#404 Mark Wessels- Educator, Author, and More!
This week’s guest is Mark Wessels. Mark is an internationally respected author and educator and is currently the Director of Education for the Avedis Zildjian Company. As a publisher, his “Fresh Approach” method books are among the most successful in the world, with over 400,000 copies in print between the current titles.
Over the past 25+ years, Mark has been instrumental in developing online educational content. From his founding of one of the first websites devoted to percussion education (TheDrumClub.com) in 1995 to his work building www.vicfirth.com from scratch in 2001, Mark created one of the most popular online destinations for drummers and percussionists today. Along with many of the world’s most prominent artists, Mark produced many of Vic Firth’s most popular educational projects, from the Essential Rudiment posters and accompanying videos and play-along tracks to Percussion 101, WebRhythms, Groove Essentials, Vic Licks and Marimba Literature Library to the popular DCI/WGI “In the Lot” videos which he began filming in 2001. Mark has continually pushed the bar forward with percussion entertainment as well. He was instrumental in filming and producing videos from PASIC, Montreal Drumfest, UK Drum Show as well as the currently popular VFJams and Zildjian Live productions to name a few.
Mark’s background is varied in the world of percussion. He performed in the snare line of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (1983), holds a B.M.E from the University of Texas at Arlington, was a public school band director and percussion educator in Texas (1984-1999), served as Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps (1985-1991), and was an active adjudicator for DCI and WGI (1991-2003).
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Jose Madera! Madera is steeped in the history of Latin jazz. He is the son of Jose “Pin” Madera, the first arranger for the Machito Orchestra. Jose started playing timbales with machito as a teenager and went on to become Tito Puente’s Conguero for 30 years. He spent 31 years with the Tito Puente Orchestra, going on to become a musical arranger and director of the Orchestra. He was also a staff arranger at the legendary Fania Records since the 1970’s. His long career has connected with such legends as Willie Colon, Fania All-Stars, Joe Farrell, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz, and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as R&B and pop legends such as Diana Ross and James Brown.
Happy Birthday to Arthur Lipner! Arthur is one of the top keyboard percussionists of his generation. He specializes in vibraphone, marimba and steel drums. Arthur’s career has spanned three decades since he began performing professionally at age 14. Arthur’s live performances and recordings convey an exuberant drive of creativity and depth. jazzenews.com (London) said, “Arthur Lipner occupies a prominent role in the foregrounding of vibraphone and marimba in jazz and popular music.” All Music Guide called him “an extremely melodic and creative jazz/worldbeat-conscious vibes artist.”
In 2019, Arthur was invited to perform/adjudicate at percussion festivals in China and Russia. In 2018, he performed/adjudicated at the first-ever Australian International Vibraphone Competition. As a bandleader, guest soloist and educator, Arthur has been to over 30 countries including Ghana, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Costa Rica, England, Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, Malaysia, the Caribbean and many more.
As a recording artist and NYC session player, Arthur has appeared on over 50 albums. “Two Hands, One Heart” (2015) is a “best of” double-cd collection documenting his first 25 years as a freelance recording artist. His album “Brasilian Vibes” (2010) was nominated for “Album Of The Year” by the Brasilian Press Awards. Recording session appearances have included Bluegrass, Traditional Jazz, Brasilian, Funk, Caribbean and other eclectic styles. From 2016-2018 he recorded nine solo albums on vibes, marimba and steel drums for the NYC-based label Solo Sounds. These included solo versions of West Side Story, Paul Simon’s “Graceland”, Bob Marley’s “Legend”, and a collection of Drake songs on steel drums.
Venues at which Arthur has appeared is a one-of-a-kind mix illustrating his strong desire to share and interact with different cultures. In addition to concert halls, jazz clubs and recording studios around the world, Arthur has performed with Tuvan Throat Singers from Russia, The National Dance Company of Ghana in a small rural village, in the streets of Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, in Chiapas Mexico’s “Marimba Park”, at the Royal Palace in Marrakesh, in the mountains of Norway on an ice xylophone he constructed with award-winning ice sculptor Bill Covitz, and more. He premiered his concerto MALLET FANTASIA with the Nat’l Symphony of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. He has toured in Europe/Latin America over 70 times. He has performed at five PASIC’s.
As an educator, Arthur has been a guest artist and clinician at many percussion festivals around the world. He has presented over 300 workshops on six continents. These include the prestigious Juilliard School, Yale University, Royal College of Music (London), Swedish Academy of Music (Stockholm), Gnesin Academy of Music (Moscow), Sweelink Conservatory (Amsterdam), Conservatoire Superieur (Paris) and Sydney Conservatorium (Australia). He has been a faculty member of The Brabants Conservatory (Holland), Univ. of Bridgeport (CT), Drummers Collective (NYC) and SUNY Purchase. From 2000-2008 Lipner served on the Board of Directors of The Percussive Arts Society.
Almost 100 of Arthur’s compositions have been released on recordings. His music has been used on radio, film and tv soundtracks in such places as Finland, Japan, Belgium, The Netherlands, and England. Arthur has written two widely-adopted method books, THE VIBES REAL BOOK (1996) and “Jazz Mallets: IN SESSION” (2000), the first-ever play-along book for vibes and marimba. He was commissioned to write music for the UK’s 2020 ABRSM Tuned Percussion series. The story of Lipner’s inner and outer journeys are featured in the documentary TALKING STICKS.
