2020

Drummer John S. Pratt, author of the well-known book 14 Modern Contest Solos for Snare Drum died on April 6, 2020. “Jack,” as he was known to his friends and family, was born on January 13, 1931 in Seneca Falls, New York. He began playing the drums at age ten under the guidance of his high school…

Drumstick maker Ron Vater died on January 25, 2020. Born on January 25, 1957, Vater spent much of his youth at Jack’s Drum Shop in Boston, which was owned by his grandfather, Jack Adams, who would take Ron and his brother, Alan, to see such drummers as Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, and Elvin Jones when…

by Rick Mattingly Back in the 1980s, before email, Neil Peart preferred writing letters to talking on the phone. Being that he was the one who wrote the lyrics to Rush’s songs, it made sense that he valued the written word. I received some of his letters when I was an editor at Modern Drummer…

Former Ohio University Professor Guy Andrew Remonko, Jr. died January 4, 2020 of kidney cancer. He was 78. Remonko was born September 28, 1941 in Connellsville, Pa. He attended West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va., where he received his bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance and Theory Pedagogy in 1963, and a master’s degree in Music…