#333 Ray LeVier- Drummer, Composer, Motivational Speaker and More!
This week’s guest is Ray LeVier. Professional drummer Ray Levier is a veritable Swiss Army Knife on the kit, facile at finessing jazz-fusion grooves, swinging a jazz combo, laying down rugged hip-hop beats and nasty funk, accompanying singer-songwriters with subtle grace, and bashing away at rock beats with panache and precision.
As a career musician, Ray is in an in-demand sideman who also divides his time with teaching, clinics, and speaking dates; and composing for film and TV. When he’s not hard at work in one or more of these outlets, Ray can be found woodshedding his chops, or composing for his solo career.
“You always have to be ready to adapt; sometimes on the spot, just like a chameleon,” Ray says. “You also have to be an intuitive person and get out of your way to really understand who the artist is as a person and what they want. You have to be well-versed in many styles, and you have to work really hard because there’s always someone behind you lined up ready waiting for your gig.”
The Nyack, New York-based artist has had the rare feat of being a sideman to urban folk and jazz artist KJ Denhert for 20 years. He’s the co-producer and co-founder of a successful music production company, composing TV tracks for such esteemed networks as TLC, Discovery, FOX Sports, CBS, NBC, History Channel, National Geographic, and the Oxygen Network. In this realm, Ray fields a diverse barrage of TV cues, and intuitively composes music that strongly translates in the audiovisual medium. He conducts this work, and live drum track sessions for other artists, at his state-of-the-art professional production recording studio 30 minutes from Manhattan. In addition, Ray has earned endorsements from Yamaha, Paiste, Vater and Evans. -Read More
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Aaron Draper! Aaron was on episode 10 and episode 77. In the Beginning: Like many young musicians-to-be, Draper gained his first exposure to live music in the church and begin to play the drums at the age of nine. As Draper started to develop his skills as a drummer, he started to branch out and play for various churches around Philly. Draper recalls in those early years learning "you got to pay attention, follow the service, stay on the beat, stay in the pocket, but also play from the heart."
As he got older, Draper received a different kind of hands-on musical education at Gratz High School. There, Draper developed some jazz chops and began to learn theory. This time proved to be a turning point for the budding musician, (still primarily a drum set player), as he consumed not only what he was hearing in the church and in
school, but also the work of musicians like Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Giovanni Hidalgo, Pancho Sanchez, Sheila E., Tito Puente, Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report, The Yellowjackets, and fellow Philadelphians Brian Moore and John Roberts. Meanwhile, radio staples like the The Winans, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson.
After high school, Draper hit the road running, foregoing college and taking various rap, jazz, and soul gigs, which eventually led to a steady job with acclaimed soul outfit Jazzyfatnastees. Draper progressively moving up the industry food chain played in local festival events with visiting rap and hip-hop artists, including Doug.
E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, and Common.
Mentoring: In 2001, Draper met Questlove drummer/producer for THE ROOTS. Questlove quickly took an interest in the young musician and wrote down more than a hundred names of artists that he thought Draper should listen to and study, with James Brown at the top of the list. -Read More
Happy Birthday to Eric Kalb! Southpaw drummer Eric Kalb is a versatile musician who enjoys playing groove based music. A devotee of R&B and Soul drumming, his improvisational aesthetic is colored by sudden bursts of rock aggression. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Eric is a multi-faceted studio and touring drummer whose “energetic and exhilarating style” (Jazz Times) keeps him in constant demand.
Over the course of his twenty-year career Kalb has taken to both studio and stage with a dazzling cavalcade of influential and innovative artists. He’s laid it down hard for the supernatural force of Miss Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the seven-string guitar wizardry of Charlie Hunter, jazz guitarist John Scofield and living organ Legend Dr. Lonnie Smith; to name but a few. Hunter calls Kalb’s drumming “A funky Clyde Stubblefield/ Jabo Starks kinda way of relating (to Jazz) …really cool and refreshing“. Recent recording sessions include soundtracks for the major motion pictures “American Gangster” and “Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story“.
