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A marching drumline warming up

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit ("drum set" or "trap set", including but not limited to cymbals) and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a wide assortment of musical genres. The term percussionist applies to a musician who performs struck musical instruments of numerous diverse shapes, sizes and applications. Most contemporary western ensembles bands for Rock, Pop, Jazz, R&B etc. includes a drummer within the context of its music based ensemble for purposes including but not limited to timekeeping, and artist based applications deemed appropriate towards the elevation of a prescribed music based aesthetic. Most drummers of this particular designation work within the context of a larger contingent (aka rhythm section) that may also include, keyboard (a percussion instrument) and/or guitar, auxiliary percussion (often of non western origin) and bass (bass viol or electric). Said ensembles may also include melodic based mallet percussion including but not limited to: vibraphone, marimba and/or xylophone. The rhythm section, being the core metronomic foundation with which other melodic instruments, including voices, may present the harmonic/melodic portion of the material.

First and foremost, a drummer is a musician that performs music on the multi-percussion instrument known as the drum set, which usually consists of a bass drum (with pedal), a floor tom, tom-toms, a snare drum, hi-hats, a ride cymbal, and a crash cymbal.

In popular music, the primary function of the drummer is to "keep time" or provide a steady tempo and rhythmic foundation. However, in other musical styles, such as world, jazz, classical, and electronica, the function of a drummer is often shifted from "time keeper" to soloist, whereby the main melody becomes the rhythmic development generated by the drummer or percussionist.

There are many tools that a drummer can use for either timekeeping or soloing. These include cymbals, (i.e. china, crash, ride, splash, hi-hats, etc.) Auxiliary percussion, (i.e. bells, Latin drums, cowbells, temple blocks) and many others. Also there is a single, double, and a triple bass pedal for the bass drum.

Military[link]

Drummer of the French Chasseurs alpins

Before motorized transport became widespread, drummers played a key role in military conflicts. The drum cadences provided set a steady marching pace, and elevated troop morale on the battlefield. In some armies drums also assisted in combat by keeping cadence for firing and loading drills with muzzle loading guns. Military drummers were also employed on the parade field, when troops passed in review, and in various ceremonies including ominous drum rolls accompanying disciplinary punishments. Children also served as drummer boys well into the nineteenth century, though less commonly than is popularly assumed as due to the nature of the job experienced older men were preferred.

Drummers are no longer employed in battle, but their ceremonial duties continue. Typically buglers (wind instrument)and drummers mass under a sergeant-drummer and during marches alternately perform with the regiment and/or battalion ensembles.

Military based musical percussion traditions were not limited exclusively to the western world. When Emir Osman I was appointed commander of the Turkish army on the Byzantine border in the late 13th century, he was symbolically installed via a handover of musical instruments by the Seldjuk sultan. During the Ottoman Empire, size of a military band reflected the rank of its commander in chief: the largest reserved for the Sultan (viz. his Grand Vizier when taking the field). It included various percussion instruments, often adopted in European military music (as 'Janissary music') The pitched bass drum is still known in some languages as the Turkish Drum. Alternatively, in old English, Tabert is champion of the people, or great leader, i.e. a great drummer.

Military forces especially those of the British Commonwealth, battalions or regiments often consisted of a "pipes and drums" band ("the band') consisting of bagpipes and drummers. These bands are often employed as stretcher bearers or medics on the battlefield.

Parades[link]

Is a genre of marching ensemble descended from it military drummers and can be arranged as a performance of a drum, a group of drummers, and as a part of a larger marching band. Their uniforms will often have a military style and a fancy hat. In recent times, it is more common to see drummers in parades wearing costumes with an African, Asian, Latin, Native American, or tribal look and sound.

