#227 Ryan Brown- Drummer for Dweezil Zappa, Instructor at Musician's Institute & More!
Photo of Ryan Taken by Seth Jacobson.
This episode is sponsored by Dream Cymbals.
Ryan Brown is a professional drummer and percussionist in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his gig as the drummer for Dweezil Zappa, he plays with Los Angeles-based bands The Young Royals, Black Belt Karate, SexTapes, AM/FM, The Fuxedos and Madras, and in the bands of artists Arrica Rose, Karem Malicki-Sanchez, Colin Armstrong, Josh Canova, Space Oddity and rapper J Naugh-T.
He has toured with Taiwanese pop star Chyi-Chin and L.A. bands OWL and Ultraviolet, performed on “Last Call with Carson Daly” with Ingrid Michaelson and played the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland with R&B artist Niki Haris. He has recorded tracks and albums with producers Marti Frederiksen, Mark Hudson, Mikal Reid, Russ Irwin, Rob Seals, Glen Laughlin, Rob Shrock, Brian Dobbs, Klaus Derendorf, Brian Paturalski, Billy Morrison, Larry Crane and David Weisberg, including the hit single “The Real Thing” from Bo Bice.
Ryan can also be heard on releases by Foreigner, Circus Diablo, Hannah Montana, Clay Aiken, Cassie Davis, Nick Lachey, Jesse McCartney, Heather Graham, Suzie McNeil (Rock Star INXS) and Stephanie McIntosh, as well as on the movie soundtracks for Ice Age: Continental Drift (Adam Schlesinger), Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer and John Powell) and The Dark Knight (Hans Zimmer). He’s performed on recordings with Alex Lifeson, Earl Slick, Elliot Easton and Rudy Sarzo.
Ryan has also appeared as a sideline musician in numerous TV shows and movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End, Desperate Housewives, Jag and Samantha Who?. He plays all styles of music, including rock, R&B, jazz, ska, funk, blues, folk and country. He is on the drum faculty at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif., and teaches private lessons as well. A native of Denver, Colorado, he has played drums and percussion since he was 11 years old. Ryan graduated from Indiana University with a degree in jazz studies and percussion.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Marcos Lopez. Marcos is one of the most promising multi-genre percussionists that broke through the music scene out of his native Puerto Rico. He's armed with a reputation for his profound ability to transition seamlessly between diverse styles with great precision, thanks to a history of great and abundant influences from every part of the world. Marcos is leading an inspiring movement among the musicians of this time that has broad implications for the modern percussion performers.
Lopez began to make his path known with the salsa group N’Klabe. Following its inception, he has become unstoppable. He has toured and performed with figures like Cuban superstar Issac Delgado, Puerto Rican all-stars Wisin & Yandel and salsa veterans like Victor Manuelle, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tony Vega, Andy Montañez, Ismael Miranda, La India and Tito Nieves in venues like the Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center and the Carnegie Hall. Marcos has also appeared in ABC’s Good Morning America and the Late Night Show with Seth Meyers along pop duo Karmin.
Happy Birthday to Dominque Thomas. Dom is a dedicated percussionist from Philadelphia who began to travel & study percussion at the age of 14. He and his mom traveled to Senegal & Mali West Africa to study drum and dance with the National Ballet of Mali along with other masters. He then attended Berklee college of Music to further his studies.
Teachers He continued to learn under some of the greatest players such as Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio Hernendez, and great friend and mentor Doc Gibbs of the “Emeril Live” cooking show.
Experience Dom has played with a number of groups and bands in and around the tri-state area, starting with his mother as the lead drummer of a West African drum and dance group called “Kuumba”. He later toured with the Apollo Circus of Soul band as the percussionist. Continuing on his journey Dom has played with some of the top hip/hop & R&B artist such as Questlove & Black Thought from the Legendary Roots Crew, Mos Def, Raheem DeVaughn, K’Jon, Syleena Johnson, Kindred The Family Soul, touring and performing on “Dancing with the stars & Jay Leno” with Grammy award winning R&B singer Maxwell, ended 2013 on a 16 city tour with Grammy nominated R&B artist Jaheim. In 2014 also performed in Johannesburg, South Africa with Jaheim. In 2015 played on “Jimmy Kimmel” & Centric presents the “Soul Train Awards” with Philly’s own Jill Scott, all which landed me a full time spot as her percussionist. In March 2016 he also landed the position playing for Eminem and did the 2016 South American Lollapalooza Tour. The entire summer of 2016 we toured Europe (North Sea Jazz Festival) & the US with Jill Scott also doing shows in Tokyo, Japan. October 2016 performed on the Ellen Degeneres show with John Legend which landed me the full time percussion position. In 2017 I toured more than half the year starting in the U.S., Europe, and South Africa with John Legend as well as doing a show in Hawaii while finishing the year touring with Jill Scott. February 2018 we did the Dubai jazz festival with John Legend as well as a month long Asia tour. We also did U.S. tour with Jill Scott and currently gearing up for a end of the year/U.S. Christmas tour with John Legend.
Gig Alerts
You can access the Zoom Link for the Masterclass HERE.
Social Soundbyte
Bassist Ron Carter (also born on 5/4/1937) released an album called “Empire Jazz”, with some jazz greats for “Star Wars Day”
Released in 1980 on RSO records
John Williams - composer
Ron Carter – bass, arranger
Jon Faddis,
Joe Shepley – trumpet, flugelhorn
Eddie Bert – trombone
Hubert Laws – flute
Frank Wess – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Bob James – piano
Jay Berliner – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Billy Cobham - drums
Ralph MacDonald – percussion
Jeff Wack - album cover art
Educational Spotlight
In celebration of the Percussive Arts Society’s 60th Anniversary, and in recognition of the unprecedented challenges facing our drum and percussion community this past year, PAS is thrilled to share that registration for a 2021 4-day PASIC™ badge will open to all members for only $60. This one-time special price will be available for 60 days at $60 from Monday, May 17 through Friday, July 16. In addition, PAS has been working closely with our local hotel partners, and have been able to reduce room rates for 2021.
