#258 Zach Jones- Drummer for Sting, Great Big World, Hannah Winkler & More!
Zach Jones is a drummer, singer, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn, NY. Zach has performed and recorded with artists such as Sting, Ingrid Michaelson, A Great Big World, Elle King, and many more. He also writes and records music with his own group, Zach Jones & the Tricky Bits. Keep up with him on Instagram at @zachjonesmusic.
Happy Birthday!
Brad Dutz has recorded for artists like KISS, WILLIE NELSON, MICHAEL WOLFF, TRIBAL TECH, DAVID BENOIT, RICK BRAUN, VINNY GOLIA, ALANIS MORRISETTE ,LEANN RIMES, MITCH FORMAN, KIM RICHMOND, RICKIE LEE JONES, HANDS’ONSEMBLE and actors JEFF BRIDGES and RONNY COX, Brad Dutz tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the session to create a unique sound. He can be heard on TV shows KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, ENTERPRISE and FIREFLY. Some of the movies that Brad has played on include LAST VEGAS, BATTLESHIP, BOURNE LEGACY ,COWBOYS and ALIENS, PRINCE OF EGYPT, SYRIANA, HILDAGO, RUGRATS GO WILD,STAR TREK 5, OCEAN’S ELEVEN , ANCHORMAN, HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE ,TRANSFORMERS 1 and 2 , RUSH HOUR 3, RUN DOWN and I SPY, and also IMAX films MYSTERIES OF EGYPT, MT. KILAMANJARO , AMAZON and ISLAND of SHARKS.
Musician, Educator, and Composer, Andy Smith is recognized internationally, having enjoyed a diverse career for over two decades. His recent projects include CD recordings, Finally Here with Angel Roman and Mambo Blue, and Transparency featuring Latin Jazz group Batuquê Trio (batuquetrio.com). Andy’s recent compositions include: Vento no Ritmo (Wind in Rhythm) for flute trio with leg rattles commissioned by Deanna Hahn-Little; Fora da Caixa, an experimental graphic score for percussion trio; Two Maracatu for Drum-set Duo (a popular youtube video features Andy with drummer Marcus Finnie); and Brazilian Suite for Tambourines, premiered at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. 2017 will include new works for 10-Can Percussion and Caixa Trio.
Smith lives in El Paso, TX with his wife Amy Smith (Caixa Trio) and their children. There, he serves as Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. He recently earned a Doctorate in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN where he served as an Associate Instructor and Assistant Director to Michael Spiro's Brazilian Percussion Ensemble.
Andy taught as Adjunct Percussion Instructor at Middle Tennessee State University from 1999-2008 and serves as the Percussion Instructor for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, a state sponsored program for elite college-bound musicians. His career has taken him from the recording studios of Nashville, TN to Tanglewood, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl. He has traveled to Ghana West Africa and the Caribbean to be immersed in African diasporic rhythm. In 2012, Andy was awarded a Tinker Foundation grant to study contemporary Brazilian Jazz drumming in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Other recent performances include the Jazz Education Network Convention, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Lotus Music Festival, and grant sponsored workshops with Bernard Woma, Musical Ambassador to Ghana.
Mel Brown is a Grammy Award-winning bassist, accomplished Bandleader, Talent Contractor & Coordinator, Author, Educator, and business owner based in Phoenix, AZ. His extensive experience includes world tours, recording, television, movies, and musical theatre. Mel is also an industry-recognized thought leader in the personal-branding and video interviewing space.
Tony Escapa IV, was born in San Juan, PR. His father a professional pianist and mother a TV Host. It was clear at a young age that passion and talent where a part of him. At age 9 Tony started guitar lessons, but those where short lived as he found his true passion on a Yamaha drum set that was in the same studio as the lessons. Tony quickly sat on the drums and began to play away with no initial training. His father was astounded and preceded to purchase Tony a practice pad, some sticks and said: " in order to get a drum set, you have to prove to me that you will take drumming seriously ". Tony had to learn rudiments and practice for at least two hours a day to prove him self worthy of a drum set. His father however, did not really know was he was getting into only since Tony would practice not for two but from four to eight hours a day.
Tony took private lessons from some of Puerto Rico's best musicians and teachers very early. But the lessons where just like the icing on the cake since little Tony would always be by his father's side in gigs or rehearsal's with legendary artist in the business even before he could walk…That being the spark that ignited Tony's passion for music today.
Satnam Ramgotra has a studio at Hans Zimmer’s studio “Remote Control Productions” where he writes and plays on many block buster movie scores. Inception, The Amazing Spiderman 2, Man Of Steel, Kick Ass, Rush, Captain Phillips and The Dark Knight Rises are just a few of the films he’s worked on recently, and they also happen to be some of the biggest movies of the past few years. His most recently wrote and played on the score to the new movie “The Last Knight” He has also toured playing kit and tabla with artists such as Sting, Beck, Seal and has his own groups like the Galactic Booty Co and Alien Chatter.
Gig Alerts
Friend of the show, Luis Conte will be playing at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles with his band. Friend of the show, Kevin Ricard, will also be in the band.
