This week’s guest is Julie Davila. Julie Davila is renowned percussionist, performer, music educator and clinician specializing in concert and marching percussion. She was inducted in to the WGI Percussion Hall of Fame in 2014, in recognition of over 20 years contributing to the marching arts activity as a leader, teacher, designer and adjudicator. Julie is a member of the chamber percussion ensemble the CAIXA TRIO, winner of a 2011 “Drummie” award by Drum Magazine.

In addition to her membership in the CAIXA TRIO, she currently serves as the President of the Percussive Arts Society. She is the arranger and instructor for the Middle Tennessee State University Band of Blue Drumline, and additionally an adjunct professor of percussion at MTSU. Prior to her work at MTSU, she was the percussion specialist at several high schools in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of her groups have medaled in all divisions of the WGI activity and the John Overton High School Indoor drum line, under her direction won a National Championship.

Julie is a member of the WGI and DCI nationally recognized adjudication teams. As an active clinician specializing in contemporary and marching percussion, she has performed in Poland, China, Peru, Seoul, South Korea, Paris, France, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil and extensively throughout the United States. Julie is a proud alumni of the University of North Texas. She has published numerous marching and concert percussion ensembles and solos and is the author of the “Modern Multi-Tenor Techniques and Solos”, “Impressions on Wood” and “Inspirations 4 Mallets” and is a co-author of “Aptitude” an innovative solo snare book.

Julie is an endorser and clinician for Pearl/Adams, Innovative Percussion, the Avedis Zildjian Company, Grover Pro Percussion and Evans Drum Heads.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Munyungo Jackson! Percussionist, Composer, Arranger, Producer, Author and four time Grammy Winner Darryl Munyungo Jackson possesses an ever-increasing collection of instruments with which to execute his craft. That is one of the reasons this warm and unassuming West Coast artist can be found in virtually any musical setting—whether it’s Funk, Pop, Jazz, Latin, Reggae, or traditional dance music of such countries as Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Haiti, Brazil and Cuba.

Despite his youthful appearance, Munyungo is no newcomer: in his over thirty years of playing, he has developed an awesome versatility and became a well-respected and much requested session, concert and tour player. He has performed with Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Kenny Loggins, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, the Zawinul Syndicate, George Howard, Ronnie Laws, The Temptations, Four Tops, The Supremes, Bennie Maupin, Bill Summers, Marcus Miller, and dozens of others, including numerous ethnic music and dance troupes.

Munyungo was born in Los Angeles, California, into creative surroundings: his parents, Arthur Jackson Jr. and Genie Jackson, both maintained various involvements in music, dance and writing, and Munyungo is the nephew of the legendary jazz, pop and blues singer and pianist Nellie Lutcher who was on Capital Records.

As a child, Munyungo was required to take classical piano lessons, and did so until he was nineteen years old. But in his high school years, when one of his buddies started a Latin jazz band, seventeen-year-old Munyungo found himself uncontrollably attracted to the sound of the timbales, and his interest in piano began to fade. He began spending more and more time with the percussionist in that band, soon discovering that he was quite skillful at observing and remembering the techniques. His first opportunity he purchased his very own set of timbales.

During this period, Munyungo’s father was program director of a jazz radio station. The benefit to Munyungo was the constant exposure to much music. He happily surrounded himself with the albums of the many Latin artists of the day such as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, and Tito Puente, and practiced by playing his timbales along with these albums. Soon, his system of observation-plus-practice proved to be an effective method of self-training, and it wasn’t long before he formed a Latin jazz band with his classmates.

Munyungo’s passion for the timbales was only the beginning. From that point, he made the natural progression to Congas, Bongos, Latin Percussion and beyond, eventually to religious Bata Drumming, and numerous drums and percussion from many different cultures.

Subsequently, he met and worked with traditional drummers from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, China and Japan resulting in a collection of over four hundred percussion instruments and drums from all over the world — all of which he plays proficiently.

Why that name? On several occasions, he performed with some players from Africa and the Caribbean, who would shout “Munyungo!” (Which is a Zulu word meaning “door” or “entrance”) to cheer him on as he played — and it wasn’t long before the word attached to him as a nickname.

