#220 Will Fry- Studio & Touring Percussionist, Educator & More!
Will Fry is a multi-percussionist based in Peckham, London. Will moved from his hometown of Brighton to London at twenty years old and quickly began working with a wide range of influential musicians, including Alex Wilson, Snowboy, Roy Ayers, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Nathan Haines, Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers, Sola Akingbola, Jamiroquai, Duffy, Roberto Pla and more.
Over the next ten years, he performed in over thirty countries across six continents, including Baaba Maal’s Blues de Fleuve festival in Senegal, Java Jazz festival in Jakarta and Fuji Rock festival in Japan. Will also took classes in Cuba, Brazil, Senegal and the United States with many of his favourite percussionists.
Later performance credits include Eliane Correa, Ola Onabule, Giovanni Hidalgo, Eliel Lazo, Joe Bataan, Dele Sosimi (Fela Kuti), Native Dancer, Femi Temowo, Ill Considered, Rene Alveraz and more.
Recording sessions include Sam Smith, Utada Hikaru, Human Nature, Mr Children (Jpn), Baaba Maal, Duffy, Ola Onabule, Nostalgia 77, Natural Self, Eliane Correa, M Ward, Sahra Gure, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation and more.
Will has worked on several West End Shows including Motown the Musical, Thriller Live and The Lion King. He has performed on major TV shows including Later... with Jools Holland, The Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno and the Ellen DeGeneres shows and recorded on the soundtrack to the 2009 film Nowhere Boy.
With a specialism in Latin American percussion, Will often incorporates his background on drum set, orchestral, electronic, West African and North Indian percussion (as well as the piano and violin) to create something unique.
Damon is Joined by Ryan Lacey of Gaelic Storm.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to the great Zakir Hussein. Zakir is an Indian tabla virtuoso, composer, percussionist, music producer, film actor and eldest son of tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, by the Government of India presented by President Abdul Kalam. He was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990, given by the Sangeet Natak Academy, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. In 1999, he was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists & musicians.
Happy Birthday to the legend Roy Haynes. Roy is an American jazz drummer. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 75 years he has played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and is considered a father of modern jazz drumming. "Snap Crackle" was a nickname given to him in the 1950s.
He has led bands such as the Hip Ensemble. His albums Fountain of Youth, and Whereas, were nominated for a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1999. His son Graham Haynes is a cornetist; his son Craig Holiday Haynes and grandson Marcus Gilmore are both drummers.
Gig Alerts
Announcing “We’re Texas”, a virtual revival where we can all come together to help Texas recover from the winter storm. You can watch the concert on March 21 at 7pm CST on my youtube channel YouTube.com/MatthewMcConaughey 100% of all the donations will benefit so many organizations on the ground now and in the months to come. To donate or learn more go to https://jklivinfoundation.org/.
Hit Like A Girl 2021 is the tenth annual international contest for female drummers, percussionists and beat makers. Its purpose is to showcase and encourage drumming and lifelong musicianship for girls, women and gender expansive individuals, regardless of age, playing level or geographic location. The event is produced by Hit Like A Girl, Inc. and made possible by the generous support of artists, individuals and companies in the music and music products industries.
You can see last year’s winners by clicking THIS YOUTUBE PLAYLIST LINK.
Gaelic Storm is hosting “ONE FOR THE ROAD - Raise 'em up! Drink 'em down!” A livestream concert on March 17th, 2021. 7pm CST/8pm EST TO WATCH, CLICK HERE TO LOGIN . Sponsored by CIDERBOYS.
This time around they will be singing a mixture of their own songs, some traditional pub songs THEY’VE NEVER RECORDED BEFORE and a brand new Gaelic Storm song too! The show will be a 2 hour, online special and available to watch for up to 30 days.
Educational Spotlight
There are a bunch of PAS scholarships you can check out by CLICKING HERE.
Shout-out to LA Music Academy. Now known as Los Angeles College of Music.
Product Review
Ryan invented a product called Eucatape!
Eucatape Drumming Tape by Drum Nerd synergistically heals, protects, and strengthens your hands while drumming and allows more touch sensitivity with your drum sticks than traditional drum gloves.
HEALS – Eucatape is infused with great smelling Eucalyptus oils that help soothe your hands of existing blisters, cracks, or cuts with its natural anti-inflammatory properties and leaves your hands feeling soft with no sticky residue.
PROTECTS – Eucatape features durable fabric tape that protects your hands from blisters and gives you a better grip without any slip whether you’re rocking out on your drum set or using your hands for Latin, Jazz, African, Conga, Cajon, and other percussion instruments.
BETTER – A traditional drum glove can be hot, uncomfortable, wear out quickly, and throw off your style (unless you’re looking for the marching uniform look). Eucatape not only heals and protects your hands when using drum sticks or hand drumming, but also LOOKS AND FEELS cooler.
This is the Taku Hirano tape that Ryan mentions.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording for this week is by The LP Rumba Ensemble. The album is called Montvale Rumba, which was recorded in 2002. The song is called: “Mi Cafetal/Tata”. You might be able to find an old copy on Amazon.
Little Johnny Rivero - quinto, clave, okónkolo
Luisito Quintero - timbales, coro
Pedro Martinez - lead vocal, cajón, itótele, coro
Román Díaz - tumbadora, shekere, iyá
John Benítez - bass, coro
Johanna Casteneda - coro
Music News
Thanks to the coronavirus (among other things), a lot has changed for the 2021 tax season. We don’t want you to get blindsided, so click on the article to dig into what’s new for this tax season and what’s staying the same. -Article
Shoeboxed is an app you can use to scan and organize receipts and business cards. You can create expense reports, track your mileage and so much more!
