#297 Ian Hale- Umass Associate Director, United Percussion Arranger, & More!
This episode is sponsored by Dream Cymbals. Check out some of their hand crash cymbals and gongs!
Ian Hale received degrees in percussion performance from the University of Calgary and the University of Massachusetts Amherst where his teachers included Dr. Glenn Price, Eduardo Leandro, and DCI Hall of Fame member and past Associate Director Thom Hannum. Ian was a member of the music faculty at UMass from 2007-2008 and has served as a percussion instructor and clinician ever since. He was the Assistant Director of Bands for the Calgary Stampede Showband from 2009-2011 and has served as Percussion Director for Spirit Winter Percussion from Orleans, Massachusetts since 2012. Ian has worked with many national and international ensembles including the Calgary Stampede Showband, Spirit of America, Thomas Jefferson High School, Dartmouth Indoor Percussion, United Percussion, Boston University, University of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. He was a member of the percussion staff for the Madison Scouts, Carolina Crown, and the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. He is currently on the percussion staff for the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps. He can be reached at ihale@umass.edu.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Mark Guiliana. Hailed by The New York Times as “a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed,” Mark brings the same adventurous spirit, eclectic palette and gift for spontaneous invention to a staggering range of styles. Equally virtuosic playing acoustic jazz, boundary-stretching electronic music, or next-level rock, he’s become a key collaborator with such original sonic thinkers as Brad Mehldau, Meshell Ndegeocello, Donny McCaslin, Matisyahu, and the late, great David Bowie.
Guiliana’s forward-leaping BEAT MUSIC is more than a band – it’s a community. Over the last decade the drummer has gathered around him a family of like-minded artists who share a passion for the limitless possibilities of electronic music combined with an in-the-moment creativity rooted in jazz improvisation. On April 12, Motéma Music will release Guiliana’s third plunge into that vast musical ocean, the emphatically titled BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! (available now for pre-order). The in-your-face exclamation of that title is no accident; Guiliana’s third recording with his BEAT MUSIC cohort is a bold and vigorous exploration of window-rattling grooves, cinematic imagery, ecstatic atmospheres and a captivating tapestry of textures and voices.
To realize his ambitious vision for the project, Guiliana has enlisted a host of collaborators who’ve become part of the BEAT MUSIC community over the years, including such genre-defying artists as bassists Chris Morrissey, Stu Brooks, Jonathan Maron, and Tim Lefebvre; keyboardists Jason Lindner, BIGYUKI, and Jeff Babko; electronicists Troy Zeigler and Steve Wall; and spoken word samples from longtime collaborators Cole Whittle and Jeff Taylor, as well as Guiliana’s wife, singer Gretchen Parlato (along with his son, Marley).
“I feel very lucky to have people that I genuinely consider to be my favorite musicians as part of the BEAT MUSIC family,” Guiliana says. “It was important for me to have all of those collaborators represented on this record, to reap the rewards of the hundreds of hours of gigs we’ve spent improvising and discovering together.”
Happy Birthday to Charles Ruggiero! Charles was born to be a drummer. The son of world renowned jazz musician Vinnie Ruggiero, Charles spent his early years surrounded by the "who's who" of jazz. There was always music around, and with musicians like Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Freddie Hubbard, and Jon Hendricks coming to spend time and play, it was only a matter of time before he caught the bug and asked his father to play the "bang-bangs."
As a teenager, Charles got serious about drumming, playing anywhere he could. Soon, local high schools and colleges, as well as professional theatre groups, and popular local bands throughout western N.Y. started to hire him. After winning a seat in the New York State All State Jazz Ensemble, music colleges came calling. Manhattan School of Music offered a full scholarship and a chance to study with famed jazz educator Justin DiCioccio, so he jumped at the chance. The jazz scene in New York City in the early 90's was vibrant and he was plying regularly with his own "who's who" of jazz, including Joshua Redman, Peter Bernstein, Jane Monheit, Ryan Kisor, Joel Frahm, Sam Yahel, Brad Mehldau, Myron Walden, Chris Potter, and Dwayne Burno, to name a few.
Happy Birthday to David Rivera! David sprang from Puerto Rico as a recording artist, composer and arranger with roots in Latin, Jazz, Gospel, Rock and Pop. Over ten years of professional music experience focused on teaching, arranging, composing, and performing various music styles – including Jazz, Latin, Gospel, Rock and Pop. In 2004 Rivera won the BEST Scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then, he has been actively partaking in numerous live concerts and studio sessions with various artists. Some of those include legendary Gospel Singer, Ron Kenoly; Grammy Award Winner, John Benitez; Latin Grammy Nominee, Gonzalo Grau; Pedro Capo, Miguel Zenon, Tito Nieves, Jerry Rivera, Chucho Valdes, William Cepeda; Oscar Stagnaro; and Eguie Castrillo’s "Mambo King" Big Band and Latin Jazz Band. For the past seven years he’s been working full time with Alex Alvear and Mango Blue. He also performs as a guest drum set player with numerous bands, trios, and quartets. Furthermore, Rivera recently completed his Master’s degree in Music Education and is a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music City Music Program and in various summer programs such as The Berklee Day Sessions Summer Program and The Berklee Five Week Program. In 2017, he founded the podcast show “AKULKUL.”
