Hall of Fame

by James A. Strain Elden Chandler “Buster” Bailey says that his induction into the PAS Hall of Fame “is one of the thrills of my life! I am humbled by the letters of recommendation written from colleagues, and very proud to be selected. It has been a very emotional experience. It made me weep.”   The…

by Rick Mattingly The first time vibraphonist Milt Jackson tried to sit in with a bebop band at a club on New York’s 52nd Street, the clubowner wouldn’t even let him in the door. “Dizzy Gillespie had called Charlie Parker up and told Charlie that if I ever came down, he should let me play,”…

by Dean Anderson His performance credits are staggering, like reading a who’s who in jazz: Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Charles Mingus, Woody Shaw, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Reggie Workman, Quincy Jones, Dexter Gordon, Tal Farlow, Earl Hines, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Frank Morgan, Hank Jones, Frank Foster, Phineas Newborn, Charles McPhereson, Jaki…

by James Strain For fifty years, Alexander Lepak, co-author of the famous Friese-Lepak Timpani Method, has been playing timpani in his hometown with the Hartford Symphony. His founding of the percussion department in the late 1940s and the percussion ensemble in 1950 at the Hartt School makes it one of the oldest university percussion programs…

by Rick Mattingly The small announcement that appeared in the December 1935 issue of Leedy Drum Topics gave no hint that drum history was about to be changed.  “Geo. Lawrence Stone, famous Boston drummer who conducts the country’s largest drum school at 61 Hanover St., Boston, Mass., is now offering a new book of drum…

by Rick Mattingly Relaxing in his Knoxville hotel room after his PASIC ’83 clinic, Tony Williams reflected on what he hoped he was giving to other drummers. “I would like to be able to give off the same things that inspired me to really love the instrument and love music,” he said. “That was one…

by James A. Strain Widely regarded as a most versatile and musical drummer, Shelly Manne (1920-1984) was a founding father of the West Coast jazz scene in the 1950s. Manne possessed a phenomenal technique, which he channeled into some of the most creative, lyrical drumming ever heard. His solos were unique, sometimes humorous, and above…

by Terry O’Mahoney Performer, teacher, instrument manufacturer, author, mentor—Alan Abel was all of these things. Abel performed under some of the greatest conductors of our time including Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, and Wolfgang Sawallisch—all Music Directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He performed most of the major works of symphonic repertoire and participated in numerous world…

by Rick Mattingly There has been a long-standing misperception about Roy Haynes – one that the influential jazz drummer wants cleared up once and for all. “Everything you read about me says I was born in 1926, but that’s wrong. I was born in 1925, so I’m 73 now, not 72,” Haynes says, proudly. “When…

by James A. Strain One of the most recognizable names in the field of mallet percussion is the namesake of the J. C. Deagan Company, John Calhoun Deagan. Trained as a concert clarinetist, Deagan’s dissatisfaction with the intonation of the glockenspiels used in theater orchestras with which he performed led him to experiment with the…