#506 Tristan Banks- Drummer, Percussionist, Curator, and More!
This week’s guest is Tristan Banks. Tristan has built a reputation as a knowledgeable, versatile and authentic world-class drummer and percussionist throughout his 30-year career as a recording artist and session musician. He has worked with many artists covering a wide field of musical genres including Roy Ayers, Steve Winwood, Sir Brian May, Van Morrison, Ronnie Wood, Dave Valentin, Beverley Knight, Tony Remy, David Gilmour, James Mason, Peter King, Lewis Taylor, Guy Barker, Marcos Valle, Liane Carroll, Snowboy, Terry Callier, Da Lata, Jim Mullen, Carleen Anderson and Mayra Andrade, Ben Hillier (U2, Depeche Mode, Blur), Mike Lindup (Level 42), Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Steve Howe (Yes), The Lion King (UK tour), Thriller Live (European, Brazilian tours), MC Conrad, Alexander O'Neal, Ive Mendes, Chico Cesar and Joe Lee Wilson (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins) and many more.
As a touring artist he has performed in many of the world’s top venues including Madison Square Garden, Royal Festival Hall, Central Park (NYC), Royal Albert Hall, Joe’s Pub (NYC), Queen Elizabeth Hall, Hammersmith Odeon, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, North Sea Jazz Festivals, Shepherds Bush Empire, Blue Note (Tokyo), Love Supreme, We Out Here, V Festival, Reading Festival, WOMAD Festivals and Glastonbury Festival.
Since 2021, Tristan has also been curator and venue manager at The Verdict Jazz Club in Brighton, UK, restarting the venue after its closure due to the global pandemic of 2020, The Verdict has already received a nomination for Parliamentary Jazz Award Venue of the Year 2022. Many top UK and International Jazz artists have most recently played the club including Larry Goldings, Bill Bruford, Sarah Jane Morris, Ari Hoenig, Richard Spaven, Jim Mullen, Tony Kofi, David Binney, Gary Crosby, Claire Martin, Tony Remy, Liane Carroll, Jean Toussaint, Laurence Cottle, B D Lenz, Yolanda Charles, Ivo Neame, Tom Ollendorff, Hexagonal, Emma Rawicz, Alex Hitchcock, Sultan Stevenson, Jackson Mathod as well as a number of outstanding Ubuntu Music recording artists--Quentin Collins, Matt Ridley, Paul Booth, Alina Bzhezhinska, Brandon Allen, Nigel Price, TRYPL, Andrew McCormack, HOOP and Dave O’Higgins to name a few.
In 2023 he released his long anticipated debut album 'View From Above" to critical acclaim. Mixing influences from the jazz, Latin jazz and fusion idioms, the music is a unique combination of high-octane virtuosic performance and sublimely melodic composition. Banks brings together his long-standing musical friends Paul Booth - woodwinds, John Crawford - piano and Davide Mantovani basses to articulate his musical vision.
