#249 Pete Zimmer- Drummer, Educator, Record Label Owner and More!
The photo of Pete is taken by Matt Baker.
This episode is sponsored by Dream Cymbals. Check out their Tasting Tour Dates.
On the show this week is drummer Pete Zimmer. Pete, moved to New York City in June of 2001, and has since established himself as one of the top-call drummers in New York City’s jazz scene. Originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin, Zimmer has made his mark nationally and internationally as a versatile and articulate drummer, bandleader, sideman, composer, educator, and record label entrepreneur.
Since 2004, Pete Zimmer released five (5) critically acclaimed albums as a leader on his own record label, Tippin’ Records. The albums showcase both his constant swing on the drums and his skillful and melodic compositions. His composition, “Time That Once Was,” a moving ballad recorded on his first album Common Man, was recently licensed to Sony Pictures Television where it was featured in the opening scene of the series they produce “Masters of Sex” (Episode 307, Monkey Business), aired on Showtime. He has received many accolades from major publications. "Pete Zimmer has learned his New York lessons well, as his dry tone, meaty swing beat and subtle accents make him an old hand” (Down Beat), and "Zimmer's drumming boasts a crisp, swinging command with judicious musicality." (Modern Drummer)
Zimmer’s band has performed at many of the prominent jazz venues in New York City including: The Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Smoke Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland Jazz Club, The Kitano, Fat Cat, and Cornelia Street Café. He has toured throughout much of the USA and the United Kingdom. Throughout the years his group has featured many of the top musicians in New York City including: Mike Rodriguez, Joel Frahm, Jeremy Pelt, George Garzone, Peter Bernstein, Avi Rothbard, David Wong, Peter Slavov, Rick Germanson, Toru Dodo, John Sullivan, Mike DiRubbo, Ryan Kisor, Vitaly Golovnev, George DeLancey, Jerry Weldon, Joseph Lepore, Jaleel Shaw, Robert Rodriguez, Jeb Patton, and others.
Pete Zimmer is a highly regarded educator and clinician. He has presented clinics and masterclasses at many top collegiate jazz programs throughout the United States and United Kingdom. He is a faculty member with the New York Jazz Academy since 2009.
As an active sideman, Zimmer can be heard on the latest recording by legendary bassist Ron McClure Trio, Hope and Knowledge. (McJolt Records, 2017) He has also performed and/or recorded with the likes of: George Garzone, Rodney Jones, Ron McClure, Dennis Irwin, David Schnitter, Akiko Tsuruga, Rick Germanson, Julius Tolentino, Gene Perla, Wayne Escoffery, Dan Nimmer, and many others.
Pete Zimmer’s record label, Tippin’ Records, was originally established to feature his own projects, but after having much success with his first few releases, it did not take long for other artists to solicit their projects to Tippin’. In 2009 Zimmer decided to expand the catalogue and encompass additional artists. The first additional artist was trumpeter Vitaly Golovnev with the release of To Whom It May Concern and was followed by guitarist Kyle Asche Organ Trio (featuring legendary organist Melvin Rhyne), Blues for Mel. The label now has a total of one dozen releases and six artists.
Before moving to New York, Zimmer studied at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, earning his bachelors degree. At the Conservatory he was fortunate to have apprenticeships with master musicians and teachers Danilo Perez, Cecil McBee, George Garzone, Bob Moses, Jerry Bergonzi, and Bob Brookmeyer.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to several friends of the show……
Grammy nominated Nate Wood is a drummer/multi-instrumentalist and mastering engineer based in New York City. Nate is a founding member of the Grammy nominated quintet Kneebody. Kneebody released their self titled debut album in 2005 on trumpeter Dave Douglas’s label Greenleaf Music. In 2007, Kneebody released “Low Electrical Worker” on Colortone Media. They completed an album of arrangements of Charles Ives compositions with singer Theo Bleckmann and released the recording “12 Songs of Charles Ives” which was nominated “Best Classical Crossover Album” Grammy Award (2009, Winter and Winter). Kneebody’s latest record “The Line” was released on Concord Records in 2013.
