def, Common, and Earth, Wind and Fire. John has recently concentrated his efforts on his debut album, The Heartbeat, which released in June of 2014 and features Stokley of Mint Condition, Eric Roberson, Robert Glasper, Anthony David and a number of up-and-coming artists.
Pablo Batista, a graduate of the Temple University class of 1985, has been a percussionist for over 31 years. In 2000, Pablo was the recipient of the distinguished Pew Fellowship Award in Folk Art. He also toured and recorded with the late Grover Washington, Jr., from 1985 until Grover's passing in 1999. He has toured with five-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys and performed with her live at the 2002 Grammy Awards. In 1954, the Batistas moved to Bethlehem, Pa., with a family of four children, three daughters and their youngest son, Pablo. At the age of 9, Pablo started studying hand drums with master percussionist Miguel Candia. From there he learned the styles of popular and Afro-Caribbean music, with a specific interest in salsa. After graduating Bethlehem Catholic High School in 1981, Pablo went on to attend Temple University and graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree of Fine Arts. Pablo started teaching Afro-Caribbean percussion at the Association of Latin American Musicians (AMLA). He has been teaching percussion for the AMLA for over 15 years and has performed and recorded with such artist as Bono, Jeffrey Osborne, Phyliss Hyman, George Howard, Diane Reeves, Gerald Levert, Teddy Pendergrass, Eddie Palmieri, Manny Oquendo Conjunto Libre, Philadelphia Orchestra, Musiq and Norman Brown's 2003 Grammy Award-winning Just Chillin album. Pablo has been a Latin percussion endorser and clinician since 1985.
George "Spanky" McCurdy is a Philly-based gospel/soul/pop/hip-hop drummer who has toured with Lady Gaga, Kanye, Diddy, the Backstreet Boys, Jill Scott and Floetry. He has also collaborated with Queen Latifah, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Bubba Sparxxx, Nas, Brandy and Tye Tribbett, among others. At the age of 4, he was given the nickname "Spanky" and has gone by it ever since. Growing up, he attended Settlement Music School then subsequently attended Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University, and received lessons from the famous drummer Little John Roberts. In May 2013, Spanky's first instructional DVD, Off Time/On Time, was released by Hudson Music.
Jason Gianni is a full-time instructor at the prestigious Drummers Collective in New York City as well as an adjunct professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He holds a Master of Music degree from Pennsylvania State University as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Delaware, both in Percussion Performance. He is the drummer for the theme song for the popular cartoon "Spongebob Squarepants," the co-author of the popular drum book titled The Drummers Bible and is the featured drummer on the 2008 Hudson Music DVD called Set Up, Tune and Play Your Drums. Jason was the back-up drummer for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and is a guest artist on their popular platinum-selling CD entitled, Night Castle. Currently, he is a sub for Mike Portnoy for progressive artist Neal Morse, is an active sub on the Broadway and touring hit musical "Rock of Ages," and was the house band drummer for the Hispanic version of the TV show "The Voice" called "La Voz, Kids" on Telemundo. Fresh off performing his "Polyrhythms for Drum Set" clinic at PASIC 2014 in Indianapolis, he is excited to bring the same performance to the 1st annual DrumPhest event in Philadelphia. Jason is endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Remo Heads, Vic Firth, Humes & Berg, Kickport Products and Hudson Music.
Mark Guiliana is an acclaimed drummer, composer, educator, producer and founder of the independent record label, Beat Music Productions through which he will release both My Life Starts Now and Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations as a bandleader later this year. His forward-thinking, conceptual approach to the instrument is also featured in Mehliana, the electric duo featuring Brad Mehldau on keyboards and synthesizers. The group's highly anticipated debut album, Taming the Dragon (Nonesuch), was released in early 2014. Over the past decade, Guiliana´s extensive touring has taken him across six continents with artists including Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Avishai Cohen, Matisyahu, Lionel Loueke, Now vs. Now, Dhafer Youssef, and his own groups Beat Music and Heernt. He has also appeared on over 30 recordings to date. Still in his early 30s, Guiliana, recognized by The New York Times as "a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed," has earned international acclaim for his innovative and creative style. In a 2014 Rhythm Magazine poll, he was voted as one of the "10 Best New Drummers in the World Right Now."
"What happens when you add hard bop drum masters Elvin Jones and Art Blakey to a 1980s Roland 808 drum machine, divide the result by J Dilla and then multiply to the power of Squarepusher? Answer: Mark Guiliana." - Time Out London
Jojo Mayer started playing drums at an early age and had his first public performance at 2 sitting in with his dad's band. At age 18, he received his first international exposure when touring with Monty Alexander and backing up jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone. In the early 90s, he moved from Europe to NYC where he worked as a first call sideman for a wide range of artists and styles. As a leader, he created his seminal work with NERVE, which established him as one of the great performers and innovators on the instrument. His concepts and techniques of reverse engineering electronic drumbeats in real time on a acoustic drum set introduced a new paradigm and opened the door for an entire generation of musicians to follow. In 2014, Modern Drummer Magazine listed him as one of the "50 Greatest Drummers of All Time."