Artists he has performed/recorded with include:
Steve Winwood, David Gilmour (CBE), Robin Millar (CBE), Sir Brian May, Van Morrison, Ronnie Wood, Mike Howlett (Strontium 90, Gong) Guy Barker (MBE), Steve Cropper, James Burton, Dave Valentin, Roy Ayers, Mike Lindup (Level 42), Beverley Knight, Samantha Barks (Les Miserables), Catherine Tyldesley, Armando Peraza (George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Carlos Santana), Carleen Anderson, Mayra Andrade, Mitch Winehouse, Kuldip Bhamra, Andy Sheppard, Marcos Valle, Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers, Da Lata, Hamish Stuart (AWB), Steve Howe (Yes), The Lion King (UK tour), Thriller Live (European,Brazilian tours) MC Conrad, Alexander O’Neal, Ive Mendes, Smoke City, Chico Cesar, Turin Brakes, Lewis Taylor, Robert Miles, Fischer-Z, Alex Wilson, Snowboy and the Latin Section, Bah Samba, Jim Mullen, Terry Callier, Reel People, BGP Allstars, Idris Mohammed (Pharaoh Sanders, Ahmed Jamal), Orlando Le Fleming (Antonio Sanchez, Mark Guiliana,) Steve Pearce (Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gadd), Arnie Lawrence (Tito Puente, Blood,Sweat and Tears), Janek Gwizdala (Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Peter Erskine), Dale Davis (Amy Winehouse), Micheal Mondesir (Billy Cobham, Jeff Beck), Byron Wallen (George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Chaka Khan), Joe Lee Wilson (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins), Tony Remy (Steps Ahead, Lonnie Liston Smith), Miles Bould (Sting), Laurence Cottle (Seal, Black Sabbath), Dennis Rollins (Courtney Pine, Jamiroquai), Nick Cohen (The Bays, Massive Attack), Karl Vanden Bossche (Sade, Mark Ronson), Thomas Dyani Akuru, Bosco d’Olivera, Ralph Salmins, Roberto Pla, Bobby Wellins, Robin Jones King Salsa, Cubana Bop, Pete King, Don Weller, Nigel Hitchcock, Gerard Presencer, Negrocan, Nitin Sawhney, Ben Castle, Mornington Lockett, Neil Yates, Derek Nash, Paul Clarvis, Tom Cawley, Roger Beaujolais, Joe Hubbard, Julian Crampton, Steve Hamilton, Simon Carter, Martin Shaw and others.
Venues of note include:
Royal Festival hall, Madison Square Garden, Central Park NYC, Royal Albert Hall, Joes Pub NYC, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Hammersmith Odeon, The London Palladium, Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club, North Sea Jazz Festivals, Shepherds Bush Empire, Blue Note Tokyo, Love Supreme, V festival, Reading Festival, Womad Festivals, Glastonbury Festival.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Jeremy Wade! Jeremy is a dynamic educator, composer, and performer based in Central Kentucky. He currently serves as the percussion instructor for Transylvania University, Lexington Christian Academy (LCA), and Jessie Clark Middle School, and as Teaching Artist for the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. He teaches dance for the Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers (KMID), and is Co-Director/ bodhrán instructor for the Kentucky Irish Music Academy (KIMA). In addition to providing class and private instruction, Jeremy regularly facilitates bodhrán workshops and Irish music/ dance presentations at schools and festivals throughout the Ohio Valley and beyond.
A versatile performer, Jeremy is a member of several musical ensembles and maintains an active schedule as a freelance percussionist, specializing in bodhrán, timpani, and drumset. He is the principal percussionist for the Central Kentucky Concert Band, and holds the drumset chair for Family Worship Center and Tates Creek Christian Church. He regularly serves as a drummer/ percussionist for local pit orchestras – including LCA and Woodford County High School – and has played for the Lexington Children’s Theatre, Woodford Theatre, and The REP Theater Company. Previously, Jeremy performed and recorded with Lexington-based rock band, Analog Apostles (2013-2014), and held the drumset chair for LifeGate Church (2010-2015).
Since 2009, Jeremy has cultivated a thriving presence in the Irish traditional music community. He has studied with several of the world’s most well-respected bodhrán players – including Colm Phelan, Robbie Walsh, and Cormac Byrne – and travels to Ireland annually to hone his skills. He plays bodhrán as one half of Irish trad duo, Set Course, and regularly serves as an accompanist at local feiseanna and céilí events. Jeremy’s bodhrán performance can be heard on several albums/ soundtracks, including Maiden Voyage (Set Course, 2017), Songs for the Church (Mason Ballard, 2024), and two documentaries produced by Witnessing History. He commissioned/ originated the bodhrán part for Chad Floyd’s EscALE8 (2020) and premiered the piece in 2021 with the Campbellsville University Chamber Percussion Group. In addition to garnering accolades as an instrumentalist, Jeremy is an award-winning Irish dancer, and performs as a member of the KMID faculty dance company.
Jeremy has a robust history in the marching arts that spans over 20 years. Since 2008, he has taught a number of high school marching bands (LCA, Bryan Station, Tates Creek, George Rogers Clark, Woodford County, Lafayette) and competitive percussion ensembles (LCA, Bryan Station, Woodford County, INov8, Triple Crown), and has provided percussion/ wind arrangements for schools across Kentucky. As a performer, he was a member of the Lafayette High School (2003-2006) and University of Kentucky Wildcat Marching Bands (2007-2010), played snare for the Stallion Stampede Drumline (2006), and performed as the timpanist for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps (2011). Additionally, he was a charter member of the Tates Creek Indoor Ensemble – playing timpani (2007-2009, 2011-2012) and snare (2010).
