#476 Garry Kvistad- Percussionist, Instrument Builder, Educator, Author and More!
Happy Fat Tuesday! (a.k.a. Mardi Gras)
This week’s guest is Garry Kvistad! Garry, founder of Woodstock Chimes and a professional musician. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music from Northern Illinois University, where he studied music, art and physics in the pursuit of building musical instruments. In 2020 Garry was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. He joins celebrates such as Ringo Starr, Jack DeJohnette, Mickey Hart, Buddy Rich, and Gene Krupa to name a few.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Juels Thomas! Juels Thomas has never lived in a house without a drumset. She thinks this is normal. Her father was a drummer and started teaching her to play at the age of five. From there, she went on to march snare all four years of high school, graduate with a BA in Professional Music Business from Berklee College of Music in Boston and is currently the Director of Marketing and Artist Relations for Drum Workshop, Inc., which includes DW Drums, DWe, Gretsch Drums, Latin Percussion, Pacific Drums & Percussion and Slingerland. Juels is involved in the marketing strategy, planning and budgeting for all DW brands as well as overseeing artist and industry relations globally. She also manages the company’s trade show presence, clinic tours, artist sessions and participation at music festivals all over the world. Juels has been an active Advisory Member of the Percussive Arts Society’s Drumset Committee since 2008 and currently serves on PAS’s Board of Directors.
Happy Birthday to Jessie Caraballo! Jessie was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on February 14, 1985. He has managed to forge a career that few people twice his age achieve. Currently playing with Latin superstar Marc Anthony, Jessie dazzles with his fluid style and technique.
Jessie’s God given abilities were seen early on, at age six, when he began playing drums with the family band. By the time he was fifteen, he went on his first tour with the Christian band El Trio De Hoy. This began a professional career which would see him playing concerts and local clubs in the local Orlando, Florida area. By the age of sixteen, he landed a gig with Pop/Latin singer Brenda K Starr. This led to many other opportunities, including recording and performing with Huey Dunbar, Don Omar, Tito Nieves, Ng2, Jennifer Lopez, Domingo Quinonez, Tony Vega, Frankie Negron, Charlie Cruz, Michael Stuart, N- Klave, Jose Alberto El Canario, Samuel Hernandez, Ron Kenoly, Tercer Cielo, Vico C, Funky, Jan, Lilly Goodman, William Mcdowell, Sunny Paxson, Sisaundra Lewis, Eric Darius, Nick Collionne and many others. Jessie also has worked with noted producers, among them Sergio George, Ricky Gonzales, Angel Fernandez as well as such clients as Disney World. In 2005 Jessie did a nationwide tour called The Juntos Tour which featured Marc Anthony, Alejandro Fernandez and Chayanne. In 2006 Jessie did another Juntos tour which featured Marc Anthony, Marco Antonio Solis and Laura pausini. In 2007 Jessie did another Juntos tour which featured Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez.
Happy Birthday to Fausto Cuevas III! Fausto Cuevas is a native of Brownsville, Texas, where he began playing drums at the age of 11. He continued throughout grade and high school, making his way to Boston's Berklee College of Music, where he discovered his love for percussion and studied with Giovanni Hidalgo and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez.
From Boston, Fausto traveled to Los Angeles where he currently resides.
In addition to performances at the famed Playboy Jazz Festival and The Blue Note in New York City, Fausto has recorded, performed and toured with artists & projects ranging from Latin to Legend, including Julio Iglesias, Celia Cruz, Teena Marie, Cheo Feliciano, Al Jarreau, Tito Nieves, Nestor Torres, Roy Hargrove, and Britney Spears (who he joined for her Onyx Hotel 2004 World Tour).
Fausto recently completed the Sugarwater Festival with Queen Latifah and the High School Musical - The Concert Tour; performed at the World Music and Lady of Soul Music Awards with Sheila E and Amerie; the City of Hope Benefit with Rickey Minor Band and Taylor Hicks; and the Tobago Jazz Festival with Natalie Cole, Vanessa Williams, Patti LaBelle, Najee, and Johnny Gil.
Happy Birthday to Tom Rarick! Master Sgt. Tom Rarick who is a percussionist with the Ceremonial Brass, The United States Air Force Band, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. A native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, his Air Force career began in 1997. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Rarick earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in percussion performance in 1996. His former teachers include Dr. Gary Olmstead, Dr. Jack Stamp and Mr. Ron Horner. Tom is also the percussion arranger for the Bluecoats Drum Corps.