Nate has also performed or recorded with many notable artists including Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, Dave Grohl, Brian May and Roger Taylor (Queen), Chris Squire (Yes), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Chaka Khan, Wayne Krantz, Billy Childs, Tigran Hamasyan, Donny McCaslin, Sting and many others.
Nate was featured in Modern Drummer in March of 2014, and placed in the 2015 Modern Drummer reader’s poll among the top 5 drummers in his category.
Along with his work as a sideman, Nate has released 3 albums of his own material, where he performed, recorded and mixed everything himself. His newest album “Another Time” was released in July 2014.
Nate also masters records for artists from around the world.
The first Latin percussion instrument that Danny Cummings ever acquired was a second-hand conga he persuaded his parents to buy him for his 21st birthday. "I remember thinking that black fiberglass drum marked the beginning of a new era for me," says Cummings. And perhaps it did: In the 20 years since, the London-based percussionist has recorded with such rock notables as the late John Martyn, Dire Straits, Tina Turner, George Michael, Les McKeown, Penguin Café Orchestra, Elton John, The Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red, Daniel Beddingfield, Talk Talk, David Sylvian, Mark Knopfler and Bryan Adams. His playing is particularly well showcased on "Ocean Drive" by The Lighthouse Family, and on the cabaret-tinged "Shag Tobacco" by vocalist Gavin Friday (on which Cummings recorded more than 60 overdubs). He also appears on Knopfler's CD Kill To Get Crimson and on Bryan Adams' most recent album, On a Day Like Today.
At age 12, Cummings began playing snare drum in his school band, then got hooked on percussion with a pair of bongos that his grandparents brought him from Trinidad. His early musical influences included Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Bill Withers, and "as any percussionist who plays congas in contemporary music will tell you, Santana (Carlos) was a most powerful influence."
Today, in addition to congas, shakers, and tambourines, Cummings plays a collection of original African instruments and experiments with electronic sounds: "I like the idea of blending very traditional instruments with futuristic, cosmic things."
Danny has embarked on several projects with Knopfler, both as part of Dire Straits and Knopfler's solo band. The last Dire Straits album, On Every Street, featured Cummings as a percussionist and he also contributed to Knopfler's solo album releases All the Roadrunning, Kill to Get Crimson and Get Lucky. He toured with Knopfler on the tours for each of these albums, and featured on the live CDs and DVDs On The Night and Real Live Roadrunning (featuring Emmylou Harris).
Prior to joining Tito Puente over 35 years ago , Jose Madera played for four years with the famous Machito Orchestra , and recorded with many artists of R & B ( including James Brown , Diana Ross, David Sanborn and Aztec Two – Step) . As an arranger for Fania Records Plant , played in several comrciales successes, and through the years has composed music for the Fania All- Stars, Larry Harlow , Johnny Pacheco , Willie Colón, and Celia Cruz . Although he has recorded some 75 albums in 20 years, as well as numerous radio jingles and film soundtracks , Madera still had time for his other career : for 15 years he had worked as a teacher and conductor in a high school for the performing arts with private funds, in the city of New York.
Jose has written many arrangements for countless commercial Latin artists and has recorded or worked with many of them as well. Some of them include: Larry Harlow, Johnny Pacheco, Chico O’Farill, The Lincoln Center Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra, Celia Cruz, Tito Rodriguez, Fania All-Stars, Willie Colon, Joe Farrell, Machito, Graciela, Mario Bauza, Willie Rosario, Earl Klughand Eddie Palmieri, just to name a few. Jose has also worked and recorded with many pop, R&B and jazz artists. Some of them include Diana Ross, James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, George Benson and Lionel Hampton among others.
Jose has performed on over 250 recordings. He has worked on several television show soundtracks including “The Simpsons” and several motion picture soundtracks including”The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,” where he was the musical arranger and conductor for the Tito Puente segment of the film. Jose also taught the art of playing Latin percussion instruments at BOYS HARBOR in New York City for 28 years.
Jose has done and continues to do musical clinics around the country at various schools. He was the musical director of the Latin Giants of Jazz from 2001 to 2009. Jose continues his musical direction with the Mambo Legends Orchestra, a band comprised of former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra, which is dedicated to performing new creative Latin and Latin jazz concepts, as well as some of the music of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente.
