#302 Alex Beltran- Arranger/Educator at United Percussion, Boston Crusaders, and More!
Alex Beltran is an active writer, performer, teacher, and clinician based in New England. He holds a Master’s Degree in Music History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he also received an undergraduate degree in Percussion Performance. Alex is currently the Battery Caption Manager for the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle corps, where he handles the daily teaching, equipment, and logistical needs of the battery and coordinate the staff. He is also the Battery Arranger and Caption Manager for consistent WGI Independent World Finalist United Percussion, as well as the battery arranger for 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps.
R.I.P.
Rest in peace to the great Tom Float.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to Valerie Dee Naranjo. Valerie is known for her pioneering efforts in West African keyboard percussion music, is originally from Southern Colorado. She moved to New York City after completing studies in vocal and instrumental music education (University of Oklahoma) and Percussion Performance (Ithaca College). In 1988 her playing of the gyil's traditional repertoire in Ghana's Kobine Festival of Traditional Music led to the declaration of a chiefly decree in the Dagara nation that women be allowed to play the instrument for the first time.
She plays percussion for NBC's Saturday Night Live Band, and has recorded and performed with Broadway's The Lion King, The Philip Glass Ensemble, David Byrne, The Paul Winter Consort, Tori Amos, Airto Moreira, and the international percussion ensemble, MEGADRUMS, which includes Milton Cardona, Zakir Hussein, and Glen Velez.
On six continents she endorses Avedis Zildjian (cymbals) Pearl/Adams (Latin and concert percussion) and Vic Firth products as a soloist and clinician.
Her recent film score recordings include Final Fantasy - The Dream Within and Frida. Her work and music have been written about in Modern Drummer, Drum!, Rhythm, Percussive Notes, and World Percussion Rhythm. She was named World Music Percussionist of the Year in 2005 and 2008, as winner of DRUM! magazine's Reader's Poll in that category. She has recorded several CDs of traditional gyil music with Kakraba Lobi and Barry Olsen, and the CD Zie Mwea with Mr. Olsen and Bernard Woma. Her solo Native American CD Orenda is on the Ellipsis Arts Label, and her series of 16 written transcriptions and CDs, West African Music for the Marimba Soloist, Traditional World Music for Western Percussion Ensemble, and Lewaa's Dream (Ancient and Contemporary Music for West African Marimba) are published by Mandara Music.
Valerie has apprenticed with some of America's and West Africa's strictest master percussionists, including Leigh Howard Stevens, Gordon Stout, Dave Samuels, Godwin Agbelli, and Adama Drame, and continues to spend summers in Ghana to further her perucussion study with maestros Yotere Baere and Kofi Misiso. She has also researched and studied in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Morrocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, where, in 1994 with Thuli Dumakude, she opened Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre to its first post-apartheid audiences in the production Buya Africa.
Happy Birthday to Jon Epcar. Born and raised in Los Angeles, drummer Jon Epcar currently resides in NYC. He has worked with many artists, including Bono, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Rihanna, Natasha Bedingfield, Carly Rae Jepsen, Klangkarussell, Cristian Castro, Matt Morris, Madison Beer, Katie Melua, Evan Rachel Wood, Jackson Harris, Jesse James, The Ghostwriters, Taryn Manning, Matt & Kim, John Issac Watters, Danielia Cotton. He is a founding member of the band Carney, with whom he toured and recorded with for many years. On Broadway, he originated the drum chairs for Spider-Man and Amelie, and Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, where he is currently drumming.
Happy birthday to Javier Diaz. Javier is a percussionist with the American Symphony Orchestra and with several chamber music groups and Latin music groups in the New York Area. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Perspectives Ensemble, Zankel Hall New Music Band, and Hilliard Ensemble. He has performed for Broadway's productions of Man of La Mancha, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Brooklyn, Phil Collins’s Tarzan, Guys and Dolls, The Wiz, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Rocky, In The Heights, The Lion King, and Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet. His studio/film soundtrack credits include collaborations with jazz greats David Sanborn and Marcus Miller, ECM's Tituli by Stephen Hartke with the Hilliard Ensemble, Barbershop 3, several HBO films, and many TV and radio commercials.
As an Afro-Cuban percussion specialist, Diaz has appeared with Miami Sound Machine, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Sean Kingston, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patty LaBelle, Lazaro Galarraga's Afro-Cuban All Stars, percussionists Angel Luis Figueroa, Candido Camero, Román Diaz and Pedro Martinez, The Panamerican Jazz Band, The Ethnix, AnetteAguilar’s Latin Jazz Group, Marta Topferova, Edmar Castañeda, Tribal Sage, and the New York World Music Institute. In addition, Diaz has released an album with world music band Kalunga.
