#374 Everett Bradley- Percussionist/Vocalist for Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Hall and Oates & More!
This week’s guest is Everett Bradley! Perhaps the story of Everett Bradley’s unique career can be summed up in three words—“Look no further!” That’s what Shawn Pelton, the long-time Saturday Night Live drummer, always tells people whenever he recommends his old bandmate Everett for a gig as a percussionist. Shawn and Everett had been students together back at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and while Shawn knows Everett as a kick-ass percussionist with few peers, he also knows that conga drums are but one talent up the sleeve of this singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader. The cliché “jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none” simply does not apply to Everett Bradley because he happens to be a master of them all. Among those who’ve heeded Pelton’s advice and have come to treasure Everett are Carly Simon, Daryl Hall and Jon Bon Jovi. On top of everything else, he has an infectious personality—a quality always on display in Holidelic, the outlandishly entertaining Christmas funk extravaganza he created and performs in. These are only some of the gifts that have brought Everett to Broadway, television, and into Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band—and what makes his prospects so exciting.
Born in Greenwood, South Carolina, Everett grew up in Muncie, Indiana, the son of a high school principal and football coach who insisted he play football (his brother Luther played on the Detroit Lions) and tried to discourage his musical interests, and a mother who taught first grade and encouraged them behind his father’s back. This central conflict in his upbringing would teach him important lessons—“about love, compassion, generosity, not being too quick to judge people, and how not to take no for an answer if you felt very strongly about something,” as Everett explains it. He played the lead role of Jesus in a high school production of Godspell, a watershed event made even more remarkable by the fact that the Bradleys were one of three black families in the overwhelmingly white neighborhood of Halteman Village. The die was cast for a career in music when he received a scholarship to study voice at Indiana University. After graduating, Everett cut his teeth playing in a funk band called Kilo with fellow student Shawn Pelton. Weaned on Stax, Motown, Sly and the Family Stone, and the funk of Earth Wind & Fire and Parliament Funkadelic, Everett played multiple instruments including saxophone, but conga drums became his mainstay. By the time he landed in New York and got a call about a show called Stomp that had originated in the UK and was looking for “percussionists that move well,” he’d become a consummate player, and boy, had they called the right guy–the show was tailor-made for him. “It was one of those situations where the more personality you inject, the better the show becomes. I just took it and ran with it!”
Stomp became an off-Broadway phenomenon, and when the UK cast went on tour, Everett was made its musical director, after which he found himself auditioning for a Broadway show about jitterbugging called Swing! He made his Broadway debut with a song he’d written himself for the show, “Throw That Girl Around,” and contributed a hip-hop arrangement of “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” that turned the production on its ear. Then came a stint with Hall & Oats, and then came 9/11. “I felt like we all needed to heal, and the way I was going to do that was by writing Christmas songs”—which led to the album Toy. “Then I got the idea to combine two of my favorite things—Christmas and funk!” The result was an audaciously entertaining P-Funk inspired version of Toy called Holidelic. From the moment Everett arrived onstage in his big furry white coat and George Clintonesque sunglasses and unwraps the big gift with the bow, opens the box, takes out the 6-inch platform shoes and puts them on, the audience went wild. Everett has been performing the show ever since, making it as beloved a holiday tradition as the Rockettes at Radio City for those who know about it. “It’s joyful but nasty–bump and grind with a warm fuzzy heart!”
With the new millennium, Everett was busier than ever, playing with Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, and performing in Bobby McFerrin’s completely improvised show Voicestra as one of the twelve singers, which blew his mind—”It was amazing to see someone create magic out of nothing every night.” In 2011 he got a mysterious call to do a gig down the Jersey shore at the Stone Pony and arrived to discover that it was a fund-raiser that Bruce Springsteen was doing. “I’d never been so nervous in my life,” Everett admits. Bruce had never played with a percussionist before, but he liked what he saw—in no time at all they were vamping, doing steps with their arms around each other. Everett was just getting ready to tour Japan with Daryl Hall when he got the invitation to join the E Street Band. “It would be fun for Bruce to have somebody up there to mess with,” he was told by Bruce’s management, but as much as Everett wanted to be messed with, he had a commitment to Daryl that he felt he couldn’t break and turned the invitation down. As it turned out, Bruce was so impressed by Everett’s loyalty to Daryl that he decided to wait for him. The result was two of the most extraordinary years of Everett’s life as he toured the world with Bruce and played on his album High Hopes.
