Reviewed by Fabian Prynn

On Monday 6^th November the Institute was fortunate enough to witness a masterclass from Gregg Bisssonette, a drummer who is renowned the world over. But before it was Gregg's turn a drummer called James Birt performed, he has been a student of Gregg's just as Gregg was once a student of the late great Tony Williams. James played four tracks and a solo, he has the title of young drummer of the year 2006 and is only 17 years of age, his confident performance impressed the audience with his all round musicality and a groove beyond his years! We soon realised why James was young drummer of the year.

Greg took to the stage and enlightened the young musicians in the audience with some great advice, emphasising the importance of being able to play as many genres of music as possible. He also made the point that 'there is always going to be someone younger, better looking and better at drums than you, who can do the job for less money, so there is no room for an ego'. He explained that being a successful musician is as much about being a great drummer as it is about having a personality that people want to be around.

He then played us a solo that demonstrated incredible dynamic range and great command of the kit. The independence on all four limbs, which incorporated a couple of cowbells was surreal and at first glance it appeared to be him playing to a backing track. He used his low pitch floor tom to great affect along with his double pedal work over which he played different figures with his left hand. From Gregg's performance something that shone through was his impeccable timing, something that could only come from a drummer of his experience.

The solo was followed by a game of 'Name That Tune' from just the drum parts of songs. He played a varied bunch from "Come Together" (Ringo) to "Sing Sing Sing" (Gene Krupa) to "Manic Depression" (Mitch Mitchel). This was used as an opportunity to give special mention to Ringo who he has worked with a lot over the past few years. He praised him for his original drum parts and orchestration around the kit; he then demonstrated that his parts could be immediately recognised.

Both James and Gregg's kit sounded fantastic, they were both playing Mapex Saturn series drums. The outer plies are maple and the inner plies walnut, this gives the kits a good low end from the walnut as well as a cutting quality from the maple. Greg usually plays a Mapex Orion, but he said he really liked the Saturn. Gregg also spoke about his tuning of a kit, sometimes when using a multi-tom set up he has been known to tune the toms to the bass line of "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter.

The night was ended with both Gregg and James on the stage playing an improvised jam together, trading fours and what they came up with was inspiring. Greg hung around for a chat after the clinic and signed autographs. Not only is Greg a fantastic drummer and musician but a nice guy with a great sense of humour.