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KoSA PASiC Convention 2011 Report

Greetings, KoSA Family:

Aldo just returned from the annual Percussive Arts Society Convention-PASIC-which took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Here's the play-by-play from Aldo's Notebook:

"I completely recommend this event to any serious student of percussion and drums," says Aldo. "This is the annual gathering of a very wide demographic of drum and percussion instrumentalists, as well as manufacturers, from around the world.

There are approximately 5000 percussionists together at PASiC: college and university educators, world renowned professional artists and students of all ages. Many conferences, clinics and performances take place at PASiC. I had the opportunity to catch many presentations as well as converse with old and new friends. Here are some of the highlights of my KoSA PASiC 2011 experience..."
	Giovanni Hildalgo, Aldo Mazza, and Horacio Hernandez

1. Joe McCarthy..drumset clinic in Contemporary Afro Cuban Big Band chart reading and style analysis. "Joe is a great drummer and an excellent educator," Aldo comments."I first met Joe when he attended the KoSA International Percussion Workshop, Drumcamp and Festival a few years back. I have several of his recordings in my personal collection."

2. John Riley ...drumset clinic in the art of Improvising.. "John is one of today's great jazz drummers as well as a clear communicator and educator," continues Aldo. "He has been a valued member of the KoSA Alumni, and has instructed at our workshops several times."

3. From Germany, Klaus Hessler. "He is a master of the open hand concept of drumset playing and has a book well worth studying."

4. William Elliot...a symphonic percussion clinic on playing accessories. (The percussionist's use of small percussion from triangles to tamborines and other accessories.)

5. Jim Riley...drummer with Rascal Flatts gave a thundering clinic and solid performance, with the perspective of taking drumming from the basement to the stage

6. Pete Lockett and his grooving with world percussion; and expanding his deep knowledge of Tabla into related hand percussion instruments.

7. A Trio performance of Mark Walker, Ernesto Diaz and KoSA Faculty Alumnus Marcus Santos, featured some beautiful rhythm compositions taking listeners through some deep groove playing. It was extremely musical and performed with finesse.

8. The 50th anniversary Marimba Orchestra performed some great works for marimba with at least 50 mallet instruments performing together to a packed house...this was a real treat.

9. A highlight of the convention was listening to some legendary drummers such as Peter Erskine, Keith Carlock, Ed Soph (who is on the KoSA Instructional DVD published with Hudson Music) John Riley, Simon Phillips, and Emil Richards (Legendary mallet artist and valued member of the KoSA Faculty Alumni) all within one astonishing performance.

10. Dan Piccolo presented a terrific "tabla and kanjira technique" clinic to a packed house. He performed as well as demonstrated some great basic techniques of these instruments.

11. Michael Spiro (Another valued member of our KoSA Alumni) gave a well-delivered, interesting clinic and performance of cuban traditional rhythms, with a spotlight on understanding the triplet feel in this music in bata drumming and congas.. Michael is a very passionate educator.

12. From Venezuela, Lerryns Hernandez presented a high energy clinic and performance with bongos, growing their role within music and exploring new possibilities-with some imaginative touches.

13. Jim Royle (Another valued member of our KoSA Alumni) performed with the Mass Steel Pan Band in celebration of PAS 50th Anniversary. There was standing room only for this and the music put an immediate smile on everybody's face.

14. Simon Phillips did a great drumset clinic and talked about his drumset parts in past songs he participated in, and breaking them down in technique and concept...a true master.

15. The conference ended with a hot and grooving performance by Poncho Sanchez and his Band, which left everyone dancing in the hall. A celebration followed featuring music by the great percussionist Ruben Alverez.

We at KoSA would like congratulate long time KoSA faculty member MEMO ACEVEDO.

At PASic, Memo received a distinguished award, The Percussive Arts Society's Presidents Industry Award.

All of us within the KoSA organization and as well as our entire extended KoSA world wide family, wish to offer Memo our heart-felt congratulations for his invaluable and continuing contributions to the world of percussion; as a player, as a composer and as a committed educator.

In closing, we'd like to remind everyone that KoSA CUBA 2012, our 10th anniversary Workshop in Havana that takes place during the Havana Drum Festival, is coming up quickly in March! Also please be advised of upcoming KoSA Weekends, KoSA Italy, and the annual KoSA International Percussion Workshop, Drum Camp and Festival in July. Please visit our website, kosamusic.com, to learn more... and drop us a line.

We'd love to hear from you.