Now, for him, the name means “Gateway to Heaven.” -Bio

Happy Birthday to Pete Zimmer! Pete, moved to New York City in June of 2001, and has since established himself as one of the top-call drummers in New York City’s jazz scene. Originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin, Zimmer has made his mark nationally and internationally as a versatile and articulate drummer, bandleader, sideman, composer, educator, and record label entrepreneur.

Since 2004, Pete Zimmer released five (5) critically acclaimed albums as a leader on his own record label, Tippin’ Records. The albums showcase both his constant swing on the drums and his skillful and melodic compositions. His composition, “Time That Once Was,” a moving ballad recorded on his first album Common Man, was recently licensed to Sony Pictures Television where it was featured in the opening scene of the series they produce “Masters of Sex” (Episode 307, Monkey Business), aired on Showtime. He has received many accolades from major publications. "Pete Zimmer has learned his New York lessons well, as his dry tone, meaty swing beat and subtle accents make him an old hand” (Down Beat), and "Zimmer's drumming boasts a crisp, swinging command with judicious musicality." (Modern Drummer)

Zimmer’s band has performed at many of the prominent jazz venues in New York City including: The Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Smoke Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland Jazz Club, The Kitano, Fat Cat, and Cornelia Street Café. He has toured throughout much of the USA and the United Kingdom. Throughout the years his group has featured many of the top musicians in New York City including: Mike Rodriguez, Joel Frahm, Jeremy Pelt, George Garzone, Peter Bernstein, Avi Rothbard, David Wong, Peter Slavov, Rick Germanson, Toru Dodo, John Sullivan, Mike DiRubbo, Ryan Kisor, Vitaly Golovnev, George DeLancey, Jerry Weldon, Joseph Lepore, Jaleel Shaw, Robert Rodriguez, Jeb Patton, and others.

Pete Zimmer is a highly regarded educator and clinician. He has presented clinics and masterclasses at many top collegiate jazz programs throughout the United States and United Kingdom. He is a faculty member with the New York Jazz Academy since 2009.

As an active sideman, Zimmer can be heard on the latest recording by legendary bassist Ron McClure Trio, Hope and Knowledge. (McJolt Records, 2017) He has also performed and/or recorded with the likes of: George Garzone, Rodney Jones, Ron McClure, Dennis Irwin, David Schnitter, Akiko Tsuruga, Rick Germanson, Julius Tolentino, Gene Perla, Wayne Escoffery, Dan Nimmer, and many others.

Pete Zimmer’s record label, Tippin’ Records, was originally established to feature his own projects, but after having much success with his first few releases, it did not take long for other artists to solicit their projects to Tippin’. In 2009 Zimmer decided to expand the catalogue and encompass additional artists. The first additional artist was trumpeter Vitaly Golovnev with the release of To Whom It May Concern and was followed by guitarist Kyle Asche Organ Trio (featuring legendary organist Melvin Rhyne), Blues for Mel. The label now has a total of one dozen releases and six artists.

Before moving to New York, Zimmer studied at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, earning his bachelors degree. At the Conservatory he was fortunate to have apprenticeships with master musicians and teachers Danilo Perez, Cecil McBee, George Garzone, Bob Moses, Jerry Bergonzi, and Bob Brookmeyer.

Happy Birthday to Mike Compitello! Mike was on the podcast two times. He is a dynamic, “fast rising” (WQXR) percussionist active as a chamber musician, soloist, and teaching artist.

Michael is dedicated to both honoring his instrument’s most important repertoire and creating dynamic new art through collaborations with composers, performers, actors, and artists in all mediums. He has performed with Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Signal, Ensemble ACJW, and with members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Eighth Blackbird, and So Percussion, while appearing in diverse locations such as the Darmstadt Summer Course, the LA Phil’s Green Umbrella Series, June in Buffalo, Mostly Mozart, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

Michael has worked with composers Helmut Lachenmann, Nicolaus A. Huber, David Lang, John Luther Adams, Alejandro Viñao, Marc Applebaum, and Martin Bresnick on premieres and performances of new chamber works. He also champions new and recent works for solo percussion in the US and abroad, organizing and participating in consortium commissions for works for solo percussion from composers such as Christopher Cerrone, Tonia Ko, Amy Beth Kirsten, James Wood, and David Crowell.

