John was a student of Alan Dawson for many years and shares many of his experiences with Alan and a great spotlight on the life of this truly legendary teacher. We hear what it was like to walk into the room and learn from Alan Dawson using his extremely musical and innovative techniques. Alan would squeeze the absolute most out of books such as Syncopation and Stick Control, along with countless other ways that teaching Alan became the icon he is today.
John Ramsay is the former chair of the percussion department at Berklee College of Music and a veteran performer with groups such as Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers and many more. He is also an author and educator with a deep appreciation and respect for his former teacher, Alan Dawson!
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Great discussion.
As a total aside, there is a good reason that Vinnie Ruggerio sounded like Philly Joe. They were very close friends. They worked on a number of projects together. Vinnie’s son has published the teaching notes he used, which include examples written by Philly Joe. The collection is an interesting representation of bop drumming including both Max Roach and Philly Joe.
As I said, a total aside.