Dennis Chambers

My name is Dennis Chambers. I started playing drums at the age of 4, and by the age of 6 I was playing in night clubs. I had no former education in music. All my musical training came from playing in night clubs. At the age of 18 I went from high school to a band called "Parliament and Funkadelic". I joined the band in 1978 and played with them until 1985. Starting in 1985, I did a lot of session work in New York and was the house drummer for "Sugar Hill Record Company". After that, I joined "Special EFX" in 1985. In 1987 I joined the "David Sanborn Band" and the "John Scofield Band" which ended in 1989. Shortly afterwards I joined the "Mike Stern/Bob Berg Band". Since then I have been playing in various other bands such as: Randy Breckers Band and Michael Breckers Band/Mike Urbaniak's Band/Bill Evans Band/CTI All Stars/George Duke/Stanley Clark's Band/Steve Kahn's Eyewitness Band/John McLaughlin Band. I have also recorded my own record called "Getting Even" on Pioneer Records, and an instructional video on DCI.
source: drummerworld.com

John Blackwell

John Blackwell Jr., the sound, funk and fury behind Prince and the New Power Generation is a spectacle for the eyes and ears. Blackwell’s slamming tight grooves, popping snare and furiously flamboyant drumstick twirling and cross-arm strokes must be seen to be believed.

Blackwell, born in Columbia South Carolina, was raised in a very musical family. John’s father, John Sr., was a very well known professional drummer who performed with acts like The Drifters, The Spinners and Mary Wells. John Jr. got his first drumset at age 3 and was brought to many concerts that came through South Carolina by his father. While in high school, John was playing in the High School Jazz and Marching Band while performing every weekend with the R&B/Jazz/Fusion group, Robert Newton & Lotusfete as well as with Billy Eckstine.

In 1992 John chose to further pursue his drum studies by enrolling into Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. John kept himself extremely busy and created a strong buzz about him while performing as much as possible with many Jazz and R&B artists around Boston. John was also teaching students and performing drum clinics during his time away from college. John left Berklee in 1995 and landed the gig with legendary funk group Cameo who he played with for the next 3 years. In 1998 after his time with Cameo, John packed up and moved to Los Angeles, California. Blackwell was in LA for only 3 days when he landed the drum position for the legendary R&B Diva, Patti LaBelle. During this time John recorded for LaBelle’s Grammy Award winning CD, DVD and VHS, "Patti LaBelle-Live One Night Only".
source: DrummerWorld.com

Carter Beauford

Carter Beauford is our featured drummer for the week of August 23 -30, 2006. I have personally seen him perfom with Dave Matthews Band twice in Nashville, TN. He was utterly amazing live. I have most of the Dave Matthews Band CD's, but live is purely amazing.
Carter Beauford grew up in a household full of music. Everything from jazz, gospel to the Beatles was played.
For Carter Beauford, it all started when he was three years old. His father was going to a Buddy Rich concert, but he couldn't find a babysitter for young Carter. His only solution was to take Carter with him. From the moment Carter laid eyes and ears upon Buddy Rich, he was enthralled and facinated with Rich.
After the concert, the young Carter took up drums and wanted to emulate Buddy Rich. I guess you could call Buddy Rich Carter's idol when he was a young lad. Upon hearing his son's playing, Carter's father was impressed and bought him a Roy Rogers drum kit made with paper heads and tin shells. This was all Carter needed. So thank Carter's father for bringing this wonderful drummer into the world!
During those young years, Carter's major influences were Tony Williams, Papa Jo Jones, and of course, Buddy Rich.
Throughtout his career, Carter has played with many different bands with various musical styles. Carter feels it is important to have an open mind musically and to expose oneself to different forms of music.
One band, besides the Dave Matthews Band, that Carter is very proud of was called, Secrets. This band played the Richmond, Virginia area and was composed of many talented musicians, including Carter on the drums. After this band dissolved, Carter went to California to try out for the Arsenio Hall show. For whatever reason, the Show didn't want Carter, so he moved back to Virginia; which is where the next chapter of his life starts.
source: DrummerWorld.com

Welcome!

This is my first post! (insert the screams here). I will be posting stuff about drummers that I enjoy. I've either met these guys or seen there videos. I hope to make this an awesome site for you to tell your friends about!
Enjoy Drumming,
-Jared