Damon will be playing at the Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday the 9th with the Atomic Funk Project, then at The Chapel Restoration with Natalie Forteza, then at the Park City Music Hall with Billy Ruegger. More details and ticket info can be found by CLICKING HERE.
John Mayer has new TOUR DATES up with an all-star line up, including friend of the show Lenny Castro.
Educational Spotlights
the Percussive Arts Society has a Drumset competition open for submissions. More details can be found by CLICKING HERE.
If you would like to submit to perform, present or lead a clinic at PASIC 2022, you can CLICK HERE to submit an application by Jan 21st 2022.
Steve Gadd has released a book with Hudson Music virtually and in hard copy called Gaddiments. The book is a series of rudimental passages inspired by his time in drum corps and love of the rudiments. Each exercise is based on a classic or contemporary rudiment. It’s then displaced by starting on different subdivisions of the beat. This creates new rhythms without changing the sticking. All of the solos are written in a way that reinforce the understanding and importance of phrasing. Includes 36 themes/concepts and 85 individual exercises, each with an accompanying video demonstration. Accompanying the book is a full set of videos with Steve demonstrating each exercise. These video lessons are available online and are available for streaming and downloading.
Social Soundbyte
Friend of the show, Stephen Chopek, has released a new album called ‘Dweller’. The song Damon is featuring is called “My Fault”. Stephen was on tour playing drums with Mike Doughty from Soul Coughing in February 2020. He got back home to Memphis and everything started to shut down as the pandemic spread. When he realized that I was going to be home for the foreseeable future, he started to write and record some new music. Stephen played all the instruments and recorded everything at his home studio between March and November. Then, moved to Atlanta in December, and set up a new studio where he mixed the songs, and sent them back to Memphis for mastering. The cover art features a photograph he took on the road which captures the feeling of focus and solitude that I experienced during the EP's creation. Dweller was released in August 2021 through Declared Goods.
Written, performed, produced by Stephen Chopek Recorded by Stephen Chopek at The Perch - Memphis, TN Mixed by Stephen Chopek at The Wick - Atlanta, GA Mastered by Matt Qualls at Young Avenue Sound - Memphis, TN Under exclusive license to Declared Goods Video by Stephen Chopek
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording for this week is “Me Gustan las Navidades” by Gilberto Santa Rosa from the album, ‘Una Navidad Con Gilberto’. You can read the personnel and credits HERE.
This is the link to the Holiday Playlist on Spotify that Damon and Marcos Torres created.
Music News
Here is the article on 5 Tips on Getting More Done as a Musician. -Article
Zach Jones Interview
The song leading into the interview is, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” from the album ‘57th and 9th’ by Sting, with Zach on drums.
The interview starts with Damon and Zach talking about covid testing for gigs.
Zach has been doing the shows Revolution, Kings of Soul and Dancing in the Streets recently.
Damon and Zach talk about some apps that have vaccination passports. Here are a couple of vaccination passport apps like: Common Pass, Bindle and others. Not to mention Clear (which also includes the Clear Health Pass).
Damon and Zach talk about pocket and the job of the drummer/percussionist.
Zach’s grandfather Bob Jones, played sax and clarinet. His dad, Dave Jones played guitar and a few other instruments. There were other musicians in his family. He also was drawn to acting as well.
Zach is a multi-instrumentalist playing drums, guitar, singing and sometimes piano.
Zach is from the Long Beach Island area of New Jersey.
Zach tells the story of meeting Paul Schaffer and Steve Gadd while losing a gig to Tony Royster Jr.
Shout-out to Tim Tooker and Earl Bennett, as well as Tom Murphy, Zach’s first teachers.
Zach attended the Drummer’s Collective and studied with the late Kim Plainfield.
Zach also took lessons with Bernard “Pretty” Purdie in High School.
Damon and Zach talk more about pocket, groove and supporting the song. They mention some drummers and how they interpret the beat.
Zach talks about being a sideman vs. band member vs. production.
Damon brings up being a drummer in NYC and making the house kit sound like the player.
Zach talks about loyalty and also treating people with respect and kindness.
Zach talks about life before the vaccine and the mental and physical stamina involved in getting back to playing live.
Zach is a big coffee aficionado. Shout-out to Paul Loren and Greg Mayo and the Barista Express by Breville. Zach Danziger bought a machine and a grinder to put into his house. Zach’s dream machine is the La Marzocco Linea Mini.
Below is the NYC Coffee map with the best coffee shops in relation to each subway stop…….
Damon has a Nespresso machine for when guests come over and want coffee and he doesn’t want to fuss.
You can see the tea Damon drinks and the accessories he uses.
Damon gardens and helped friend of the show Ross Pederson get his garden going.
Damon forgot to do the sponsor shout-out, but Zach uses C&C Drums, Evans Drumheads, Paiste Cymbals, and ProMark Sticks and Mallets.
You can follow Zach on Instagram.
The song leading out of the interview is “Running Too Long” by the Brooklyn Sugar Company from the album with the same name.