Jeremy Wade resides in Lexington, KY, and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society. He holds a Master of Arts in Teaching (Integrated Music P-12) from the University of the Cumberlands, and a B.A. in Telecommunications from the University of Kentucky (with an emphasis on audio and video production).
Happy Birthday to Roland Garcia! Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Roland "Gajate" Garcia is a touring , percussionist and educator. Roland is the son of renowned percussionist, teacher, inventor and friend of the show, Richie Gajate Garcia.
Roland Gajate Garcia was the percussionist for the internationally acclaimed television show, American Idol as well as Dancing with the Stars. A dynamic and versatile multi percussionist, Roland brings his energy and talent to the show's house bands.
Roland Garcia has also toured and/or worked with Rosalia, Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Robin Thicke, Raphael Saadiq, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Franky Valli, Googoosh and Tamia. Roland has received his musical education from the prestigious Berklee School of Music and Cal State University Northridge.
You can also catch Roland Garcia in various LA Latin clubs with the Yari More Orchestra, Latin Sol salsa band and Oskar Cartaya Enclave.
Happy Birthday to Mark Wessels! Mark is an internationally respected author and educator and is currently the Director of Education for the Avedis Zildjian Company. As a publisher, his “Fresh Approach” method books are among the most successful in the world, with over 400,000 copies in print between the current titles.
Over the past 25+ years, Mark has been instrumental in developing online educational content. From his founding of one of the first websites devoted to percussion education (TheDrumClub.com) in 1995 to his work building www.vicfirth.com from scratch in 2001, Mark created one of the most popular online destinations for drummers and percussionists today. Along with many of the world’s most prominent artists, Mark produced many of Vic Firth’s most popular educational projects, from the Essential Rudiment posters and accompanying videos and play-along tracks to Percussion 101, WebRhythms, Groove Essentials, Vic Licks and Marimba Literature Library to the popular DCI/WGI “In the Lot” videos which he began filming in 2001. Mark has continually pushed the bar forward with percussion entertainment as well. He was instrumental in filming and producing videos from PASIC, Montreal Drumfest, UK Drum Show as well as the currently popular VFJams and Zildjian Live productions to name a few.
Mark’s background is varied in the world of percussion. He performed in the snare line of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (1983), holds a B.M.E from the University of Texas at Arlington, was a public school band director and percussion educator in Texas (1984-1999), served as Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps (1985-1991), and was an active adjudicator for DCI and WGI (1991-2003).
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 Chris Berry. Chris has performed or recorded with AJR, Iggy Pop, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, Holy Ghost!, Joakim, Roosevelt, The Juan Maclean and many more!
Happy Birthday to Adam Hanson! Northwoods aka Adam Hanson is a drummer, guitar player, songwriter and producer from Massachusetts. Adam graduated from Berklee College of Music and has since spent his professional years based out of Los Angeles. Since working in LA he’s spent as much time in the studio as the stage. Some of the artists Adam has worked with include David Ryan Harris of the John Mayer band, Anthony Ramos, JP Saxe, Julia Michaels, Lennon Stella, Will Wells, Sean Mendes, Quinn Sullivan, Amie Miriello, Kevin Garrett, Badsnacks among others.
Adam has built his career off being a musician, however also ready for a challenge no matter what the call might be. He’s been everything from a drummer, tour manager, stage tech, multipurpose engineer, producer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, singer, production assistant, assistant engineer, and now artist. He’s been able tour nationally and internationally along with appearing on acclaimed shows such as Ellen, The Juno Awards, Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve and many more.
As much as Adam loves playing and working with other people on multiple projects, he now has something of his own. Northwoods, is a project started in the wake of the pandemic. Debut album “This Never Happened”, to be released May 6th, 2022!
