"The drum is the first instrument. And the drummer is the key - the heartbeat of jazz." - Jo Jones (drummer with the Count Basie Orchestra)
Join Calgary jazz drummer Jon McCaslin in his guided tour through the evolution of jazz drumming. This webinar will offer a basic understanding and appreciation of how the rhythms of jazz drumming have changed and evolved over the past 100 years. Learn about drumming icons such as Warren "Baby" Dodds, Chick Webb, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette and many more in this musical survey of jazz music's masters of time and rhythm.
"Do you know why they call a drummer's seat a throne? Because drummers are kings and queens!" - Ed Thigpen (drummer with the Oscar Peterson Trio)
Recognized as one of Western Canada’s leading jazz drummers and educators, Jon McCaslin brings excitement and his passion for the jazz tradition and its future to the bandstand and to the classroom. Jon began playing the drums at age 9. Ultimately, his interest in music led him to enroll in the Jazz Studies program at McGill University, graduating with distinction in 1999. He also attended the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1997, where he performed with Canadian jazz greats Hugh Fraser, Don Thompson and Kenny Wheeler. In the spring of 2002 McCaslin completed his Master's in Jazz Studies at McGill University where he studied jazz drumming, improvisation and composition.
In 2012 he released his album “Sunalta” on the Cellar Live jazz record label featuring Brad Turner, Phil Dwyer, Tilden Webb and Jodi Proznick. This music was nominated in 2013 for the Western Canadian Music Awards in the “Best Jazz Recording” category.Dr. McCaslin completed his Doctorate in Jazz Studies through the University of Toronto in 2015, researching the conceptualization of contemporary melodic jazz drumming.
Since 2009 he has authored “Four on the Floor” jonmccaslinjazzdrummer.blogspot.com, one of the world’s most recognized on-line jazz drumming blogs.