In Memoriam

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…

Vibraphonist and longtime first-call Los Angeles studio musician Emil Richards—whose playing graced countless movie and TV soundtracks, albums, and jingles—died on December 13, 2019. Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1932, Emilio Joseph Radocchia began studying xylophone at age six. He was soon attracted to the vibraphone after hearing Lionel Hampton. “My roots are from Hamp,”…

Harvey Vogel, founder of Lone Star Percussion in Dallas, Texas, passed away at the age of 83 on August 1, 2019 following years of living with lymphoma and leukemia. Although he sold the business in 2000, he continued to keep in touch with his percussion colleagues, attending the annual percussion conventions when they were held…

Composer and percussionist Michael Colgrass died on July 3, 2019. Born in 1932, he began his musical career in Chicago in 1944 as a jazz drummer. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1954 with a degree in performance and composition, and his studies included training with Darius Milhaud and Lukas Foss. He served…

G. Allan “Al” O’Connor died on June 9, 2019. He was a native of Long Island, New York, and he earned his Bachelor of Music Degree and Performers Certificate from SUNY–Fredonia and a Masters in Percussion Performance degree from the University of Illinois.  At Northern Illinois University (NIU), in 1973, Al O’Connor was the first…

By Rick Mattingly Legendary studio drummer Hal Blaine died on March 11, 2019. Although the average music fan may not know his name, it’s safe to assume that anyone who has listened to popular music over the past 50 years has heard Hal Blaine play drums. Even though the bulk of his studio work was…

Steelband player, educator, arranger, tuner, and builder Clifford Alexis died on January 29, 2019. Born on January 15, 1937 in Trinidad, Alexis was attracted to the steelbands in his east Port of Spain neighborhood. By age eight Alexis was a regular in the panyards. As a teenager, Alexis joined the Hit Paraders steelband. From Hit…

Less than seven weeks after he was inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame, Richard Weiner passed away on December 30, 2018 at the age of 82. He was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra for 48 seasons (1963–2011), 43 years as principal percussionist. He was still on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of…