Popular culture[link]

Beginning in the 20th century, drummers achieved an elevated distinction as stars of the entertainment industry with swing era drummer Gene Krupa often portrayed among the best known among the varied show business related genres. Krupa's ongoing popularity created a fortuitous stereotype, evolved during rock music eras, where drummers were often portrayed as glamorous personas sitting behind large drum kits on gargantuan arena stages, although Krupa's periodic legal troubles did create the occasional perception of drummers as less than responsible within the context of prescribed behaviors, a stereotype with as many detractors as supporters.

See also[link]

• List of drummers
• Drum beat
• Drum machine
• Pipe band

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Levon Helm
Levon Helm performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York.
Background information
Birth name	Mark Lavon Helm
Born	(1940-05-26)May 26, 1940 Elaine, Arkansas, United States
Died	April 19, 2012(2012-04-19) (aged 71) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rock, blues, country, folk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor, producer
Instruments	Vocals, drums, percussions, mandolin, guitar, bass, harmonica, banjo, violin
Years active	1957–2012
Labels	Capitol, Mobile Fidelity, MCA, Breeze Hill, Levon
Associated acts	The Band, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road, Levon Helm and The RCO All-Stars, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Eric Clapton
Website	levonhelm.com

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012)^[1] was an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band.

Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.^[2] In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an inaugural category in 2010.^[3] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman was nominated for the Grammy in the same category and won.^[4]

On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.^[5][6]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Born in Elaine, Arkansas,^[7], Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas. His parents, Nell and Diamond Helm, cotton farmers and also great lovers of music, encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided then to become a musician.

Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s stood at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later became known as rock and roll. Listening to all these styles on the Grand Ole Opry show on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee influenced Helm. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time.

Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early rhythm and blues on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire - Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, Helm describes watching Williamson's drummer, James "Peck" Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.

Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by Southern country music, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.

The Hawks[link]

After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, The Hawks, a popular Southern bar and club act which also had success in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after, Helm joined The Hawks, and they moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.

Helm reports in his biography, This Wheel's on Fire, that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly, and started calling him "Levon" (/ˈliːvɒn/ LEE-von) because it was easier to pronounce.

In the early 1960s, Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson- although all the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name "Levon and The Hawks," and later as "The Canadian Squires" before finally changing back to "The Hawks." They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States, where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore.

Helm with The Band, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 1976 Photo: David Gans

By the mid 1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked The Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by drummer Mickey Jones. During this period, Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band.

After The Hawks toured Europe with Dylan, they followed him to live around Woodstock, New York, and remained under salary to him. The Hawks recorded a large volume of demo and practice tapes in Woodstock, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and were partially released officially in 1975 as The Basement Tapes. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group's future direction and style. The Hawks members also began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs. In 1967, Danko called Helm and invited him to return to the band in Woodstock.

The Band[link]

Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band." While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. This arrangement allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels if the work was done in support of Dylan. This allowed The Band to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. The Band also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink, which catapulted them into stardom.

Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971.

On Music From Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang mainly backup, with the exception of "The Weight." However, as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked to the South for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm played drums for perhaps 85% of The Band's songs,^{[citation needed]} including most of those for which he sang lead. On the others, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin or, on rare occasion, guitar or bass guitar. The entire group was multi-instrumental and certain songs featured Manuel on drums, Helm on mandolin (as on "Evangeline"), rhythm guitar (the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is by Helm), or bass (while Danko played fiddle).^[8]

Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by director Martin Scorsese.The documentary is widely considered the greatest rock and roll film ever made.

Many music enthusiasts know Helm through his appearance in the concert film, a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm's vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert. However, Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the completion of its final scenes. In his autobiography, Helm offers scathing criticisms of the film and of Robertson, who produced it.^[9]

Solo artist and the reformed Band[link]

Helm playing mandolin in 1971

With the breakup of The Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, followed by Levon Helm. Helm recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm. Helm also participated in musician Paul Kennerley's 1980 country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James, singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee.

In 1981, Helm married the former Sandra Dodd.

In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour, Manuel committed suicide. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, releasing the album Jericho in 1993 and High on the Hog in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, Jubilation, released in 1998.

