Posted on May - 08 - 2010

Cymbal makers, percussionists gather for two-day ‘summit’

Having played with the likes of Weather Report and Steely Dan, Peter Erskine sees his name most often preceded by a descriptor like “world-class drummer.” But as the celebrated drum kit player and teacher is the first to point out, that’s not entirely accurate.

“Most of the time we’re playing on the cymbals. That’s what provides the swinging feel and the beat and most of those good things,” says Erskine. “The drums are very important, but the cymbals have a mystique and beauty they don’t. They are so individual, and it’s the most complex sounding of all percussion instruments. It has the most overtones and the most harmonics and the most potential in terms of color.”

Peter Erskine will be one of several world-class cymbal players who will attend this weekend’s Cymbal Summit at the Memphis Drum Shop.

This weekend Erskine joins a roster of the world’s best cymbal players for a first-of-its-kind Cymbal Summit, organized by the Memphis Drum Shop as a two-day exploration and celebration of an instrument that is among the world’s oldest.

“I’ve been thinking about something like this for a long time,” says drum shop owner Jim Pettit, who created mycymbal.com, a cymbals-only online store, three years ago. “Cymbals are kind of one of our main things, and I realized there had never been anything devoted solely to them.”

The summit will feature representatives from seven of the major cymbal manufacturers, including Sabian, Paiste and the brand Erskine endorses, Zildjian. The companies will showcase their products as well as giving presentations on their design and development.

“The companies are so excited and have created so many special events just for this, things that have never been seen before, presentations that have never been done before,” says Pettit, singling out Zildjian, which at almost 400 years is the oldest cymbal manufacturer and the oldest family-owned business in America. “They’re going to have a set of 100-year-old cymbals. They’re going to bring several cymbals and demonstrate how cymbal sounds have evolved over the past 100 years.”

The companies are also bringing an unprecedented lineup of artist endorsers, including Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain, jazz legend Jack DeJohnette, and Elvis’ drummer Ronnie Tutt, a particular favorite of Erskine’s.

The cymbal show, including manufacturer booths, in-store artist demos and meet-and-greets, are free and open to the public. Special artist performances in the drum shop’s SoundStage venue are available only to VIP pass holders. VIP passes are $300 and also include catered meals both days and access to special behind-the-scenes festivities and educational presentations. The VIP pass also comes with a $300 coupon toward the purchase of any cymbal.

“Basically, you purchase a cymbal and you get all this other stuff for free,” says Pettit.

Erskine, who these days is director of the drum set studies program at the University of Southern California in addition to performing and running his own record label, Fuzzy Music, will play Saturday at 10 p.m. With him will be percussionist Alex Acuna, Erskine’s bandmate in the groundbreaking ’70s fusion group Weather Report.

“We’re going to playing to play-along tracks of the music of Weather Report,” says Erskine. “I think it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s probably the closest that people can get to playing some of this Weather Report stuff.”

The Cymbal Summit

Today and Saturday at the Memphis Drum Shop, 878 S. Cooper. Admission: cymbal show and sale, free; VIP events, $300. VIP passes available online at cymbalsummit.com.

For more information, call (901) 276-2328 or go to memphisdrumshop.com.

Similar Posts:

Share
No Comments
Read More

Post a comment