In 1967, I was 17 and was about to start college in the fall. My hometown of Franklin Park, Illinois was celebrating its 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee on August 3rd of that year. All the men in town were asked to grow a beard for the parade, and, being the good citizen that I was,… Read more »
Blog
John Wyre: Thoughts on Rhythm
In 1997-98, I conducted a series of interviews with percussionists to discuss their thoughts on rhythm. The following is an excerpt from my interview with John Wyre (1941-2006) that took place on December 15, 1997 in Birmingham, England where Nexus was performing the Takemitsu percussion concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. … Read more »
Sharda Sahai: Thoughts on Rhythm
In 1997-98, I conducted a series of interviews with percussionists to discuss their thoughts on rhythm. The following is an excerpt from my interview with Sharda Sahai (1935-2011) that took place on December 12, 1997 in Southall, London, England. Teaching Time Feel RH When you teach students tabla in a… Read more »
Bob Becker: Thoughts on Rhythm
In 1997-98, I conducted a series of interviews with percussionists to discuss their thoughts on rhythm. The following is an excerpt from my interview with Bob Becker that took place on February 6, 1998 while Nexus was on tour in Des Moines, IA. Early Rhythmic Study RH How did you develop an accurate sense… Read more »
Alan Abel: Thoughts on Rhythm
In 1997-98, I conducted a series of interviews with percussionists to discuss their thoughts on rhythm. The following is an excerpt from my interview with Alan Abel that took place on March 29, 1998 in Wynnewood, PA. RH How did you develop an accurate sense of time? AA When I was really young,… Read more »
Time in the Rock – Travails of a Composer
Tragedy. “A drama typically involving a person destined to experience downfall or destruction, as through a character flaw, or conflict with some overpowering force such as fate or an unyielding society.” Hubris. “An extreme and unreasonable feeling of self-confidence.” Posthumous. “Published after the death of the author.” In May of 2001 I began work on… Read more »
The Solo Snare Drum: Bob’s interview with Jonathan Curtis
In September 2020 I was invited by British percussionist Jonathan Curtis to take part in his snare drum research project. Details about his work can be viewed HERE. Jonathan was particularly interested in some of the ideas in my book Rudimental Arithmetic, as well as more generally about composing music for solo snare drum…. Read more »
Eight Etudes for Snare Drum
This month – October, 2020 – Keyboard Percussion Publications released a new edition of my Eight Etudes for Snare Drum. The etudes included in the collection were composed during 2005 and 2006, and formed the seventh and final part of Rudimental Arithmetic – A Drummer’s Study of Pattern and Rhythm, published by KPP in 2008…. Read more »
NEXUS at Fifty: Part 8
#NEXUSat50 1984 FOUR MONTH WORLD TOUR: CHINA! In May we embarked on a tour that would take us to 10 countries. This meant putting a great many other things in Life on hold – but what an opportunity! We began in China where we were the first Western percussion group to perform in the People’s… Read more »
NEXUS at Fifty: Part Seven
#NEXUSat50 1982 PLAYING WITH POETRY We spent 3 days at Toronto’s McClear Place with 78-year-old poet Earle Birney, recording a 3 volume set. Released in LP and audio cassette format, they have never been re-issued as CDs, but 2 of the poems were included in our later “The Best of NEXUS” CD. We had… Read more »
More from Bob’s Archive (Part 9) – In Ancient Temple Gardens
Following Nexus’ first concert tour to Japan in 1976 my friend and colleague Bill Cahn composed two major works: Nara, for solo percussionist; and In Ancient Temple Gardens, for xylophonist/percussionist and chamber orchestra. Bill himself premiered the latter piece in 1977 with the Rochester Chamber Orchestra. Nexus celebrated its tenth anniversary during 1981/82 with a… Read more »
More from Bob’s Archive (Part 8) – El Duo
In 1988 the distinguished Canadian composer Norman Symonds (1920 – 1998) wrote a duet for accordion and marimba titled El Duo. The brilliant accordionist Joseph Petric and I premiered the piece at The Music Gallery in Toronto, and then recorded it in 2001. El Duo is included on Petric’s CD “Orbiting Garden”, released on the… Read more »
More from Bob’s Archive (Part 7) – from Hatzis: Four Rituals
In 2003 Nexus was able to commission a new work from the distinguished Canadian composer Christos Hatzis through a grant from the Laidlaw Foundation. We premiered his piece Four Rituals for Percussion Quintet, Chorus and Audience in December, 2004 on the Faculty Artists Series at the University of Toronto. The piece is in four movements:… Read more »
More from Bob’s Archive (Part 6) – Palta (revised version)
In February, 2004 Frank Epstein invited me to be a soloist on the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble’s “Rendezvous in Rhythm” concert. Along with Mudra and three of my xylophone medley arrangements I played my piece Palta in the revised version for tabla solo with 6 percussion players, piano and electric bass. Also on the… Read more »
NEXUS at Fifty: Part Six
1980 SYMPHONY POPS and ERICH KUNZEL We were developing repertoire for symphonic pops concerts mostly centered around orchestrations of the novelty ragtime music that Bob Becker and @BillCahn had arranged. John Wyre’s and Bill’s orchestra positions in Toronto and Rochester connected them with Erich Kunzel who was becoming a leading pops conductor in North America…. Read more »