Kalb’s obsession with hitting things began in his tenth year growing up with his family on Long Island, when he picked up some drum sticks and discovered what those around him had long suspected – that God made him funky. Fueled by his love for Led Zeppelin, The Stones and The Beatles, Eric focused his energies into qualifying for a coveted position at The Cultural Arts Center in Syosset, NY. It was here, under the tutelage of the late David Burns Sr. that he was introduced to Jazz and it’s history as told through Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Taylor. These lessons formed the very bedrock of his style and informed the trajectory of his passion.
After high school Eric took a whirlwind trip through Berklee College of Music, here he immersed himself in Latin music with the late Ed Uribe, learned through the soaring jazz drumming of John Ramsey and played with musicians from all over the world. Soon Eric was ready to leave the constraints of formal education and forge his own way ahead. Kalb formed Funk/Rock sensation Deep Banana Blackout shortly thereafter. The band scorched its way through the east Coast Jam band scene, toured with the Allman Brothers and co-billed with Maceo Parker. They still reform yearly to the enraptured chants of a dedicated crowd of followers in the North East.
In May of 2012 Kalb was the drummer for a massive recreation of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On concert at Kennedy Center in Washington DC. This concert featured John Legend, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings and The National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Reineke.
Happy Birthday to Ben O’Brien Smith! Ben is a Musician, photographer, videographer, and all around social media geek. He has fused these elements into the services that Cadence Independent Media provides. Having spent nearly seven years working with the top brands and retailers within the musical instrument market as well as some of the greatest musicians of all time, He has developed a methodology and a means of execution for marketing individuals and products both inside and outside of the social sphere. He is also the co-host of the Sounds Like a Drum video series on YouTube.
Happy Birthday to Ed Choi! Edward Choi joined the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004 and became Principal Percussionist in 2007.
Mr Choi has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Toronto Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, and the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a chamber musician, he was a founding member of the Exit 9 Percussion Group, winners of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition.
He is originally from Canada and studied music at the University of Toronto, Northwestern University, and Rutgers University. Mr Choi holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts as well as a degree in English Literature. He studied percussion with Alan Abel, She-e Wu, James Ross, Michael Burritt, John Rudolph and Russell Hartenberger.
As an educator, he has held teaching positions at Sookmyung Women's University, Kyunghee University, Hanyang University and Seoul National University in Korea. Mr Choi has taught clinics and masterclasses in Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan, and China. He has also served on the Symphonic Committee of the International Percussive Arts Society and has presented an orchestral clinic at the PAS International Convention in 2014.
Edward Choi is a proud endorser of Malletech and Zildjian cymbals.
Gig Alerts
Live Nation is expanding its popular concert week promotion to include music festivals with $99 all-in tickets. Here’s the latest.
Live Nation says Festival Weekend builds on the excitement of Concert Week by offering fans $99 all-in one-day tickets to a variety of festivals across North America. Over a dozen festivals will have a limited amount of these $99 all-in tickets available for purchase as part of Concert Week’s Festival Weekend. The include Gov Ball, FORMAT Festival, Broccoli City, lavender wild, and many more. -Article
Memorial Day Weekend is almost here! The official start of the music festival summer season is looking solid this year with a stacked lineup of newcomers and classics returning after the forced hiatus of the past two years. Below, we share some of our favorites that are on the horizon and are very much looking forward to the return of live music. -Click Here for Festivals
Damon has upcoming gigs. CLICK HERE for the details.
Educational Spotlight
The Percussive Arts Society announced its inductees for their 2023 Hall of Fame class!
Those individuals are: Johnny Lee Lane, Mike Mainieri, Arthur Press, (friend of the show) Ney Rosauro, Viola Smith, and the Hurtado Brothers Royal Marimba Band.
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording is “Proto-Cosmos” performed by Tony Williams (drums) and his group. Also on this recording is Tony Newton - Bass/Vocals, Allan Holdsworth - Guitar and Alan Pasqua - Keys.
