Norman Weinberg
ABOUT William Zickos Drum Set Quartet
SESSION TITLE: Performance of William Zickos’ Drumset Duets, Quartets, and Quintets
The William Zickos Drum Set Quartet is comprised of professional percussionists who studied with William Zickos while they were his students in the early 1960s. These members are John Brazelton (William Zickos’ son), Ron Vaughn (owner of Ron Vaughn Percussion), Doug Auwarter (recently retired from teaching drum set studies, jazz history, and directing the jazz and world percussion ensembles at the University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory of Music), and Norman Weinberg (Professor Emeritus of Percussion at the University of Arizona). These four musicians’ early careers were nourished by the innovative teaching and drum set compositions of William Zickos. As students of Mr. Zickos, they often performed his original drum set compositions (solos, duos, quartets, and quintets) at local, regional, and state events–including two featured performances during nationally televised Kansas City Chief’s half-time shows of Zickos’ compositions in 1964 and 1967. Zickos’ compositions were so early that it required him to create his own drum set notational system that would allow for multiple drums and cymbals. The members of this quartet have remained friends since their high school days.