* There are NO refunds on badges that are purchased with 60th Anniversary pricing.
Product Review
This week’s product review are Felt Right Tiles. With Felt Right tiles and pinboards, you can bring color and dimensionality to any wall in your home or office. Felt Right tiles are more than just decoration. These high-quality felt tiles and felt boards complement the architecture of your home or office with unparalleled sound quality and design flexibility. The company was founded on a deep commitment to protect our planet, which means designing products with a smaller ecological footprint and continually working to reduce the impact of our operations. We empower both our employees and customers to make a difference. Felt Right soundproof tiles have a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 0.35, which is comparable to one-inch thick polyurethane foam (a common sound-dampening material). An NRC of 0.35 means our felt tiles and boards absorb up to 35 percent of reflected sound. Installing Felt Right tiles on even just a single wall of your living room or workspace will noticeably improve your overall acoustic experience
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording this week is “Come a Little Bit Closer” by Jay and the Americans. This song was used in episodes of the TV series Gilmore Girls ("The Great Stink" - 2006) and Ray Donovan ("Yo Soy Capitan" - 2014), and also in the movies Shanghai Kiss (2007), The Meddler (2015) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
Of the musicians on the recording, Willie Bobo played timbales, (friend of the show) Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez played conga drums, and Gary Chester played drums.
Damon was also checking out the new Marvel movies coming out.
Music News
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has received north of 17,000 applications for financial relief from in-need venue owners since reopening its Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) portal on Monday. -Article
Recording Academy higher-ups recently unveiled the pivot, which is one of several “significant changes” that the 64-year-old entity has made in an effort “to ensure that the GRAMMY Awards rules and guidelines are transparent and equitable.”
Now, all award nominees at the 64th Grammys – slated for Monday, January 31st, 2022, though the eligibility period will wrap on September 30th of this year – will “be determined by a majority, peer-to-peer vote of voting members of the Recording Academy.” -Article
Damon talks about the controversy in the drum community about a certain cymbal product. Special shout-out to Trevor Lawrence Jr.
Ryan Brown Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Filthy Habits” (Live) performed by Dweezil Zappa.
Ryan and (friend of the show Tommy Diehl) studied at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University of Bloomington, IN.
Ryan was born and raised in Denver, CO. His mom was a piano player and between her and his uncle, they were the first influences of music on Ryan with his Sears drumset and piano lessons.
Damon and Ryan talked about the construction of the Sears and Muppet drumsets. Damon shouts out the pocket kit by Ludwig for kids.
Ryan flirted with trumpet before switching back to drums.
Huey Lewis and the News with Bill Gibson on drums was an inspiration for Ryan Growing up.
The Columbia House Music Club helped expand Ryan’s reach on popular music, A View to a Kill and Dance Hall Days specifically.
Meeting Gregg Bissonette at a drum clinic was a life changing experience for Ryan. He also mentions three albums that he found out about from a drum pamphlet. Those albums were “Skyscraper”, “Vivid” and “Loud Jazz”.
Seeing Rush at Fiddler’s Green in Denver was another step towards Prog Rock in Ryan’s musical journey. Damon mentions Genesis and Ryan points out his favorite album by them is “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”
Ryan mentions the many facets to Phil Collins. From Genesis, to Tarzan to Brand X to a solo pop artist.
Ryan brings up the deer/Phil Collins mashup. Damon mentions the bicycle version.
The “Zappa in New York album” was one of the first introductions to Frank’s music for Ryan. “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch” was a more accessible record for Ryan into the Zappa discography.
Damon was introduced to Zappa with the album “Joe’s Garage”. He mentions how 20th century composers helped him appreciate the eccentricities in Frank’s music.
Ryan talks about how he chose IU for school. Kenny Aronoff and David Baker were part of the faculty when Ryan attended. Ryan talks about the Dave Weckl Contemporary Drummer + One books to audition with.
Ryan talks about the imaginary friend he had for several years.
Ryan talks about Kenny’s chart writing and learning tunes and how he has applied that to his learning of the Zappa catalog.
Damon talks about the different stages of learning.
Ryan and Damon talk about other ways to count measures, and learn the form of the song, as well as other tricks to learning quickly.
Damon talks about using the shaker to learn songs. Shout-out to Danny Cummings and Dave Mattacks. Ryan mentions the XTC album “Nonsuch” with Dave on it.
Ryan talks about how he got the gig with Dweezil Zappa, and the audition process. He recommends an album he checked out back in high school, “Confessions”.
Ryan moved to L.A. with Mike Dupke and talks about his experiences moving to the new city.
Ryan is on the faculty for the Musician’s Institute.
Ryan talks about how he teaches at M.I.
Damon mentions the Mackie cable tester that he uses to make sure all his cables work.
Ryan uses some of the Yamaha DTX electronics in his rig.
Shout-out to Rupp’s Drums in Denver, CO.
Ryan uses DW Drums and Hardware, Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, ProMark Sticks and Mallets, Yamaha Electronics, JH Audio In-Ear Monitors, and Morfbeats Percussion.
You can follow Ryan on his Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Musician’s Institute. When touring resumes, you can catch him on tour with Dweezil Zappa.
The song leading out of the interview is called “Push” by Black Belt KARATE from the ‘Volume 1’ album.