Happy Birthday to Diego Alvarez! Diego "El Negro" Alvarez, is a master cajón player born in Venezuela. He lived 16 years in Spain where he developed his career alongside the most prestigious flamenco dance companies such as Joaquin Cortez, Antonio Canales, Sara Baras, Nuevo Ballet Español and Paco Peña among others. With more than 12 nominations to the Latin Grammys, winner of a Latin Grammy in 2010 for best Rock album of the year for "Sera" by La Vida Boheme. Promoting El Cajon as a universal instrument, showing its main roots the Peruvian and the flamenco. Now lives in Los Angeles California, where he continues working with different musical projects between flamenco and jazz.
Happy Birthday to Dr. Andy Bliss! Andy is a solo artist, conductor, curator, and educator who maintains a dynamic career of musical collaboration. Residing in Knoxville, TN, his performances have been heard locally at the Tennessee Theatre and the Knoxville Museum of Art, and abroad in locations such as the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany), the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the Patagonia Percussion Festival (Argentina), the LiveWire Festival in Baltimore, and Stanford’s Cantor Center for Visual Arts.
Andy is the Artistic Director of Nief-Norf, whose summer festival is now in its tenth year; there he performs, teaches, and conducts while curating a dozen concerts annually. Additionally, since 2011, Andy has served as the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Tennessee. He is proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist and thanks Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, Evans, Black Swamp, and Meinl Percussion for their generous support.
Happy Birthday to Nate Werth! Nate is one of today's most innovative and versatile percussionists. Hailing from Dyer, Indiana, his approach to diverse musical styles, as well as an inventive use of traditional and non-traditional percussion, defines his unique sound. Nate's musical career began at age 8 while taking orchestral percussion lessons. Soon after, he developed a love for all worlds of percussion. After years of practice, Nate decided to pursue a career in music. He subsequently attended the prestigious University of North Texas from 2001 to 2006, where he refined his technical skills and studied with legendary musicians and educators, including Poovalur Sriji, Jose Aponte, Gideon Alorwoyie, Paul Rennick, Christopher Deane, and Mark Ford.
After his formal studies, Nate quickly became a staple in the Dallas-Fort Worth R&B and Gospel music scene. Over the next 11 years, he formed intimate musical relationships with Grammy Award Winners Robert "Sput" Searight, Shaun Martin, and Bernard Wright. In 2013, Nate moved to New York City to further immerse himself in a wide array of musical cultures.
A Meinl Percussion, Meinl Cymbals, Tama Drums, and Vic Firth endorser, Nate has been actively recording and touring world wide for the past decade. He has worked with internationally acclaimed artists such as Snarky Puppy, Screaming Headless Torsos, David Crosby, Q-Tip, Lalah Hathaway, Susana Baca, The Lee Boys, Turkuaz, Myron Butler and Levi, Jamison Ross, and The Metropole Orchestra.
Happy Birthday to Chris Smith! Chief Musician Chris Smith, joined the United States Coast Guard Band in February 2005. Originally from Danbury, Connecticut, MUC Smith did his undergraduate studies at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. He studied percussion with Benjamin Toth, orchestral percussion with Mike Werner of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, hand drumming with Glen Velez, Latin percussion with Johnny Almendra, and timpani with Alexander Lepak. MUC Smith has performed regularly with the New Haven Symphony, Orchestra New England, Bridgeport Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, and Ridgefield Symphony, as well as freelancing on the steel drums throughout the Northeast.
Gig Alerts
The Love Rocks Concert (and fundraiser) is happening on Thursday March, 5th. Friend of the show, Shawn Pelton will be on drums.
Fat Tuesday (a.k.a. Mardi Gras) just happened and you can search for events in your area on Eventbrite to attend.
Santana and The Doobie Brothers announce the Oneness Tour, starting in June and ending in August. Friends of the show Ed Toth and Marc Quiñones will be playing with the Doobies, while friends of the show, Karl Perazzo and Paoli Mejias will be playing with Santana.
Damon Grant will be playing percussion with David Ryan Harris and his All-Star Band in a farewell concert to the current location of the Hotel Cafe (before it moves to its new and larger location) on Saturday March, 14th. More info and tickets AVAILABLE HERE. Doors at 6:30pm/Show at 7:00pm PST. Friend of the show, Terence F. Clark will be on drums in between his tour dates with Brandi Carlile.
