#154 Ron Powell- Percussionist for Sergio Mendes, Diane Reeves, Kenny G and More!
This week’s guest is Ron Powell. Ron is a skilled percussionist, accomplished musician, clinician, author and exciting performer. He has toured the world since 1978 and has worked with over a hundred great artists, the most notable being, Madonna, Kenny G., Diana Ross, Sergio Mendes and most recently Brian Hughes.
Through his experience with Sergio, Ron learned the intricacies of Brazilian percussion. He has also played with Tania Maria, Oscar Castro-Neves, and his own band, L.A. Samba, and made special appearances with Gilberto Gil, Ivan Lins, Djavan and Samba School Villa Isabelle. Ron's versatility and showmanship have made him one of the most sought after percussionists in the world.
Ron is well studied in Afro-Latin percussion and has performed with Santana, El Chicano and Miami Sound Machine, Earth Wind & Fire, Black Eyed Peas, Rascal Flatts, and many others.
Ron has participated in many music related projects, which include the coordination of the African drum section of the Lion King Parade at Disneyland in California. He attributes his success in the music industry to his love for performing, sharing percussion and music.
Ron's equipment list changes with each playing situation, however he feels that LP is the only company with the variety and quality of instruments to fulfill his needs. Ron has been an LP artist for over 30 years.
Gig Alerts
On Dec. 20th Damon will playing at the 10th annual Christmas Jam at The Vault Music Hall & Pub at Greasy Luck in New Bedford, MA. If you can’t make that date the same show will be performing the next day, Dec. 21st, at The Grog in Newburyport, MA.
Kilo continues his stint with Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre on 47th and 8 ave playing the show Guaracha written by Luis Rafael Sánchez. (until the 15th). Also on Dec. 18th DJ Kilo will be returning to Murphy’s Law in Bridgeport Ct.
Educational Spotlight
If you are looking to attend the NAMM Show it’s Jan. 16th-19th 2020 at the Anaheim Convention Center. “The NAMM Show is the global crossroads of the music, sound and entertainment technology products industries with more than 115,000 registrants from 139 countries and regions commanding $11+ billion in buying power.”
CD Baby’s DYI Musician Conference released their dates, It’’s August 28th-30th, 2020. They’re having an early bird tickets starting at $129. “If you’re serious about your music career, this is the weekend for you. The DIY Musician Conference is the only event focused exclusively on YOUR needs right now as an independent artist.”
The Percussive Arts Society is hosting a drum set competition. You do not need be a member of PAS and there is no entry fee! The ages to compete are between 18 and 30 and the deadline to submit is Dec. 15th. Third place gets $2,500, Second place gets $5,000, and if you win first place you get $10K!!!
It’s national write business plan month! Here are two articles that will get you one step closer to getting your business started:
7 Steps to a Perfectly Written Business Plan - Jon Rampton - Article
NATIONAL WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN MONTH - Article
Product Review
Iconic Recording
The Album of the iconic recording this week is “Jay-Z: unplugged”. This album features The Roots as the band. The song Marcos chose is “Girls, Girls, Girls” has a percussion intro by friend of the show Aaron Draper and Frank “Knuckles” Walker.
Music News
Juice WRLD Fallout Begins: Two Bodyguards Arrested at Chicago Airport; 70 Lbs. of Weed Found on Plane. - Colin Cohen - Article
Apple Is Rumored to Be Developing an iPhone Without Any Ports. - Colin Cohen - Article
After Swearing Off Touring Due to Environmental Concerns, Coldplay Signs Onto the iHeartMedia ‘Alter Ego’ Festival - Paul Resnikoff - Article
After a Two-Year Boycott, Jay-Z Puts His Music Back on Spotify - Ashley King - Article
Kid Rock’s Restaurant In Detroit Is Shutting Down Following Tirade Against Oprah Winfrey - Colin Cohen - Article
I’ve been in finance for 30 years. Here are the biggest end-of-year money mistakes I see people making - Jim Brown - Article
Ron Powell Interview
The song leading into the interview is called “Igaba” from the album ‘Rhythmic Journey’ by Ron.
The interview starts with Damon and Ron comparing cheesesteak restaurants in Philly. Ron suggest’s Larry’s, and Damon suggests Jim’s. Ron mentions the water-ice guy with a cart shaving it off a block.
The bongos were the spark that got Ron into percussion. The song “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and the Shondells was the song he first heard them in. After that it was Santana and Isaac Hayes were he started to focus on the conga drums. He also got some inspiration from an uncle who played with the Flamingos.
Ron talks about writing a conga drums book.
Because of his mom’s job at ARCO, Ron almost moved to Alaska, but never made it because of a fortuitous meeting with the one and only Darryl “Munyungo” Jackson in L.A.
Back in the day there was a phone book with musician’s numbers and booking agent info, but now most of that is digital. You can find venues and agents from the Indie Bible and you can get a hold of reputable musicians through the JammCard App.
Ron was one of the percussionists hired to replace the great Paulinho Da Costa with Sergio Mendes.
There was a little phone booth incident when Ron was on tour with Tania Maria.
Ron got the opportunity to play with Diana Ross after (friend of the show) Luis Conte.
Ron sneaks in a Pro-Tip of using gloves when setting up his gear so you don’t get your hands injured by the hardware or clamps and such in transport or assembly.
The Barry White song Damon refers to is called “Baby Blues”.
Ron brings up finding out while touring with Kenny G that Kenny had invested in Starbucks. Damon mentions the scene in “Hot Tub Time Machine” were they went back in time and plotted their future.
Ron uses Latin Percussion instruments (Shout out to Martin Cohen), Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Rhythm Tech instruments, Contemporanea percussion, Remo Drumheads and Canopus drums.
The song leading out of the interview is called “L.A. Samba” from the album ‘Rhythmic Journey’ by Ron.
