by Joe Bergamini

Dom Famularo traveled the world playing drums and inspiring people over a 50-year career that had no pre-
cedent. He was one of the most sought-after drum teachers in the world, leaving a legacy of thousands of students, including many top professionals, who sought his advice for their technique, careers — and their lives. His drum clinic performances were legendary, as he shared the stage with Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Steve Gadd, and countless others. With a business acumen equal to his breathtaking technique, he ultimately performed in over 60 countries; was an industry consultant/education director for Sabian, Mapex, D’Addario, Vic Firth, and others; wrote and published over a dozen books; and was a sought-after motivational speaker. He was equally in demand as an interviewer and emcee, acting as host for major drumming events worldwide, and interviewing many industry giants and hosting panel events for The Sessions. Beloved around the world, he became known as Drumming’s Global Ambassador. His work expanded and redefined the breadth of a career in drumming for all those to come after him.

A native New Yorker, Dom was born on August 26, 1953, into an Italian-American family on Long Island. His family shared strong bonds and a love of music, and early in his childhood, Dom took up the drums and played in a family band with his brothers and sister. By his early teens he was playing professional gigs around Long Island. At 17, he became serious about having a career as a drummer and began studying with the best teachers in his area: Ronnie Benedict, Al Miller, Joe Morello, and Jim Chapin. Each of these teachers instilled a different skill set in Famularo, and through these studies he not only polished and improved his playing but developed a great admiration for his predecessors. This fed his lifelong teaching of the lineage of the great drummers of the past, instilling a respect for the greats and the history of drumming in all his students. Dom experienced this lineage firsthand: Al Miller was friends with Buddy Rich, so Dom was able to meet Rich, get to know him, and see him play up close often. Morello studied with George Lawrence Stone and Chapin with Sanford Moeller, so Dom saw himself in the continuum of the great educators and passed that inspiration down through the generations as he himself became a legendary drum teacher.

“I have studied with the masters,” Dom said, “and what they passed on to me was an enthusiasm for self-expression. The fun in my life has been in challenging myself to be the best I can be. But rather than limit myself to just playing in a band, I want to share my talent to pass on the musical and philosophical values I’ve developed, so others can find and enjoy themselves the way I have.”

Moving to California in 1976 with some of his bandmates, Famularo took a stab a making it in the music business in L.A. While there he attended the Dick Grove School of Music, attending classes taught by Louis Bellson, Joe Porcaro, Shelly Manne, Johnny Guerin, Jim Keltner, Roy Burns, Colin Bailey, David Garibaldi, and Ralph Humphrey, and studying privately with Les DeMerle. A few years later Dom moved back to New York, studying with Charlie Perry while playing and teaching intensely. During this time, he performed with B.B. King, Lionel Hampton, Barney Kessel, Chuck Leavell, and many other great musicians.

Dom understood the business of music right away. Early in his career, he came up with the idea to give five-minute drum lessons in shopping malls and community centers, which helped to introduce drumming to hundreds of new students on Long Island. He built the teaching business at Long Island Drum Center into the top store-based drumset school in the USA and soon had a regular roster of 50 students per week. His vision reached far beyond his native Long Island, however, and soon he was on the global stage.

While he had vast experience playing with bands, Dom’s vibrant personality, humor, and breathtaking drum solos filled with chops, dynamics, and showmanship thrilled audiences from the time he started doing drum clinics, and soon major companies in the music industry noticed him. Probably the key event to Dom’s eventual worldwide fame was his signing as an endorser and education consultant by Tama Drums around 1980. Tama set him on the road doing clinics with the biggest drum stars of the day, including Simon Phillips, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Denny Carmassi, Kenny Aronoff, and others. 

Cobham became a lifelong friend, and they continued to work on projects together for the remainder of Dom’s career. “Dom was my M.C. and partner in my Art of the Rhythm Section Retreat, held in Mesa Arizona in the summers of 2016, 2017, and 2018,” says Cobham, “where the focus was on the development of rhythm section intercommunicative skills in real time on stage. Dom and I spoke of the future as if it were the present, as he and I believed that in order to make an idea take root, one first must create it and walk through its foundation in the mind before ‘walking the path’ in reality. Over the years Dom sought to set himself as an example for those who followed him by not just talking but providing himself as a living example of the act. Dom, in my mind, set a strong picture of ‘what,’ ‘how,’ and ‘who’ a teacher of the percussive arts should be. For him to be inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame is a no-brainer and should have happened years ago.”

Dom’s higher profile brought him to the attention of a new cymbal company, Sabian. He developed a friendship with founder Bob Zildjian and signed on as an endorser and consultant right around the founding of the company in 1983. Dom became nearly synonymous with the brand for the remainder of his career. Through his association with Sabian, he developed programs to locate and empower local, up-and-coming drummers to get endorsements while building their own businesses locally. Sabian sent him around the globe as a clinician and spokesperson, and from the mid-1980s, his career continued to skyrocket as he developed a global community of drummers that looked to him for inspiration.

Ultimately, Dom performed in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Israel, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Costa Rica, Honduras, Puerto Rico, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Canary Islands, and South Africa. He directed and/or emceed many major drumming events globally during the height of his travels. One of the things Dom was most proud of was the fact that he was the first Western drummer to perform clinics in China.