Music News
Lawmakers in Massachusetts have introduced legislation dubbed the ‘Taylor Swift Bill’ to ban dynamic pricing and force ticketing companies to offer ticket price transparency.
State Representative Dan Carey (D) and State Senator John Velis (D) introduced identical bills entitled “An Act Ensuring Transparent Ticket Pricing.” The bill would require all ticket-selling companies to disclose the total final cost of tickets including fees and surcharges before the ticket is selected for purchase. -Article
Apple launches new concert discovery features on Apple Maps and Apple Music with live show curation, browsing venues’ upcoming shows, and more.
Apple has launched new concert discovery features on Apple Maps and Apple Music. As expands its curation efforts into live shows, with new concert discovery features on Apple Maps and Apple Music, it gives fans more ways to connect to their favorite artists. -Article
Foo Fighters officially name its new drummer to replace Taylor Hawkins during a live-streamed event this weekend, ‘Preparing Music for Concerts.’
As many fans predicted, Foo Fighters revealed their new drummer during a live-streamed event on Sunday, “Preparing Music for Concerts.” And, as many fans anticipated, the band’s new drummer is session musician Josh Freese, who played with the Foo Fighters for their Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts in London and Los Angeles last year. -Article
Ray Levier Interview
The song leading into the interview is called “Wig Glue” by Ray Levier.
Damon and Ray met at one of Martin Cohen’s birthday parties.
Ray talks about his new single “Wig Glue”, and the back story on the song title and meaning. That single will be available on June 20th.
Ray talks about his accident when he was 12 years old. He is a burn survivor!
He talks about how drums inspired him and helped take his mind off of the healing.
The Make a Wish Foundation sent him to Yosemite National Park.
Ray talks about how he started learning drums and the different steps of building his “technique”.
Ray went to the Shriners Children’s Hospital to get an operation on his left hand.
“Hard word, Perseverance, and Consistency” is Ray’s motto and message!
Shout-out to Sal LaRocca.
Aside from method books, fusion records helped inspire Ray to get better. The album “Believe It” was a game changer for Ray.
Ray attended William Paterson University.
Ray studied with Horace Arnold and John Riley.
Ray talks about John transcribing Dave Weckl’s music for his books and videos.
Ray talks about his new book idea. It was inspired by Dr. Huberman and his podcast. He talks about how to learn things faster.
He also talks about the Wim Hof style of breathing.
Ray talks about Box Breathing.
How to do Box Breathing:
Step 1: Breathe in, counting to four slowly. Feel the air enter your lungs.
Step 2: Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Try to avoid inhaling or exhaling for 4 seconds.
Step 3: Slowly exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds.
Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you feel re-centered.
Ray does motivational speaking as well as drumming.
Ray is focused on nutrition. He took a course from Cornell University on Whole Food Plant-Based Nutrition.
Ray plays live, records from home, and also writes and records for TV.
Friend of the show Ari Herstand talks more about Syncs (getting music on commercials, film and TV).
Ray has a recording session coming up with Fred Lipsius, Will Lee, and Paul Schaffer!
Ray talks about his parents and their musical connection. Shout-out to Artie Resnick.
Shout-out to Jeffrey Kraus.
Ray talks about playing with KJ Denhert in St. Barth’s and at the 55 Bar.
Ray chooses the iconic recording and some other “honorable mentions” like: “Mr. Spock” by Tony Williams, and “Palladium” by Weather Report.
Ray mentions his album “Ray’s Way” with Mike Stern, the late John Abercrombie, (friend of the show) Joe Locke, Dave Binney, François Moutin, and the late Ned Mann.
Ray uses Yamaha Drums and Percussion, Paiste Cymbals, Vater Drumsticks, and Evans Drumheads,
Shout-out to Sal LaRocca, Keith Crane, John Riley, and Ray’s parents!
You can follow Ray on his Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
The song leading out of the interview is called “Ray’s Way” from the album with the same name by Ray.