In 1989, Helm and Danko toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek" each night.

Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' epic The Wall – Live in Berlin Concert in Germany to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.

In 1993, Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.

The Midnight Ramble[link]

Helm's performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "The Barn," in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, allowed Helm to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.

In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, Helm's vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm's singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again of his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.

The Levon Helm Band featured his daughter guitarist Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jim Weider (the Band's last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section who played on The Band's "Rock of Ages" and "The Last Waltz" live albums), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock that were open to the public.

Helm performing in Central Park, New York, 2007

The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm explained, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. This was also turned into a song by the Band, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.

"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: "The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll duck walks and moves came from that."

Artists who performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, Jon Herington of Steely Dan, Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" The Max Weinberg 7, Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as "The Secret Squirrels"), Michael Angelo D'Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, David Bromberg and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals^[10].

As for his drumming, in recent years Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified style, as opposed to his years with The Band when he played with the traditional grip.^[11]

Helm was busy touring every year during 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. Since 2007, Helm had performed in large venues such the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing "Tears of Rage." The Alexis P. Suter Band was a frequent opening act. Helm was a favorite of radio personality Don Imus and was frequently featured on Imus in the Morning. In the Summer of 2009, it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in development.

[edit] Dirt Farmer and after

The Levon Helm Band performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009

Levon Helm at Life is Good Festival in 2011

The Fall of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm's parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams. The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.

Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.^[12][13][14]

In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined guitarist Bob Weir and his band RatDog on stage as they closed out the festival. Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.^[15][16]

Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen's February, 2009 album River of Time, recorded at the Levon Helm studio.

Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009.^[17] The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS Television program David Letterman Show on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.

In March, 2010, a documentary on Helm's day-to-day life titled Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2009.^[18]

On May 11, 2011, Helm released Ramble at the Ryman, a live album recorded during his September 17, 2008 performance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The album features Helm's band playing six songs by The Band and other cover material, including some songs from previous Helm solo releases.^[19] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.^[20]

Acting career[link]

In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films after the breakup of The Band. His first acting role was the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter in which he portrayed Loretta Lynn's father, followed three years later when he appeared as U.S. Air Force test pilot and engineer, Jack Ridley, in The Right Stuff. He also had a brief cameo as a weapons expert in the film "Shooter (film)" with Mark Walberg.

Death[link]

Levon Helm's grave at Woodstock Cemetery, May 26, 2012

In 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland, Robbie Robertson sent “love and prayers” to Helm, fueling speculation on Helm's health. Helm had previously cancelled several performances, citing poor health or a "slipped disk" in his back.^[21]

On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:

"Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.

From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy"^[22]

On April 18, Robertson revealed on his Facebook page that he had a long visit with Helm at the hospital the previous Sunday.^[23] On the same day, Garth Hudson posted on his personal website that he was "too sad for words". He then left a link for a video of himself and the Alexis P. Suter band performing Bob Dylan’s song "Knocking on Heaven's Door".^[24]

Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.^[25][26][27]

Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm's Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the fallen musical icon. After a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery the following day, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate Rick Danko.

Tributes[link]

Elton John wrote the song "Levon" and named his son after Helm.^[28]

Marc Cohn wrote the song "Listening to Levon" in 2007. "The Man Behind the Drums," written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen's 2009 album The Rose Hotel.

In 1994, Helm was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.^[29]

At their May 2, 2012 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Helm.^[30]Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also said it was one of the songs that he had drummer Max Weinberg audition with prior to joining the band.