Happy Birthday to Andy Moffatt. Andy is a lifelong Eagles fan living in Philly and come from a family of drummers. He was in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Drumline in college which helped propel him into The Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps. before he found out the Eagles were starting a Drumline, he worked at Zildjian Cymbals. After that, he auditioned and was lucky enough to grab a spot in the snareline with the team. A few short years later, he took over guiding the drumline mission. Their mission is to add to the incredible gameday atmosphere in Philly and engage with as many Eagles fans as possible!
Happy Birthday to Rebecca Kite! Rebecca is the author of a definitive biography of the world-famous Japanese marimba virtuoso, Keiko Abe – a work of scholarship that includes an exhaustively researched history of the concert marimba, accompanied by an illustrative music CD.
Kite's biography cum marimba history has been translated into Japanese, and will be translated into Spanish and published by the University of the Arts and Sciences in Chiapas, Mexico in 2013. A Chinese translation is planned, as well.
Kite was the first marimba teacher to record pieces traditionally played by beginning marimba students -- and so, for the first time, students could have the instructional benefit of hearing how these pieces ought to sound. On Kite's Prism recording, she played "Yellow After the Rain," the most popular marimba piece for beginners worldwide. She has created additional groundbreaking teaching materials, as well.
Kite holds several patents for innovative timpani designs that enable greater ease in moving the pedal, while improving the drum's overall sound. Early in Kite's musical career, she studied with such stars of the percussion world as Cloyd Duff, timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1942-1981, and George Gaber, Chair of the Percussion Department at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana from 1960 to 1985. Much later in her continuing musical education, she studied with Keiko Abe, the
internationally known marimba virtuoso.
Gig Alerts
The Sound on Sound music festival is happening Sept 24th & 25th, in Bridgeport, CT.
NOTE: The Roots have replaced The Black Pumas on Sunday.
The Austin City Limits Festival is happening two consecutive weekends in October. The 7th-9th and 14th-16th.
Damon has some new gigs, starting with one hit with Billy Ruegger at Cisco Brewery at the Village in Stamford, CT then a week with Erich Bergen at Cafe Carlyle in NYC.
Educational Spotlight
To be eligible, get your registration in for one of the PASIC 2022 competitions before October 1. Sign up for Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble Competition, Drumline Battle (in partnership with DCI), or the Individual & Ensemble Competition. Learn more about the competitions at pasic.org/competitions.
Iconic Recording
The iconic Recording this week is from the Nexus Ragtime Concert. You can order it HERE (when it’s back in stock), or maybe HERE. This album Features Bob Becker, Xylophone Soloist, along with Bill Cahn, Michael Craden, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, and John Wyre. It was recorded live on December 19th, 1976.
You can listen to it below.
You can also check out Teddy Brown below.
Music News
Live Nation is investing in reusable cups at its concerts to eliminate single-use plastics from live events. -Article
Music Festivals need sustainability now more than ever -Article
Live Nation Launches ‘Green Nation Touring Program’ -Article
New Grant Offers Free Festival Passes to People with Disabilities – Lollapalooza, EDC, Stagecoach & More -Article
Sweetwater Gear Exchange Is Here — Buy & Sell Used Music Gear -Article
Ian Hale Interview
The snippets leading into and out of the interview are from the Crossmen 1998 show where Ian played quads in the group.
Damon starts with asking Ian about some of the navigation needed in dealing with Covid at Umass Amherst.
Ian talks about how the university band staff runs, including the student administrative staff.
He also talks about some of the other musical opportunities including the hoop band and ice band.
Damon and Ian talk about musical opportunities outside of school curriculum. Ian was an artist in residence at Banff Music Center, and Damon was a member of the show Blast!
Damon mentions student exchange or study abroad programs.
Ian also encourages his students to march DCI or WGI. He helped out at the Boston Crusaders as well as United Percussion respectively.
Ian got to study with friend of the show, Leigh Howard Stevens at his marimba camp.
Ian talks about his time in the Crossmen drumline.
Ian goes into detail about the Banff Center and his time as the artist in residence.
Ian would grab his computer first if there was a fire in his place.
Ian can sing every note from Maceo Parker’s “Shake Everything You Got” sax solo from the album, ‘Life on Planet Groove’.
“First Circle” by Pat Metheny from ‘The Road To You’ album is music that feels like “home” to Ian.
Damon brings up the Foo Fighters paying tribute to Taylor Hawkins. Shane Hawkins (aged 16) played “Hero” with the Foo Fighters.
Ian mentions Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl inducting Rush into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
If Ian could go back to school right now, he would have taken more improvisation lessons and joined the jazz band/studio orchestra.
Ian and Umass use Pearl Drums, Adams Percussion Instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, and Ian uses Remo Drumheads.
Shout-out to friends of the show, Thom Hannum and Colin McNutt.
You can follow Ian on Facebook or Instagram. You can catch him teaching the Drumline at Umass Amherst or United Percussion.
