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Bozzio brings solo drum show to Bert Church Theatre

Following stops in New York City, Chicago and Toronto, renowned drummer Terry Bozzio will bring his distinctive show to Airdrie, giving music fans an opportunity to see his solo drum performance at the Bert Church LIVE Theatre (BCLT) Sept.
Beat the Drum
Terry Bozzio will bring his music and drumset – which he describes as looking like “an abstract sculpture – to the Bert Church LIVE Theatre Sept. 28.

Following stops in New York City, Chicago and Toronto, renowned drummer Terry Bozzio will bring his distinctive show to Airdrie, giving music fans an opportunity to see his solo drum performance at the Bert Church LIVE Theatre (BCLT) Sept. 28 as part of his Reality Tour. Bozzio performs his show on a drum set he describes as looking “like an abstract sculpture.” “Most people have an idea of what [solo drum performance] means, which would be a Ginger Baker or Gene Krupa-like rock drum solo or jazz drum solo for two hours,” he said. “This is not that.” While many people perceive the drums as a percussive method of keeping time, Bozzio said, his specially-tuned kit is used as a melodic instrument. “It’s tuned chromatically on the left and diatonically on the right,” he said. “It has eight bass drums which are tuned diatonically, so I have all the different modes and keys I can play in, and I play music on the drums.” Each tuned drum is doubled with a MIDI note, Bozzio said, which allows him to play melodies and harmonies on the kit. He describes his music as eclectic, drawing on a wide variety of inspirations including jazz, classical and ethnic music. According to Bozzio, drums are an undervalued instrument, but not undeservedly so. “Most popular music is coming from the troubadour tradition, where a poet would go around telling stories and news of the day, and lyrics were more important than the three- or four- loop chords he’d strum, accompanying himself,” he said. “The drums has been forced into that sort of a situation in most Western conceptions of popular music.” According to Bozzio, drums play a more vital role in ethnic styles of music – such as Japanese, Chinese, Middle Eastern, African and Caribbean music – as well as in classical music. After working as a drummer for Frank Zappa, U.K. and Missing Persons, Bozzio said, he began pursuing his current musical style. Working the drum clinic circuit during a career lull, he began experimenting with melodic drumming and composing music to perform on his kit. Now, Bozzio added, he tours the world performing his particular style of music. “In a way, I’ve kind of made music my hobby and don’t worry too much about money, except when times are tough,” he said. “I look inside and try to find something beautiful and bring it out for other people, to share it with them.” Bozzio said he recommends his Composer Series as an entry point into his discography, which is available at terrybozzio.com. A video of Bozzio’s drumming, similar to what he’ll perform at BCLT, is also available for download from drumchannel.com, he added. Tickets for Bozzio’s upcoming Airdrie show Sept. 28 range from $29 to $32 and are available at ticketpro.ca

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