List of works[link]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• The Last Waltz (1978)
• Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
• The Right Stuff (1983)
• The Dollmaker (1984)
• Smooth Talk (1985)
• End of the Line (1987)
• Staying Together (1989)
• Feeling Minnesota (1996)
• Fire Down Below (1997)
• The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
• Shooter (2007)
• In the Electric Mist (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Levon Helm

• Official website
• Levon Helm at the Internet Movie Database
• Allmusic
• Review of Dirt Farmer
• RS Editor's Review: Electric Dirt
• Levon Helm lyrics

Tony Royster, Jr (born October 9, 1984) is an African American drummer. He was raised in Hinesville, Georgia and is a 2002 graduate of Liberty County High School. His father began to teach him how to play the drums at the age of three. He is the son of Tony Sr. and Gayle Royster, and has one brother, Calvin Royster. All still reside in Hinesville, GA.

Biography[link]

He is known for winning the Guitar Center National Drum-Off competition Hollywood in 1995 (at the age of 11), being voted #1 Up and Coming Drummer by Modern Drummer magazine and in 1997 he was the Modern Drummer festival, being the youngest to shock the crowd. He soon had his first video called Common Ground on Inspiring Drummers Series. 2000 readers' poll and being voted #2 in the UK 2001 readers' poll. He is known for his use of the Moeller method as well and his blazing hand and foot speed. Tony excels at Funk, R&B, Latin, Rock, and Jazz. He has endorsement deals with DW Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Evans drumheads, LP percussion, Drumframe, Shure microphones, and Warner Bros. Publications. Some of his influences are Dennis Chambers, Jim Chapin and Billy Cobham.

Royster Jr. has played with Imajin, Lazyeye, New Flava, and En Vogue. He performed on the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards show at the age of 15, and an international tour in 2001 backing #1 selling Japanese artist Hikaru Utada as well as performing with Paul Shaffer (of Late Show with David Letterman) in the Nickelodeon House Band. In addition, he is also currently playing with Francisco Fattoruso, Jay-Z, Joe Jonas and his own band. Royster Jr. released the videos "Pure Energy" (2007), and The Evolution of Tony Royster (2009), which are both more inspirational than instructional.^[1]

Most recently, Royster Jr. joined Joe Jonas' band on tour in the United Kingdom in Fall 2011. On August 22, 2011, he was the featured artist on Late Show with David Letterman, performing a drum solo for Drum Solo Week II. Royster Jr. was also featured The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 3, 2011, and on Conan on November 7, 2011, alongside Joe Jonas.

Equipment[link]

His solo kit configuration with groups like Imajin include:- DW Drums Collectors Maple

18"x22" [x2] Bass drums with 8"x22" [x2] Bass drum woofers 5"x13" Collectors Maple snare 7"x8" tom 8"x10" tom 9"x12" tom 11"x14" tom 13"x15" tom 14"x18" tom

His Kit while on tour with Jay-Z consists of :- DW Drums Collectors Maple

18"x22" Bass drum 5"x13" Collectors Maple snare 8"x10" tom 9"x12" tom 13"x15" tom 14"x18" tom

Tony uses DW 9000 pedals and DW 9000 hardware & Evans Drumheads, Vic Firth Sticks

Tony uses Sabian cymbals: HHX Evolution 13" high hats, HH Splash 12", HHX Xtreme crash 19", V Crash 18", HH Rock ride 20", HHX Xplosion crash 20", HHX Groove hats 15", HHX Evolution O-Zone crash 18", AA Fast Chinese 18", AAXtreme Chinese 17", HH Duo splash 10".

References[link]

1. ^ Other high points of his career include playing the Glastonbury Festival and President Barack Obama’s inaugural ball with Jay-Z in 2009. He has received the “Louis Armstrong Jazz Award”, a prestigious award that recognizes a musician’s level of musicianship, character, and individual creativity. Tony has also received a “Senior Award” for his accomplishments in the world of drumming. In 2006, Tony Royster Jr. teamed up with Hidden Beach Recordings to produce Unwrapped Vol. 6: Give the Drummer Some!, debuting at #1 on the jazz charts.

Further reading[link]

• Biography on Drummerworld.com
• Last FM

External links[link]

• Tony Royster, Jr. homepage