You can go back and listen to the interview Damon did with his accountant to get some basics for self employed musicians for doing your taxes. -Episode 112
There are two new features/functions that may be coming to social media. Specifically Twitter and Instagram. -Article
You can click on THIS LINK to see all of the Grammy nominees and winners for 2021.
Will Fry Interview
The interview begins with Will locked down and enjoying some afternoon tea.
During this lockdown will has been able to do lots of home recording (also, thanks to generous neighbors).
Damon enjoys an english breakfast tea. Will enjoys coffee, and lives near Monmouth Coffee Company. Damon mentions Yemen coffee being a bit sweeter.
Will did the touring show of The Lion King. Damon draws the connection to the London Lion King through percussionist Ken Ross and Thomas Dyani.
Damon and Will talk about the challenges of playing a theater show. Will talks about doing Motown as well as the other shows he has played on.
Will talks about being able to hear the stems of “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye with Eddie “Bongo” Brown on percussion. Here’s another example of “I Want You” with vocals, bass and congas.
Subbing on a broadway show can be tricky. Here are SOME TIPS to being able to pull it off. Here is a FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT from someone on their subbing experience.
Damon brings up the popularity of the last name Fry. Will brings up Tristan Fry.
Will talks about the importance of the shop Adapatrap in him working his way to Afro-Cuban percussion. Shout-out to the Red Zebras for doing a clinic at Will’s school.
Will started taking lessons with Dave Pattman and the late Robin Jones in London.
The band from Australia Will talks about is called Son Veneno.
Antartica is the the only continent that Will has NOT played on.
Will started working with Alex Willson, and Damon used to listen to him a lot when he lived in London too. Damon mentions the cover of “Englishman in New York” by Sting featuring Clave Y Guaguanco on this arrangement. Will brings up the title track “Anglo Cubano”.
Will’s home studio set up is an Apogee duet and Sennheiser 421 mics and an Aston condenser for the bulk of his recording.
Friend of the show Carter McLean (episode 92) has started using less mics on his kit and lets the room and preamp help his sound. You can see this 4 mic set up on his Instagram page.
Will talks about his matchbox home recording session which got some clients interested in him recording from home for them.
Will also talks about the recording session with Sam Smith during the lockdown. For the video below, Ash Soan is on drums and Will is on percussion.
Will talks about his lesson with Francisco “El Matador” Oropesa (bongocero) of Septeto Nacional de Cuba.
Will and Damon talk about recording from home.
Will talks about having the time to travel and going to Cuba and Brazil in two weeks to study and take lessons.
Will talks about his brief stint working in a bar and how horrible he was at the job.
Shout-out to friends of the show Marcelo Woloski (episode 29) and Keita Ogawa (episode 76) and their multitude of sounds and eccentric instruments.
Damon talks about capiz shells as wind chimes.
Will talks about Neal Wilkinson and his two snare drums. Shout-out to Twice Percussion and the multitude of instruments Will describes as well as the magnet trick (see video below).
Damon and Will talk about head choices and the video of Will changing rawhide heads.
Damon brings up the calabash gord. WIll uses it as a water drum. Keita uses it as a bass drum in his hybrid drum kit.
Shout-out to Lea Mullen (episode 179) and Mino Cinelu for the sounds they get.
Damon brings up Adam Morford and his creations, Will talks about Pete Engelhart. Will also mentions the Reco Reco from Brazil. The original ones were wood, but now there are metal options too.
Will talks about (friend of the show) Phil Gould’s (episode 196) Bongo Saloon.
Will has been listening to Bill Withers’ ‘Justments’ album. The song he’s referring to with the hi hat is called “You”.
Will has been listening to lots of “NY based latin jazz”. He gives a shout-out to the Paul Simon album ‘Rhythm of the Saints’
Damon brings up the “Iconic Pop Percussion Playlist”.
Will gives a shout-out to Paul Clarvis and (friend of the show) Jeremy Smith’s (episode 205) Venezuelan maraca playing.
Will uses Gon Bops percussion, Sabian Cymbals, CRS mounts and Porter and Davies thrones.
You can also get Will’s sample pack called Rattly and Raw. You can grab that by going to: www.rattlyandraw.com.
You can follow Will on his Website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Special R.I.P. to Jimmie Morales. Percussionists alike and Toca family are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend, Jimmie Morales. Words cannot adequately express such a profound loss. He was more than just an incredible musician and maestro conguero, he was an inspiring human being. Few attain such a high level of mastery, influence and success and fewer still do so with the heart, humility and grace of Jimmie Morales. His departure is a hard hit both to us and to countless others. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.
Jimmie Morales was born in Connecticut in 1957, and then his family moved to Puerto Rico in 1967. Surrounded by salsa he took up congas with a vengeance, gleaning his style from the famed congueros, including Candido, Mongo Santamaria, Patato Valdez and Johnny Rodriguez. But Ray Barretto was Jimmie's beacon. “His style was so identifiable whether he was playing Latin or jazz. Style is something you have to work at.”
Within a few months, Jimmie was playing with local bands, sharing his talent with the renowned singer Tito Allen, who would later on record with Barretto and Tipica 73 in New York.
In 1978 he hooked up with Willie Rosario and toured extensively, booked alongside Latin greats including the band Batacumbele, featuring a young Giovanni Hidalgo on congas. In 1986, Jimmie left Rosario and began a long tenure with famed salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa. All the while he was working the studios and continues adding titles to that huge discography of 300-recordings (and then some).
You may hear Jimmie Morales as a sideman with the artists previously mentioned as well as with Willie Colón, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves, Juan Luis Guerra, Grupo Niche and Jerry Rivera, to name a few. Toca is proud that Jimmie Morales, a prolific conguero who crosses genres with ease, has joined the artist team. Mr. Slap has found his new home!
