#344 Brian Kilgore- Percussionist, Recording Artist and More!
This week’s guest is Brian Kilgore. In Brian Kilgore's diverse studio career he has played on over 500 albums, including Rock and Roll with Daft Punk, Cold Play, Live, Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne, Whitney Houston, Starship, Linda Rondstadt, Ricky Martin, Jody Watley, Robbie Nevil, the Goo Goo Dolls, Aerosmith, and Concrete Blonde, Afro-Cuban salsa with Clare Fischer and Francisco Aguabella, straight ahead jazz with Terry Trotter, Bill Watrous, Bill Cunliffe, and Bob Florence, jazz fusion with Kirk Whalum, Everette Harp, Dave Koz, Grant Geissman, and Warren Hill, and rap with NWA, P Diddy, and Dr. Dre. His numerous TV/film credits include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, King Kong, Narnia, Beowulf, Wall-E, Hairspray, Semi-Pro, Pollock, A Bug's Life, Mighty Joe Young, A Perfect Storm, Spiderman II, The Bourne Supremacy, Troy, Van Helsing, I Robot, The Polar Express, Team America, Robots, The Legend of Zorro, Cars, The Longest Yard, and over one hundred more.
He has also performed live with Barbra Streisand, Teena Marie, Elton John, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many more.
Brian received his Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge, where he subsequently served on the faculty from 1992-1998. His ability to cover all aspects of percussion, from Afro-Cuban rhythms to orchestral percussion, to the extensive use of electronics and exotic sound effects, has made him a first-call player on the Los Angeles recording scene.
Composed by Stewart Copeland, this Mitsubishi spot features Brian extensively on taikos. Every percussion note you hear is Brian, but played on camera by much better looking ladies! Produced by Groove Addicts.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Blair Sinta! Blair is a drummer in Los Angeles. He has toured and recorded with Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge, Chris Cornell, Annie Lennox, Stevie Nicks, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard, Damien Rice, John Fogerty, Gwen Stefani, Better Than Ezra and many others. Blair engineers, drums and writes music from his studio “Donkey Den”. He has developed a course to learn recording drums and engineering in the age of home studios called Sticks and Wires.
Gig Alerts
DCI Finals is this week and you can also watch on Flo Marching.
The Telluride Jazz Festival is happening August 11-13th.
Damon is playing all week at the Brotherhood of Thieves with Billy Ruegger on the island of Nantucket.
Educational Spotlight
The Percussive Arts Society invites you to the PAS Awards Banquet at PASIC 2023. The Banquet will be held on Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 6 – 8 PM in Sagamore Ballroom 2 during PASIC.
Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served, and vegetarian options available. Hosted bar with wine, beer, and soft drinks.
Ticket Information: $60 per ticket. 250 Tickets Available.
There is a composition contest happening at PASIC where you can win prizes. MORE DETAILS HERE.
Product Review
Shout-out to friend of the show, Mona Tavakoli for her new signature series cajon. The Lil’ MT Box by LP.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording is the song “Ti Mon Bo” from the Tito Puente album, ‘Top Percussion’.
It features these fine musicians.
Music News
Shout-out to Beyonce! After severe weather caused delays at Beyonce’s latest Renaissance World Tour performance, the superstar paid $100,000 to keep the DC Metro open for an extra hour to allow fans to get home after the show. -Article
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department has confirmed Cardi B will not face charges in her mic-smiting incident.
The rapper hurled a mic into the crowd as furiously as Zeus hurls a thunderbolt—with the caveat that cameras caught Cardi B’s performance. She was on stage at Drai’s Nightclub in Las Vegas on July 29 when an audience member flung water onto her on stage after she said she was hot. The rapper threw the microphone at whoever she thought threw the drink. -Article
Brian Kilgore Interview
The song leading into the interview is the Oscars performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, where Brian is one of the percussionists involved.
Damon mentions a few of the soundtracks that Brian has played on.
Brian also played on the Oscars. The intro and outro songs are from those performances.
One of the percussion sections was led by friend of the show, Satnam Ramgotra.
Brian talks about how he got into playing on film scores. It was suggested by one of his teachers, Jerry Steinholtz.
Brian attended California State University, Northridge.
Brian got to tour with Teena Marie.
Brian talks about honing his skills while trying to break into the film score world.
Brain also studied with Michael Fisher.
Brian talks about the importance of learning and incorporating new technology into your arsenal.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Ron Powell.
Brian talks about how he got the gig with Teena Marie. Shout-out to Steve Forman.
Brian talks about joining the L.A. musician’s union. He joined while playing with Bill Watrous’ Big Band.
Brian both attended Cal State Northridge and also taught there.
Brian attended Stan Kenton’s Jazz Camps.
Shout-out to Brian’s band director, Robert “Bob” Sando.
Brian tells the story of his first drumset.
Shout-out to Dr. Jane Goodall and Brian’s love for primates.
In addition to Jerry Steinholtz, Brian also studied with Joel Leach at Cal State Northridge.
Brian talks about his pet squirrel monkey in 6th grade.
Brian mentions being inspired by friend of the show Alex Acuña on “Black Market”.
Damon brings up the Hollywood Bowl performances Brian has been involved with.
Including West Side Story.
Brian talks about choosing L.A. for the road.
Brian mentions some of the percussionists who played in the film world before and with him.
Shout-out to Emil Richards, Joe Porcaro, Larry Bunker, Victor Feldman, Gary Coleman, Bob Zimmitti and more.
Brian talks about the Wrecking Crew.
Brian talks about the rundown of how a film session works with the percussion section.
Brian also talks about his prep for the sessions.
Brian talks about how he feels about sample and loop libraries.
Brian mentions the importance of cartage companies.
Damon mentions how the set up for film sessions is similar to the set up for front ensembles in drum corps.
Brian mentions some of the challenges of the score for Tenet.
Damon mentions John Williams and other composers understanding percussion John’s brother and father are both percussionists.
Brian talks about the Rise score and Damon talks about the Black Panther score.
Brian’s wife Kim is a violinist. He talks work life balance.
Brian does some mountain biking and kayaking.
Brian chooses the iconic recording for the week. Honorable mention to “Elegant People” by Wayne Shorter, performed by Weather Report. Shout-out to the band Oregon and their album, ‘Out of the Woods’.
Brian uses Zildjian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Latin Percussion Instruments and Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets.
All of Brian’s mentors have already been mentioned with the exception of Karen Ervin Pershing and friend of the show, Luis Conte.
You can follow him on his Website, Facebook and Instagram.
The song leading out of the interview is “Naatu Naatu” as mentioned by Brian from the Oscars earlier in the interview.