With cellist Hannah Collins as New Morse Code, Michael works to catalyze and champion the compelling works of young composers. Through long-term collaboration with colleagues such as Christopher Stark, Robert Honstein, Andy Akiho, Matthew Barnson Tonia Ko, Paul Kerekes, and Caroline Shaw, New Morse Code has created a singular and personal repertoire that reflects both their friends’ creative voices and their own perspectives.

New Morse Code's debut album Simplicity Itself was released in 2017 on New Focus Recordings. Praised as “an ebullient passage through pieces that each showcase the duo’s clarity of artistic vision and their near-perfect synchronicity," (I Care if You Listen) and "a flag of genuineness raised" (WQXR), Simplicity Itself was featured on Spotify's Top Classical of 2017 Playlist and WQXR's New Sounds. New Morse Code was a finalist in the 2014 Concert Artists Guild Competition and recipients of a 2015 Classical Commissioning Grant from Chamber Music America with composer Christopher Stark.

In addition to performing, New Morse Code has worked with composers and performers at universities across the country, the University of Kansas, Austin Peay State University, The Catholic University of America, and Cornell University, in addition to leading interactive performances at Community MusicWorks in Providence, the Geneva Music Festival, and Greenwood Music Camp. New Morse Code are Assistant Directors of the Avaloch Farm Music Institute, a residency program in Boscawen, New Hampshire designed to provide resources for performers and composers collaborating on new works.

As an orchestral musician, Michael has performed with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and with conductors Pierre Boulez, Marin Alsop, Reinbert de Leeuw, David Zinman, James Conlon, Brad Lubman, and Gustav Meier.

Mike is also starting a podcast with friend of the show, Mike Truesdell.

Gig Alerts

The Crossroads Guitar Festival is happening on September 23rd and 24th in Los Angeles.

The Zildjian Cymbals 400th anniversary concert is happening in Boston on Wednesday, September 20th. Featuring several great players and inducting others into the Zildjian Hall of Fame.

You can get tickets by CLICKING HERE.

Damon has some gigs coming up in Connecticut, with Ivan Diaz. You can get more info and tickets from Damon’s website.

Educational Spotlight

Prices for PASIC are going up so if you’re interested, you should REGISTER HERE.

There’s a 2023 image that has been created for PASIC that will be on the various types of merch.

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The NEW CongaChops Practice Loop App Volume 2 is now available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores!!! A brand new set of Loops where you can solo, pan, mute and mix each individual instrument channel. Percussion PDF transcriptions included.

You can DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

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Iconic Recording

Of the many songs and artists Julie named, “In The Stone” by Earth Wind and Fire from the album ‘I Am’ is the iconic recording for the week.

CLICK HERE for the full credits listing.

Music News

Spotify introduces Songwriter Promo Cards, a promotional tool to enable songwriters to highlight their songs and get discovered by new listeners and potential collaborators alike.

Spotify announced the launch of Songwriter Promo Cards, a new promotional tool for songwriters to highlight their songs and get discovered by potential collaborators and new listeners. Songwriter Promo Cards are customizable social media assets that songwriters can create using their name, selecting a profile, and choosing a background color. The card is linked to the songwriter’s Spotify profile and can be directly shared on social media. -Article

A new study commissioned by the UK government found that 93% of event ticket providers use ‘drip fees’—fees added on after the advertised price. Here’s the latest.

The study, “Estimating the Prevalence and Impact of Online Drip Pricing” finds that nearly all businesses in the sector impose an additional fee beyond what’s advertised. Drip pricing occurs when the price for a good or service incurs additional fees as the consumer goes through the checkout process. Some of these fees can be mandatory (booking fees, taxes) while others are optional (seat upgrades, VIP packages). A consumer may be interested in a ticket at the ‘face value’ but is lured into a much higher purchase throughout the checkout process. -Article

Insights from the first-ever UK Musicians’ Census reveal the demographic makeup of UK musicians and prevalent pay gaps, barriers to career progression, and financial challenges. -Article