[Dixielandjazz] The beat of a different drummer

[Jerry Gordon]

I've been too modest to talk about it, but that's why I took up the
washboard.

Jerry "give me the thimble life" Gordon


On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:04:09 -0500 Steve Barbone
<barbonestreet at earthlink.net> writes:
> Too good not to post, though not OKOM. Here is one of the TOP 
> percussionists
> in the world, leaving the Chicago Symphony to play . . . GASP/CHOKE  
> R & R.
> 
> Like we always say, Them scraggly Rock & Rock Musos suck big time. 
> :-) VBG.
> 
> If anyone wants the full article, write me off list. It is an 
> interesting
> story of a man who gave up a secure  $140,000 a year + first class 
> expenses
> to earn about $45,000 through Rock & Roll club dates and teaching.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> 
> 
> >From Lead Percussionist to Different Drummer
> 
> NY TIMES - By DANIEL J. WAKIN - February 6, 2007
> 
> CHICAGO ‹ As the principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony 
> Orchestra,
> Ted Atkatz had reached a pinnacle in his profession.
> 
> He had tenure in one of the world¹s great musical institutions, with 
> a fat
> salary and benefits. Stagehands set up his battery of instruments. 
> Touring
> meant luxury hotels and per diems. And he had, just as precious, the 
> respect
> of the percussion world, a singularly obsessive group of musicians 
> who play
> the triangle, the bass drum and everything between.
> 
> But in May, Mr. Atkatz pulled a modern-day Don Quixote. He quit his 
> job to
> devote himself full time to his alternative rock band. He now plays 
> in
> joints across the Midwest, sometimes performing for the bartender 
> or, on a
> good night, several hundred people. Orchestra Hall? Carnegie Hall? 
> The
> Musikverein in Vienna? Forget it. Try the Mousetrap in Eau Claire, 
> Wis., or
> Beaner¹s Central in Duluth, Minn.
> 
> Mr. Atkatz says he doesn¹t regret his decision. ³I wanted to make 
> sure that
> every time I played, I wanted to be passionate about it,² he said. 
> ³Based on
> that criterion, it was a no-brainer.² . . . snipped for brevity