June 25th Sunday - JoJo Mayer Clinic was a Sellout – and left everyone feeling inspired
It
was so refreshing to hear JoJo Mayer stress the importance of playing
what is appropriate for the song and not playing for one’s own ego and
that if drummers forget about playing musically then the art of
drumming will die.
So let’s forget the gymnastics and focus on playing what’s right for the music/song and keep the art of drumming alive.
'jo jo was a man', they say.
i say " jo jo is the man!"
thanks guys, best $15 bucks i've spent on entertainment in a while.
Dave Mckellar
Pics from the show (click for detail)
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JoJo Mayer - Bio
Born January 18.
1963 in Zurich, Switzerland. he spent his early childhood on the road
traveling throughout Europe and the Far East. At the age of 2 he got
his first drum set, and his first public performance took place in Hong
Kong when he was only 3 years old. Growing up in the influence of a
musical environment Jojo is basically self-taught (autodidact).
At the age of 18 he joined Monty Alexander's group and toured extensively all over Europe, playing all the major jazz -festivals
.This lead to back-up gigs with other jazz-greats such as Dizzy
Gillespie and Nina Simone and introduced him to an international
audience.
Residing in New York City since 1991, Jojo engaged in
numerous activities including Live and Studio work. His international
touring schedule has taken him all over Europe, the US, South America,
The Far East, Australia and Africa. Besides his work as a drummer, he
also is involved as a writer and producer.
Over the past few years, Jojo has been venturing into New York's DJ and
club scene by promoting his own weekly party events called PROHIBITED BEATZ.
This new platform for live breakbeats, Jungle, Drum n" Bass, Nu-Skool
Breaks and the latest stylistical hybrids and mutations in electronic
music culture, has also provided the back drop for his first solo
project called NERVE. Described as an "endeavor
in reverse engineering the textures and rhythms of the current stream
of computer generated music into a live performed, improvisational
format", NERVE and PROHIBITED BEATZ have created a
landmark in the New York downtown scene and is getting a serious
international buzz.
Recent performances and recordings have earned him rave reviews: Jojo Mayer "...destined for "Drum God" status !"(Modern Drummer magazine).
Jojo Mayer performed and / or recorded with a great variety of artists covering a wide range of musical styles such as:
The Screaming Headless Torsos, Meshell n'dege Occello,Vernon Reid's
science project,DJ Spooky, Emergency Broadcast Network, the Vienna Art
Orchestra, Wayne Krantz, Harry Pepl, Gerald Veasley, Monty Alexander,
John Zorn, James Blood Ulmer, Chico Freeman, George Adams, Dhaffer
Yousef, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, John Medeski, Hiram Bullock, Depart,
Wolfgang Puschnigg, The intergalactic Maiden Ballet, Friedrich Gulda,
Harry Sokal, Mike Stern, Steve Coleman, Rebekka Bakken, Wah Wah Watson,
and many more.
Jojo has also built himself a reputation as a skilled and creative solo performer/ clinician. He appeared at most of the important Industrial Events and Drum Festivals
like the Modern Drummer Festival (98), the Buddy Rich Memorial
Scholarship NYC (95), the International Drummer-Meeting in Koblenz (89,
91, 95), PASIC (96), the Montreal Drum-Fest (96), the NAMM-Show`s"Drums
along the Hilton"(96), int.Slagwerkkrant Dag (96), int. Budapest
Dob-Gala (94, 95), Manny`s Drum-Mania NYC (98) and the "int.Musik Messe
Frankfurt"(93, 97), to name a view, were he was featured amongst the
greatest names in the drumming community today (Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave
Weckl, Jack de Johnette, Omar Hakim,Terry Bozzio, Billy Cobham, Dennis
Chambers etc).
Jojo Mayer's company endorsements
include: Sonor drums, Sabian cymbals, Remo drumheads and Vic Firth
drumsticks. He was also, a consultant for Sonor's "Jungle Kit".
Website:
For more info on Jojo’s set up and other projects please visit
www.jojomayer.com
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