Happy Birthday to Bob Weiner! Drummer and percussionist Bob Weiner has toured and performed with Harry Belafonte, Itzhak Perlman, Betty Buckley, Jon Lucien, Dianne Reeves, Andy Statman, Rebecca Paris, Kenny Werner, Bob Moses and many others. He has taught at the Drummers Collective in New York, the New England Conservatory in Boston and Berklee College of Music in Boston. He currently plays at Earthdance for Contact Improvisation Jams, and he also plays with many movement/dance formats.
Bob is co-author of two important percussion books, Afro-Cuban Rhythms for Drumset with Frank Malabe and Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset with Duduka da Fonseca (Alfred Music). He holds a Masters degree from Lesley University in Inter-Disciplinary Studies, where he taught a course in the Expressive Therapies program titled “Community and Therapeutic Applications of Drumming.” He also recently co-taught a course entitled "Arts Entrepreneurship" via Bachelor Degree Independent Concentration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Bob currently teaches percussion and drumming to music students in the Five College Consortium, as well as privately. Bob also has a particular interest in depth psychology (Jungian studies) and contemplative practices (meditation, tai chi/qi gong) and how they apply to the arts and improvisation.
Gig Alerts
Cyndi Lauper is on tour and friend of the show, Mona Tavakoli is playing percussion in her band.
Seal is on tour and friend of the show, Drew McKeon is playing drums for him.
Damon will be playing the NYCLU/ACLU benefit again “Sing Out For Freedom” as part of the house band.
Educational Spotlight
The Southern California Day of Percussion is happening Sunday October 27th from 9am-4pm at the Shigemi Matsumoto recital hall at Cal State Northridge and it is FREE.
Iconic Recording
Mark chose Seven Pillars as the iconic recording. It was written by friend of the show, Andy Akiho. It was performed by the Sandbox Percussion ensemble. Victor and Jonny as well as David Skidmore have been on the podcast in the past.
Music News
The American Music Awards is gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and CBS has announced the lineup alongside Dick Clark Productions for the star-studded event. Brad Paisley, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Green Day, Jennifer Hudson, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, RAYE, and Stray Kids will all perform for the AMAs 50th Anniversary Special. -Article
Sara Bareilles filmed a concert for PBS with the National Symphony Orchestra, David Ryan Harris, Emily King and others. -Article
Meanwhile, right after this concert the National Symphony Orchestra went on strike. More than 90 musicians have joined the strike after negotiations began in May but have not progressed as both parties remain far apart on wages and other important issues. The musicians are supported by their union, the DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-170, American Federation of Musicians. They are seeking reasonable wage increases that average a 6.25% increase over the next four years. -Article
If you are looking to help the citizens of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, the Governor Roy Cooper has listed several ways. There is also information for students, staff and faculty at Appalachian State University. You can also always go to The Red Cross and Salvation Army as well.
Mark Wessels Interview
The song leading into and out of the interview is the Madison Scouts field show from 1983, when Mark was in the snare line.
Mark and Damon met at Vic Firth. Mark was doing all sorts of marketing and educational content for both Vic Firth and Zildjian.
Mark talks about his future plans to travel the world and spend about a month at a time in different locations.
Mark has his own publishing company which creates, sells and distributes educational books.
Mark has been doing the PMC (Pan Mass Challenge) with “Team Vic”.
Mark produced many of Vic Firth’s most popular educational projects, from the Essential Rudiment posters and accompanying videos and play-along tracks to Percussion 101, WebRhythms, Groove Essentials, Vic Licks and Marimba Literature Library to the popular DCI/WGI “In the Lot” videos which he began filming in 2001.
He was instrumental in filming and producing videos from PASIC, Montreal Drumfest, UK Drum Show as well as the currently popular VFJams and Zildjian Live productions as well.
Mark talks about learning marketing on the fly. You can get some basic marketing information from THIS BOOK HERE.
Damon brings up the notation software Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico.
Damon brings up the book Teaching Rhythm.
Mark mentions Crazy Army.
Mark started on drumset because of his brothers. Playing in country bands in the style of Bob Willis and the Texas Playboys.
He grew up in San Angelo, (West) Texas.
Mark enjoyed funk like Tower of Power, Average White Band, Earth, Wind and Fire and more.
Damon mentions Kaz Rodriguez.
Mark talks about Steve Gadd and Simon Phillips and Drum Daze at Columbus Percussion.
Shout-out to Gregg Rinehart and Evelio Villarreal.
Mark taught at Klein Collins High School. He talks about the success of the marching bands due to the football teams.
Shout-out to Tom Aungst and the Dartmouth band and percussion program.
Mark talks about drumlines like Chino Hills and San Bernardino County.
Damon talks about how PAS was created.
Shout-out to Neil Larrivee and the late Dom Famularo.
Mark talks about working with Vic Firth and Zildjian respectively.
Mark marched with the Madison Scouts in 1983 and he taught the Sky Ryders.
He taught Chad Sexton, Jason Sutter, and also David Skidmore among others.
Mark was a judge for both DCI and WGI.
Mark chooses the iconic recording for the week. It was filmed by Four Ten Media.
Mark uses Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks and Mallets. Mark endorses Rhythm Monster.
Shout-out to Pad Lab and the Fresh Approach to the Snare Drum book.
Mark also mentions the Fresh Approach to the Drumset.
Damon talks about other books that could be in the works. He mentions the Ed Uribe books.
Mark talks about how to educate better.