Arthur Lipner is one of the top keyboard percussionists of his generation. He specializes in vibraphone, marimba and steel drums. Arthur’s career has spanned three decades since he began performing professionally at age 14. Arthur’s live performances and recordings convey an exuberant drive of creativity and depth. jazzenews.com (London) said, “Arthur Lipner occupies a prominent role in the foregrounding of vibraphone and marimba in jazz and popular music.” All Music Guide called him “an extremely melodic and creative jazz/worldbeat-conscious vibes artist.”
In 2019, Arthur was invited to perform/adjudicate at percussion festivals in China and Russia. In 2018, he performed/adjudicated at the first-ever Australian International Vibraphone Competition. As a bandleader, guest soloist and educator, Arthur has been to over 30 countries including Ghana, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Costa Rica, England, Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, Malaysia, the Caribbean and many more.
As a recording artist and NYC session player, Arthur has appeared on over 50 albums. “Two Hands, One Heart” (2015) is a “best of” double-cd collection documenting his first 25 years as a freelance recording artist. His album “Brasilian Vibes” (2010) was nominated for “Album Of The Year” by the Brasilian Press Awards. Recording session appearances have included Bluegrass, Traditional Jazz, Brasilian, Funk, Caribbean and other eclectic styles. From 2016-2018 he recorded nine solo albums on vibes, marimba and steel drums for the NYC-based label Solo Sounds. These included solo versions of West Side Story, Paul Simon’s “Graceland”, Bob Marley’s “Legend”, and a collection of Drake songs on steel drums.
Venues at which Arthur has appeared is a one-of-a-kind mix illustrating his strong desire to share and interact with different cultures. In addition to concert halls, jazz clubs and recording studios around the world, Arthur has performed with Tuvan Throat Singers from Russia, The National Dance Company of Ghana in a small rural village, in the streets of Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, in Chiapas Mexico’s “Marimba Park”, at the Royal Palace in Marrakesh, in the mountains of Norway on an ice xylophone he constructed with award-winning ice sculptor Bill Covitz, and more. He premiered his concerto MALLET FANTASIA with the Nat’l Symphony of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. He has toured in Europe/Latin America over 70 times. He has performed at five PASIC’s.
As an educator, Arthur has been a guest artist and clinician at many percussion festivals around the world. He has presented over 300 workshops on six continents. These include the prestigious Juilliard School, Yale University, Royal College of Music (London), Swedish Academy of Music (Stockholm), Gnesin Academy of Music (Moscow), Sweelink Conservatory (Amsterdam), Conservatoire Superieur (Paris) and Sydney Conservatorium (Australia). He has been a faculty member of The Brabants Conservatory (Holland), Univ. of Bridgeport (CT), Drummers Collective (NYC) and SUNY Purchase. From 2000-2008 Lipner served on the Board of Directors of The Percussive Arts Society.
Almost 100 of Arthur’s compositions have been released on recordings. His music has been used on radio, film and tv soundtracks in such places as Finland, Japan, Belgium, The Netherlands, and England. Arthur has written two widely-adopted method books, THE VIBES REAL BOOK (1996) and “Jazz Mallets: IN SESSION” (2000), the first-ever play-along book for vibes and marimba. He was commissioned to write music for the UK’s 2020 ABRSM Tuned Percussion series. The story of Lipner’s inner and outer journeys are featured in the documentary TALKING STICKS.
Gig Alerts
Damon has some upcoming gigs and you can see all of the public ones listed and get more details by CLICKING HERE.
The NFL has announced the headliners for the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show – hip hop reigns supreme. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will perform at Super Bowl LVI. The game is happening at SoFi Stadium on February 13 and will be broadcast live on NBC. The five artsts have a combined 43 Grammy Awards and have created 22 number one albums between them. -Article
The house band is being led by Adam Blackstone featuring artists from his BBE roster of musicians.
You can see Robert Glasper at the Blue Note in NYC pretty close to the entire month of October. CLICK THIS LINK to see the upcoming show schedule.
Social Soundbyte
Friend of the show, Taku Hirano is happy to announce his debut on Ropeadope and Modern Icon Recordings. “Blu York- Live In NYC" now available on all music download and streaming platforms. You can CLICK HERE, to hear a sample of it.