Educational Spotlight
Lab (Drum) Camp is having their 10th anniversary and happening in Greece May 17th-22nd. Friend of the show Dr. John Wooton will be one of the instructors.
The Drum Fantasy Camp is happening August 1st-5th in Pasadena, CA. Dave Weckl and Keith Carlock were announced as instructors. Between the time of recording the podcast episode and these show notes, Steve Smith has been added as another instructor.
There are more upcoming days of percussion for the month of February (and beyond).
Iconic Recording
Garry picked the “Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez, with his former teacher, Cloyd Duff on timpani.
Music News
A slew of celebrities have called it quits with the Wasserman Agency over its CEO’s connections to Ghislaine Maxwell in the released Epstein files. -Article
Casey Wasserman told staff on Friday night that he will be putting his talent agency up for sale amid the fallout from the Epstein files. -Article
Trump is reportedly in talks with Live Nation to take over the Kennedy Center’s venue operations, early-stage scuttlebutt reveals. The possibility follows rumors of intense behind-the-scenes discussions between the concert giant and the Trump Administration to avert a lengthy DOJ trial. -Article
Recent DOJ turbulence and reports of Live Nation looking to cut a deal have the National Consumers League (NCL) concerned about the status of the government’s antitrust case. It’s all part of a growing pushback against the possibility of a backroom deal — and scuttled DOJ trial. -Article
Here is a Mardi Gras Playlist.
Here is a Lunar New Year Playlist.
Here is a Black History Month Playlist.
Garry Kvistad Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Music for 18 Musicians” by the Steve Reich Ensemble. The album is called, ‘Reich: Music for 18 Musicians’.
Damon and Garry talk about meeting at this past year’s PASIC.
Garry is in the Woodstock area of Hudson Valley, NY.
Shout-out to Joe Bergamini and his U.S. National Park Challenge.
Garry is from the Chicago suburbs (Oak Park, Illinois) originally. He talks about what drew him to Woodstock. He mentions the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony.
Shout-out to the Creative Music Studio.
Garry mentions that the company he sold, Woodstock Chimes, started in DeKalb, Il through the Black Earth Percussion group that he was in with Chris Braun, Richard Kvistad (Garry’s brother), and Allen Otte.
Garry attended Oberlin College and Conservatory.
Shout-out to Harry Partch.
Garry talks about the massive collection of instruments he has. He also gives a shout-out to Nexus. He talks about his future plans for the new space.
Damon mentions the Musical Instrument Museum (The M.I.M.)
Shout-out to the late Thomas Rossing and his books.
Garry mentions a couple of concert halls that he enjoyed the acoustics in like the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Barcelona, Spain, Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy, Carnegie Hall in NYC, and Maverick Hall in Woodstock, NY.
Garry attended Interlochen Arts Academy for high school after going for summer camp. The band director was a trombone player at Interlochen.
Garry’s dad was a trumpet player and the mayor in Franklin Park, Il.
Garry talks about his passion vs. his gift.
Garry talks about his transition from Black Earth Percussion to Steve Reich. He met the Nexus guys with Steve and replaced John Wyre.
Damon and Garry talk about relationships and getting a gig.
Garry started the Woodstock Beat Concert Series, and the Drum Boogie Festival.
Garry talks about his future goals. Shout-out to the San Francisco Exploratorium and the mechanical musical instrument museum in Utrecht Netherlands, also known as Museum Speelklok.
Garry talks about player piano type instruments and orchestrions. He mentions the one Pat Metheny build.
Garry picks the iconic recording for the week. He mentions the riot that the music caused.
Garry and his brother Rick both won competitions playing Darius Milhaud's “Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra”
To audition for Oberlin, Garry played the first movement of Bach’s A minor violin concerto, the Milhaud percussion concerto, and Alexander Tcherepnin’s Sonatina for Timpani among other pieces.
Shout-out to Rick Kvistad, Mike Ranta, Lou Harrison, Cloyd Duff, Richard Weiner, the Black Earth members, the Nexus members, Steve Reich and his ensemble members, Jack Mckenzie, Thomas Siwe, and Stacey Bowers at Woodstock Chimes.
Garry has used Zildjian Cymbals, Pearl Drums, Adams Percussion, Innovative Percussion Implements, and Woodstock Chimes.
Garry talks about Black Earth starting in a barn on a farm and being inspired by Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
The song leading out of the interview is from a Black Earth Percussion Group album recording.
