Thanks to the many of you who regularly visit my pages. It's great hearing from some of you, and reading your messages on my message board. I hope that we will ALL meet someday, play drums together, and bring the power and majesty of rhythm to a wider population. I've always believed that drummers are human beings with immense power. We share that power and grace with everyone. What an honor it is!

For the last ten years or so I've been very involved in doing just that, bringing drums and rhythm to the masses. Sure, I perform all over the world, either with groups, teaching, and doing demonstrations and clinics. I also respectfully use rhythm and drumming in other areas, such as within the corporate world. It's great fun and very fulfilling as a musician and as a human being with lots of love and warmth to share.

Lately I've been working with a company from Alexandria, Virginia, called Catalyst. I work with a talented group of drummers in the part of the company called "BeatsWork". we provide drumming opportunities for those in the corporate world. It's an amazing experence and a great opportunity. With Catalyst, I've assisted in providing drumming and rhythm to corporations such as Microsoft, Frito Lay, parts of the US Federal Government, Sun MicroSystems, and others. Stunning!

As I write this, Saturday 17 July, I'm sitting at my mom's home in Miami, Florida. I've just finished working with the Catalyst group up in Tyson's Corners, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland. This coming week I'll be working with them again, in San Francisco (actually in the Silicon Valley, in California.) And it's all been about drums and spreading the rhythm! The Autumn is shaping up as a very busy time, with more companies wanting to share in the power of drums.

Some of you know that I've studied at the University of Miami (Music Therapy) and at UCLA (Systematic Musicology). I probably have enough credits for a Masters, but who's counting. What I know is that, because of the wonderful learning experiences I've had at these schools, I can bring a deeper knowledge of how music and rhythm affects us all.

 

Many people want to feel that they are part of something.
Music can do this.

People want to feel special.
Music Can Do This.

People want to stretch out and create.
Music Can Do This.

Drumming can enhance relationships, build teamwork, help in solving problems, create an incredibly challenging experience, and be just plain fun. If you'd like more info about my work in this "other" drumming field, hey just email me.

 

Here are some very important and, I think, interesting facts and findings.
Thanks to my good friend Charles Shultz in South Florida and to Mars Music.

* Music Students Are Scoring Music students are outperforming non-music students on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

College-bound seniors with coursework or experience in music performance scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion and 37 points higher on the math portion of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. (Source: The College Board, September 1997) * Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship Music lessons, and even simply listening to music, can enhance spatial reasoning performance, a critical higher brain function necessary to perform complex tasks including mathematics. (Source: Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1994)Regards,

* Music Is Beating Computers at Enhancing Early Childhood Development

Music training, specifically piano instruction, is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science. Learning music at any age causes long-term enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning. (Source: Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1997)

* Music Enhances Linguistic Skills

Music - specifically song is one of the best training grounds for babies learning to recognize the tones that add up to spoken language. (Source: Sandra Trehub, University of Toronto, 1997)

* Scientists, Therapists Agree: Music Heals More Than Just The Spirit

Music benefits older adults. Active music-making positively affects the biology and behavior of Alzheimer's patients. (Source: Music Making and Wellness Project, a study conducted at the University of Miami)

* Studying Music Strengthens Students' Academic Performance

Rhode Island studies have indicated that sequential, skill-building instruction in art and music integrated with the rest of the curriculum can greatly improve children's performance in reading and math. (Source: "Learning Improved by Arts Training" by Martin Gardiner, Alan Fox, Faith Knowles, and Donna Jeffrey, Nature, May 23, 1996)