Educational Spotlight
Congratulations to the winners of the first annual PAS Neil Peart Drum Set Scholarship! The winners are:
Juan Pablo Faúndez
Anna V
Carles Pereira
Bert Villegas
The purpose of the Neil Peart Drum Set Scholarship is to award up to four $500 scholarships to provide individuals the opportunity to take a few lessons with a drummer of their choice either online or in person. Thank you to everyone who entered! The future of drumming is in good hands.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording is from Israel “Cachao” Lopez’s album ‘Master Sessions Vol. 1’. To see who played on the album (including friend of the show, Richie Flores), CLICK HERE. The type of band is a Charanga band, and the rhythm being played is a Danzon. You can learn how to play that, thanks to our friends of the show, Marcos Lopez and Paulo Stagnaro over at Conga Chops.
Music News
Don’t like what you hear when you stream music on Spotify? Find the best Spotify equalizer settings for your favorite genre. Here’s how. Changing the equalizer settings in Spotify can help bring music to life, even with a pair of mediocre earbuds. Spotify has hidden the equalizer settings fairly deep in the app – so you may not even realize they’re there. Here’s how to access the equalizer settings and some tips for tuning the music to your taste. -Article
After weeks of failed attempts at fleeing the Taliban, members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) and Zohra Orchestra have finally escaped. On Sunday, 101 students, teachers and musicians were airlifted to Doha, Qatar.
"One hundred lives have been saved. One hundred dreams have been saved," says an emotional Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, ANIM's director and founder. -Article
More than 100 of the world’s greatest drummers in an epic musical tribute to The Beatles’ iconic song "Come Together." WhyHunger’s Drum Together harnesses the power of music to build a just, hunger-free world.
Pete Zimmer Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Common Man” by the Pete Zimmer Quintet, from the album with the same name.
Damon and Pete recount when they first met and played with each other through sax player, Mark Small.
Pete is originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin, and is a Milwaukee Bucks fan.
He started as the drummer in the rock band he formed with his two brothers.
In middle school he started checking out jazz records from the library, including the Papa Jo Jones trio with the Bryant Brothers.
Shout-out to bassist, John Sullivan.
Pete studied with Jim Sewrey of Carroll University.
Pete used to attend the Birch Creek Percussion Camp. That was lead by percussion instructors from Northern Illinois University, where Pete attended before going to the New England Conservatory in Boston.
Shout-out to Liam Teague.
Pete also learned composition from Rick Kirby.
Pete talks about perseverance in a major city.
Shout-out to all the drummer band leaders.
During the pandemic, Pete shy-ed away from live streaming and virtual stuff and took up painting as an additional profession and part therapy.
Pete is playing on October 29th at 623 Room. Go check him out!
Pete started and runs his own record label called Tippin’ Records back in 2004.
Pete talks through some of his albums as a band leader.
Pete also does some teaching and masterclasses before the pandemic and has started resuming that.
Pete talks about some sync licensing he was involved with, including the Showtime show, Masters of Sex.
Pete talks about having regional bands around the country that know his material, so it is just him that travels to meet up and tour a part of the country.
Shout-out to Martin Bejerano.
Pete talks about the album “Wailin’ at the Vanguard” by Art Taylor and the first track is called “Street Intro”.
Shout-out to Darren Barrett.
Pete talks about the band director Ron Carter (father of friend of the show, Bryan Carter) and some of the drummers that studied under him.
Hopefully Pete will get to study with Kenny Washington. He mentions studying with Joel Spencer.
Pete mentions Baby Dodds and the “trap” set he used.
Shout-out to Mike Janisch and Whirlwind Recordings.
Damon brings up small town and large city dynamics. Pete and Damon talk about being well traveled and educated.
Pete talks about how music can expose you to different cultures.
Damon mentions the similarities between Pete and Bill Stewart.
You can follow Pete on his Website, through his Record Label, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Pete uses Sabian Cymbals, Yamaha Drums and Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets.
The song leading out of the interview is called “Judgement” by the Pete Zimmer Quintet, from the album with the same name.