The years since have been equally as eventful. Everett became the musical director for Meredith Viera’s television show. He continued to work with Daryl Hall and played an integral role in the evolution of Live From Daryl’s House. In the wake of Richie Sambora’s departure, Jon Bon Jovi invited him to play in his band, which turned into a four year stint—“my longest gig by far.” But as interesting as Everett’s career has been, it’s what he’s doing now and his vision of the road ahead that gets him stoked. He’s re-imagining the music of the classic musical 42nd Street, turning it into an urban R&B/jazz score. He’s flipping the Great American Songbook into another kind of repertoire: Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” as Marvin Gaye would have done it in the 70s. He’s become passionately interested in film scoring—“I want to learn how to write for oboe and I’m actually thinking about going back to school.” And with the holidays approaching his thoughts naturally turn to Holidelic. “I can’t wait to wear a cape again! There are so many ways to go with this, so many other holidays…Halloween? St. Valentine’s Day? Independence Day??”
R.I.P.
Rest in peace to Giovanni Hidalgo’s dad, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue" who passed away at age 80. Damon mentioned the album “Best Friends” by Humberto Ramierez with Humberto, Giovanni, his dad, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Tito Puente, Oskar Cartaya and more.
Rest in peace to Brit Turner of Blackberry Smoke who passed away at age 57.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Eduardo Leandro! Eduardo Leandro is a conductor and percussionist who seeks to bridge the gap between both worlds by applying his extensive experience in new music to his interpretation of earlier orchestral repertoire, bringing “new” music’s freshness and excitement to classical and romantic pieces, while also bringing orchestral music’s lyricism and centuries-long appeal into his performances of contemporary music.
Eduardo is the principal guest conductor at the Greater Bridgeport Symphony in Connecticut, leading the orchestra through its 78th season in programs that range from Mozart and Beethoven through Prokofiev, Debussy and Ginastera, all the way up to Schonfield and Bernstein.
He conducts the New York New Music Ensemble, a group with over 40 years of history commissioning and premiering music from over one hundred composers. He regularly performs with the New York University Symphony Orchestra, and has conducted Camerata Aberta in Brazil, Talea and Sequitur Ensembles in the United States, Ensemble Lemanic in France, and the New Music Ensembles in the conservatories of Geneva and Lausanne. He recently served as the music director for the premiere of “The Scarlet Professor”, an opera composed by Eric Sawyer and produced by the Five Colleges Consortium. He has conducted chamber music concerts at Radio France in Paris, in Milan and Torino with MDI and Sentieri Musicali, at Pacific Rim Music Festival in California, and at Festival Archipel in Switzerland.
He is an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University and artistic director of its Contemporary Chamber Players, conducts the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, teaches doctoral seminars related to the understanding and performance of contemporary music, and teaches percussion at the masters and doctoral levels. He also teaches percussion at the Université de Montreal. Eduardo has been a guest lecturer at the Peabody Conservatory and Yale University, regular faculty at Yellow Barn Summer Festival in Vermont, and faculty at several festivals in Brazil and in the U.S.A.. He previously taught at the Haute École de Musique de Genève and directed the percussion program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
As a percussionist, Eduardo Leandro has performed as soloist and with ensembles in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In the U.S. he performs regularly with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, having appeared with Steve Reich Ensemble and Bang on a Can All Stars among others. He is part of the Percussion Duo Contexto, ensemble in residence at the Centre International de Percussion in Geneva for ten years, having premiered and recorded dozens of works. He continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician, commissioning new pieces and helping discover what this exciting group of instruments has to offer.