An active educator, Diaz has taught classical percussion at El Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, University of Connecticut, and his private studio in New York City. He has also taught Afro-Cuban percussion seminars, classes, and clinics at the Peabody Institute, University of Southern California, Percussion Artists Workshops Los Angeles/New York, Los Angeles School District, The Juilliard School, the Boston Conservatory, and Mannes School of Music in New York City. Diaz is currently on the percussion faculties at Rutgers University and the Juilliard School. He has a book on Afro-Cuban percussion called The Afro-Cuban Handbook.
Diaz has composed music for the Aspen Music Festival, New York University, and University of Southern California. His concert music is available through Bachovich Music.
An alumnus of El Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela and the Aspen Music Festival, Diaz holds a BM from the University of Southern California and an MM from The Juilliard School.
Gig Alerts
United percussion is looking for a drumset player aged 22 or younger.
West Point band has percussion openings you can audition for.
Austin City Limits is happening this weekend and next weekend.
Dead and Company has announced their final tour. -Article
Damon has some gigs coming up. You can visit his website for more info.
Educational Spotlight
The PASIC schedule is now up. You can CLICK HERE to see it and download the app to your device.
You can also snag a ticket to the Hall of Fame and Awards banquet. There are only 250 tickets available and they are $60 each.
Damon will be doing his clinic on Saturday November 12th at 10am in room 109.
Damon will be using some loops by Conga Chops.
Alex will be at PASIC as well with the Boston Crusaders Battery Ensemble.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording was chosen by Alex. It is “Wax Simulacra” by The Mars Volta, from the ‘The Bedlam in Goliath’ album.
Music News
A Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ documentary is coming — blessed by the Michael Jackson Estate.
The Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment celebrate the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album with a new official documentary. Directed by acclaimed music historian, filmmaker, and journalist Nelson George, the film features never-before-seen footage and interviews chronicling the point in Jackson’s career that launched him into cultural phenomena. -Article
Friend of the show, Brendan Mason has been elected the president of the USARD (United States Association of Rudimental Drummers).
Congratulations to Brendan and everyone on the new leadership team!
Shout out to October 10th, National Hug A Drummer Day!
Alex Beltran Interview
The song leading into the interview is from the Umass Marching band 2019 show, music from the band Queen.
Alex grew up in Stamford, CT. He attended Rogers Elementary School. While he was there, he participated in an African drumming program.
From there he was enrolled in the program called Project Music.
Shout-out to Frank Galenti, one of Alex’s first teachers.
Alex moved onto drumset with friends from school.
Alex talks about his Cuban heritage.
Around 2007-08, Alex was playing drumset and also started to get into marching percussion. He talks about some of the benefits of the marching arts.
Alex was in the Stamford Knights drumline, taught by Umass Amherst alum, Chris Perna.
Shout-out to Omi Batan, Tom Gasparrini, Reuel Camacho and Tommy Carlucci!
Alex marched the Connecticut Hurricanes and then moved on to the Cadets.
Alex also attended Umass Amherst for his bachelors and masters degrees.
Alex was pursing a dual degree in percussion performance and music education. Ultimately, he continued with the performance degree.
Alex talks about his path as a graduate student under Thom Hannum.
Alex performed and wrote for the Umass Marimba ensembles.
Damon talks about the evolution of the marimba band. First with marimba ensemble pieces made popular by Nexus. Then the Double Image (Dave Samuels and David Friedman) music became popular. Thanks to Olin Johannessen, the ensemble got expanded the marimba band, with more instruments and more jazz type literature.
Shout-out to Bobby Scott!
Alex talks about the evolution of his writing.
Damon talks about the arranging/composition class that Thom Hannum ran.
Alex mentions Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson's Law is the old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The term was first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955.
Alex started being a staff member teching for the Cadets in 2015.
In 2016, Alex became the caption manager for the Boston Crusaders. He talks about his duties in that role.
Alex brings up the book, The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. He talks about how that has affected his teaching.
The Boston Crusaders battery will be doing a clinic at PASIC this November. He talks about what they will demonstrate.
Alex has other gigs aside from the Boston Crusaders. He writes and teaches for United Percussion, He teaches in the Miamisburg school district and also helps out friend of the show, Nick Angelis, at the University of Cincinnati.
Alex talks about his hectic schedule and some of the duties with his other jobs.
Damon and Alex both use paper calendars and that was passed down from Thom Hannum. Damon also mentions Calendly for digital use and scheduling.
Alex talks about his relationship to social media.
Alex chooses the iconic recording for the week.
Alex likes history podcasts, like THIS ONE, and THIS ONE.
Alex uses Vic Firth sticks and mallets and Zildjian cymbals.
Shout-out to Frank Galenti, Chris Perna, Thom Hannum, Colin McNutt, and Ian Hale.
You can follow Alex on Facebook, and Instagram.
The interview ended, and Alex kept talking, so Damon hit record. Alex talks about what he sees as having a successful career.