As a teacher, Dom’s influence was tremendous. Over the course of 40 years, he taught over 1,000 students from 20 countries, many of whom would fly to New York for intensive multi-day sessions. Many of his students have gone on to successful careers, including Claus Hessler, Jim Toscano, John Miceli (Meat Loaf), Guy Gelso (Zebra), Jules Radino (Blue Oyster Cult), Joe Bergamini (Broadway, Happy the Man), Stephane Chamberland, Mike Sorrentino (Ritchie Blackmore/Movin’ Out), Dave Stark, Jim Mola (NYC jazz artist), John Favicchia, and many others. Many of today’s top drummers also booked time with Dom to study and improve their own technique, business skills, and more.

In addition to his private teaching, Dom established franchise-style Wizdom drum schools in France, Italy, USA, China, and Canada, assisting these schools with growth, pedagogy, business lessons and best practices. In China, he was an early consultant and supporter of the Nine Beats drum school there, with over 8,000 educators, 1,200 locations, and over 38,000 students. Dom was also a pioneer in online education, giving online lessons as soon as the technology allowed; he liked to say that he was the first drum teacher to give virtual/remote lessons on the internet.

Among the events Dom participated in were the first-ever Buddy Rich Tribute Concert on Long Island (an event that he helped organize), the Pacific Rim Drum Invitational (the first drum event to be simulcast live on the internet), La Rioja Drumming Festival, Koblenz International Drummer Meeting in Germany, the Florida Drum Expo, the Paris Music Show, Ultimate Drummers Day in Australia, Heartbeat World Rhythm spectacle for Canadian T.V., and the Montreal Drumfest. At these events he shared the stage and performed together with Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Simon Phillips, Billy Cobham, David Garibaldi, Bernard Purdie, Rod Morgenstein, Chester Thompon, Terry Bozzio, Will Calhoun, Deen Castronovo, Russ McKinnon, Chad Smith, Mark Schulman, Denny Carmassi, Liberty DeVitto, Ray Luzier, Todd Sucherman, Benny Greb, Jim Chapin, and others.

Dom’s prowess as an educator led him to become an author and publisher. His masterwork, It’s Your Move, is his textbook on drum technique, and it was followed by over a dozen other books he co-authored. In 2007 he co-founded the publishing company Wizdom Media with his former student Joe Bergamini, with books distributed worldwide by Hudson Music and Alfred. As part of his association with Alfred, he organized new editions and proper compensation to the families and estates of the authors of the most famous drum books in history: Stick Control (Stone), Syncopation (Reed), and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer (Chapin). The families of these authors were among the dozens of top industry professionals who sought Dom’s business counsel throughout his life.

Dom was an inspiration to all his students and audiences, so it was a natural progression for him to add motivational speaking to his resume. He presented talks at companies, schools, and universities, and published The Cycle of Self-Empowerment, his own approach to life coaching and improvement.

Although he had tremendous skill as a speaker and player, with the attention focused on him, Dom also was a sensitive and insightful interviewer who could put anyone at ease. He worked with The Sessions Panel as an emcee and host for their music-business oriented events and also recorded a massive series of interviews on YouTube with music industry giants from across all facets of the business.

“Along with being supportive of all other drummers, Dom created a new niche and position in this business, which involved inspiring people, teaching people, bringing people together, and being an amazing master of ceremonies at all the big drum events,” says Steve Gadd. “He really used his time wisely. The way he taught made a significant contribution to the advancement of drumset playing and education. There are a lot of people out there right now that Dom has touched, and that inspiration will carry on through those people. If you talk to drummers, they love him. He was like their father. Professionals to amateurs all knew Dom and looked up to him.

“Dom was an educator like some players are artists,” continues Gadd. “He attacked it; he took it on and spread the word. Because of him, a lot of younger drummers know who guys like me are. He cared deeply about the lineage of drumming. I feel that he touched many drummers; he really shared the message, the love, and the enthusiasm for drums. I loved Dom and his family. He walked the way he talked. I think he left a deep impact on drumming.”

Dave Weckl said that Dom “was truly the global ambassador of drumming. He earned this worldwide recognition because of his energy and enthusiasm for our art form. It put him on many stages over a long period of time — performing, teaching, and inspiring many. Dom was all passion. He could light up a room talking about drums and music. His energy was always upbeat and positive, and his message was always one of positivity. Dom owned the room with his completely unique character and energy. His Sessions interviews are gold. Dom was a brilliant historian and presenter of all things drumming. I know I speak for many when I say a Hall of Fame honoring the percussive arts would not be complete without Dom Famularo. His contributions to our artform were many and unique. And he touched us all on a very personal level.”

Hudson Music and DCI Music Video founder Rob Wallis knew Dom for over thirty years. “During that time, I watched him grow from a teacher/player into his unofficial title of Drumming’s Global Ambassador,” says Wallis “I spent many trade shows with Dom and saw the trail of people follow him wherever he went. I also had the great experience of seeing him in action internationally at the La Rioja Drum Festival several years back. His worldwide reach to students, teachers, and pro players make him an ideal and necessary candidate for the PAS Hall of Fame. It’s hard to think of a more fitting candidate. On a personal note, I attended his 70th birthday party near his home on Long Island, New York shortly before his passing, and several hundred people turned out and felt the need to be there. Many travelled great distances: Europe, South America, Canada and all points in between. It was truly inspiring to see that depth that Dom had reached in these people’s lives.”

Dom was a deeply devoted family man, living on Long Island with his wife Charmaine and three sons Dominick, Jonathan, and Maxwell, surrounded by his extended family of two brothers, a sister, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Dom Famularo died of pancreatic cancer on September 27, 2023.