Gig Alerts
Gary Clark Jr. is back on tour. Friend of the show, J.J. Johnson will be playing drums with him.
Damon is heading back on tour with Ziggy Marley.
The Bourbon and Beyond Festival is happening in Louisville, KY from September 24th-27th.
The All Things Go Festival is happening in NYC from September 25th-27th.
Educational Spotlight
The Percussive Arts Society’s Education Committee, has a PAS Classroom segment they release on their YouTube pages (as well as other mediums).
Shout-out to friend of the show, Mike Dawson, and the rest of the Drumset Magazine team for the newest issue release.
Iconic Recording
Tristan picked “What A Fool Believes” by The Doobie Brothers, featuring Michael McDonald. It’s on Kenny Loggins’ album, ‘Nightwatch; and The Doobies’ album, ‘Minute by Minute’ The rest of the personnel can be found HERE.
Music News
The Kennedy Center’s board will vote on whether to close for renovations amid a court battle over their renewed attempts to add Trump’s name to the facility. -Article
Celine Dion makes her triumphant return to the stage as she kicks off her Paris residency, following years of battling Stiff Person Syndrome. -Article
Shout-out to Dominique Messier on drums.
Dolly Parton will be memorialized in her hometown, as Nashville Airport has unanimously voted to change its name to include the music and philanthropy icon. -Article
Tristan Banks Interview
The song leading into the interview is, “View From Above” from his album with the same name.
Tristan got to hang out with friend of the show, Ed Toth and Eguie Castrillo (as well as Edwin Sands who is in the Steve Winwood band), while he has been on the road in the USA,.
Tristan gives his view on sports. Damon brings up the origin of the name Soccer.
Tristan talks about how he has played with multiple artists of different genres.
John Banks is Tristan’s dad.
Tristan talks about the first gigs and origins of music for him as a youth.
Shout-out and R.I.P. to Phil Solomon.
Tristan almost went to the New School. Damon and Tristan talk about the pros and cons of going to university.
Shout-out to the New Ollerton Blue Jay juvenile marching/drum corps. Damon mentions the Blue Eagles.
Tristan talks about different styles of music requiring different ways of playing.
Shout-out to Oli Savill, who went to Brazil with Tristan.
Tristan and Damon talk about some Northeastern Brazilian rhythms.
Drum Tech school has now become the BIMM Music Institute London.
Shout-out to friends of the show mentioned by Tristan, Giovanni Hidalgo and Richie Flores.
Tristan studied with percussionist, Satin Singh for a bit.
Damon brings up percussionist Thomas Dyani-Akuru.
Shout-out to Robin Jones, Williams Cumberbache, and Alex Wilson among others.
Tristan talks about sneaking “world” grooves into “pop” music. Especially on the current tour he’s on.
Tristan talks about the heirarchy and balance between a drummer and a percussionist.
Tristan teaches. If you would like to study with him, REACH OUT HERE.
Tristan has been running the Verdict Jazz Club. He talks about his experience taking over the reigns.
He talks about the beginning of the pandemic and his adventure.
Tristan talks about the importance of small and medium sized venues.
Shout-out to the Music Venue Trust and National Independent Venue Association.
Tristan talks about his other jobs running the venue, including chef. He has an offset firebox smoker!
Tristan picks his top 5 directors
Ridley Scott - George Lucas - Darren Aronofsky - Quentin Tarantino - Chrstopher Nolan. Honorable mention to Stephen Spielberg.
Tristan is also a cyclist, and covers major distances. He talks about which was the toughest country to ride through.
Shout-out to Janek Gwidzala, Brad and Elliot Mason.
Tristan picks the iconic recording.
Tristan uses Zildjian Cymbals, Gretsch Drums, Remo Drumheads, Vic Firth Sticks, and Protection Racket Cases.
Shout-out to the hometown drummers from Tristan’s neighborhood.
Tristan talks about inspiration vs. cultural appropriation.
You can follow Tristan on his Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
You can get his music on BANDCAMP. You can get his loops at Loop Masters.
The song leading out of the interview is, “Flex” from the album ‘View From Above’ by Tristan, featuring Paul Booth, John Crawford and Davide Mantovani.
