In Memoriam

Jazz drummer and educator Jack Mouse died on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 at age 79. Born and raised in Emporia, Kansas, he began playing drums at age four, and longtime friend Karen Sommers told KVOE News that he was a “true child prodigy.” By his late teens he was performing with such musical greats as…

PAS Hall of Fame member and longtime Chicago Symphony Orchestra percussionist Al Payson died on June 23, 2024. Albert Eugene Pisoni was born January 15, 1934 in Springfield, Illinois. The family changed their name to Payson when Al was in grade school. When Al was five years old, he started taking private drum lessons from the…

Stuart Saunders Smith died on June 3, 2024. He composed more than 300 works, with instrumentation that included percussion and non-percussion instruments, and ensembles of various sizes from small to large. According to Robert McCormick, “The music of Stuart Saunders Smith is unique, eclectic, often esoteric and always full of surprises. Perhaps even more important…

By Rick Mattingly Ed Mann, best known for being a percussionist with Frank Zappa from 1977 to 1988, died on June 1, 2024. Born January 14, 1954 in Great Barrington, Mass., Mann began playing piano at age 3 and acquired a drumset at age 11. During his teenage years he played in a variety of…

by Lauren Vogel Weiss Born on February 9, 1927, Jim Sewrey devoted his life to music education for more than six decades. He was an instrumental music educator, teaching general music to 3rd and 4th graders, band and orchestra to middle schoolers, as well as directing high school bands. He was also a former college…

by Lauren Vogel Weiss Chris Brooks, Vice-President of percussion publishing company Row-Loff Productions, passed away unexpectedly in an accident at his beloved cabin in the Tennessee mountains on October 11, 2023 at the age of 66. Row-Loff Productions, founded in 1990 by Brooks and Chris Crockarell (RLP’s President), has hundreds of titles on prescribed music…

Drummer, educator, author, and motivational speaker Dom Famularo, known as “Drumming’s Global Ambassador,” died on Sept. 27, 2023. Born August 26, 1953, Dom studied from such legendary drummers as Joe Morello, Jim Chapin, Al Miller, Charlie Perry, Colin Bailey, Shelly Manne, Papa Jo Jones, and Ronnie Benedict. He was known for blending the techniques of…

Joseph “Joe” D. Calato, founder of the drumstick company Regal Tip, died on September 1, 2023, at age 102. Born in 1921 in Niagara Falls, New York (where he lived his whole life), Joe D. Calato followed in his father’s footsteps. “My father was a pit drummer in the days of vaudeville,” he said. “I…

Drummer, educator, and author Peter Magadini died on August 13, 2023. Magadini was widely known for his interest and expertise in polyrhythms as applied in western music and drumset. He published two major works on the subject: Polyrhythms for the Drumset and Polyrhythms: The Musicians Guide (first published in two volumes in 1967), which Modern…

Phil Faini, a staple at the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts for more than 40 years, died on June 7, 2023 at the age of 91.  Philip James Faini was born in Masontown, Penn., and by age 16, he played regularly with dance bands in the region. His work was featured on the…