Upcoming projects include conducting a new opera by Flo Menezes that involves large orchestra, chorus, and electronics; continuing to learn Ghanian drumming; a free improv collaboration with saxophonist Travis Laplante and harpist Charles Overton; and recording the music for mallet instruments by James Woods, based on bird songs.
Eduardo Leandro was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, land of carnival, samba schools and rich musical culture. He attended the Sao Paulo State University, the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands, and Yale University. His conducting mentor and teacher was Gustav Meier, director of Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra for over four decades. His percussion mentors are Robert van Sice and John Boudler.
When not working on music, Eduardo can be seen taking pictures of birds, learning new languages, or making use of his commercial pilot’s license while flying his plane around the East coast.
Gig Alerts
The Love Rocks concert at the Beacon Theater at 8pm on Thursday March 7th just released more seats and added a streaming option. Two new guests have been added as well. Dave Grohl and Martin Short.
The Percussive Arts Society is looking for a Program Manager. You can READ MORE and APPLY HERE.
You can attend the Ocean’s Calling Festival Sept 27-29 in Ocean City, MD.
Educational Spotlight
Third Coast Percussion is offering a summer workshop for you to study with them.
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording was chosen by Everett. It is Evil Ways by Santana.
Music News
Damon brings up Dara Tucker’s take on the Netflix Documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop”.
AMC Theatres saw an 11.5% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue which its CEO attributes to the release of Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert films. Here’s the latest. -Article
If you’ve never mixed music before, it may feel daunting to learn. There’s so much depth to it that even experienced mixing engineers continue to learn and improve. But in this article, we’re going to walk through the basics of how to mix music and keep things simple. -Article
Everett Bradley Interview
The song leading into the interview is, “High Hopes” by Bruce Springsteen.
If you wanted to see what to celebrate each month, CLICK HERE.
Shout-out to Brian Dunne and Drew McKeon.
Everett was born in South Carolina, but grew up in Muncie Indiana. Shout-out to Kassandra Kocoshis.
Everett started on piano and singing. He later added saxophone and percussion.
Everett played tri-toms and sometimes xylophone in the marching band.
Shout-out to Dan Hostetler.
Damon and Everett talk about the Star of Indiana, Brass Theater, and Blast!
Everett talks about living and growing up in Indiana.
Everett talks about how he ended up playing football while also being in the band.
Everett Bradley’s brother, Luther played football professionally and other family members in sports.
Everett went to Indiana University on scholarship.
Everett talks about the broadway musical Swing! that he co-wrote and stared in.
Shout-out to Everett’s roomate in NYC and classmate at IU (and friend of the show) Shawn Pelton.
Shout-out to Paul Ossola.
People at IU at the same time as Everett include (but are not limited to): Shawn Pelton, Chris Botti, Kenny Aronoff (instructor), Kevin Bents, Crystal Taliefero, Jeff Jacobs, and David Baker (instructor) among others.
Damon comments on “The Lick”.
The band in Indiana that Everett played in was called Kilo.
Two of Everett’s musical influences are Sly and the Family Stone and Sheila E.
Everett talks about making choices and decisions as a percussionist and as a musical director.
Before moving to NYC Everett moved to L.A. Shawn convinced him to move to tour with John Eddy.
Everett talks about how he made the move to playing on Stomp.
Everett has a show he does during Christmas time called Holidelic.
Everett is an ordained minister. Rev Ev helps people get married.
Damon brings up the Stuttering Association for the Young as well as the Camp Say! Everett is the musical director.
After Bruce, Everett did the Meredith Viera TV show for a bit.
Everett talks about how he joined the Bon Jovi band.
Shout-out to Greg Mayo.
Everett talks about scheduling with different groups.
Shout-out to Anthony Almonte.
Everett chooses the iconic recording for the week.
Shout-out to Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, David Baker, and Shawn Pelton.
Everett uses Latin Percussion instruments.
You can follow Everett on his Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
The song leading out of the interview is “Say” by and performed by Everett.
