DRUM LAB MUSIC SCHOOL

VLOG

DRUM STUDENT VIDEO RECITALS

Emmet Performs Working Man

Grayson Performs Uptown Funk

EVAN AT LINCOLN CENTER IN NEW YORK 2023—OUTSTANDING DRUMS AWARD 2024!

Check out Drum Lab student Evan Beck’s sick jazz solo in NY’s Lincoln Center! So proud of him! Only twelve high school jazz bands in the nation were chosen to compete in Essentially Ellington 2023.

AND watch the below clip of the 2024 Awards Presentation as Evan receives an award from Jeff Hamilton for Outstanding Drums at Essentially Ellington 2024!

GAMER METAL COLLAB...!

Starcraft Terran Theme with my good friend Morgan Wick, a fantastic composer and guitarist. Gamers enjoy! If you like Starcraft, check out my mod on Battlenet, a 6v6 hero battle: Baseship Commanders. Just for fun!

ORIGINAL PROG METAL. WATCH THE CLOCK MELT INTO GOO.

Another progressive collab with Morgan Wick of The Prog School, “Broken Epistemology” from his latest album. This track also features C.J. Jenkins, vocalist of the prog metal band A Sense of Gravity.

PROG METAL MUSIC VIDEO BY MORGAN WICK. ESTEBAN ON DRUMS.

My good friend, guitarist and composer Morgan Wick of The Prog School, invited me to play drums on his album and music video, “The Great Stereopticon.” It was outrageous fun. Morgan’s music always features challenging riffs and exciting time signatures. I also got to lend some creativity by writing a few of the drum fills.

Play Video about drumming-prog-metal-video

FOR INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS, PLEASE VISIT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Below are some thoughts and videos that might inspire you as a drummer!

JUL / 15

DRUM SOLOOOOOO!

ART BLAKEY SOLO IN SAKEENA'S VISION

THE GREAT ART BLAKEY

This is my all-time favorite drum solo, played by the legendary band leader of The Jazz Messengers, Art Blakey. Here he is playing Sakeena’s Vision, recorded in 1960. If you’ve never heard it, you’re in for a treat. Listen to him go!

Art Blakey was a giant in the world of jazz. His band became unofficially known as the Art Blakey School of Music, because over 200 aspiring jazz artists honed their chops with the Jazz Messengers on their way to their own influential jazz careers.

If this whets your appetite for more, watch a few videos of Blakey playing, because he is a spectacular showman as well.

JUL / 1

PLAY EXPRESSIVELY

JOJO MAYER DEMOS PATTERN VERSATILITY

JOJO MAYER ON EXPRESSION

This is one of the most inspiring videos for drummers of any level. Whatever you have in your toolkit–you can use it to say anything you want. The versatility of the easiest pattern can tell amazing stories. Take what you’ve got and really play with it, and you can give your solos so much life–without learning any new complicated patterns, level up!

JUN / 25

JUST LET IT OUT...

CHIBI GOT CHOPS

DAD LIFE IS SO METAL

Dad life is a swirling vortex of lego and pony chaos. It’s so metal. So from a certain point of view, a kids’ concert is the perfect venue for a fully charged metal jam.

My 4-year-old son has started spontaneously performing “rock and roll” in the living room, enthusiastically improvising lyrics and white hot licks on a rotating cycle of instruments from the toy box. His rock shows are punctuated by muppet-like shouts of “ROCK AND ROLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!” That’s right buddy. It’s a rush. I’m not a kid anymore, but I know how he feels.

It’s a thrill converting all of that energy into music. And it’s great to have the musical vocabulary when you’ve really got something to say!