drumFantasy.16 August 5-9
Vic's Drum Shop
Chicago, IL
The 10th annual Drum Fantasy
Camp family saw the return of one of its own - two
new members - and a tribute to three instructors who
have been with us since the begining!
It all started on August 5. Attendees arrived at the
Crowne Plaza hotel in Greektown throughout the day
while our world-class band rehearsed for the
evening's opening concert. Rejoining the band was an
important member of the Drum Fantasy Camp family:
Baron Browne on bass! Baron is a regular member of
Steve Smith and Vital Informaion and he also tours
with Billy Cobham and Jean-Luc Ponty.
Two new artists joined us this year. One of them was
Mark Guiliana, who is well known for his work with
Brad Mehldau, Avishai Cohen, and David Bowie
(Blackstar). He was joined by our Music Director and
guitarist Vinny Valentino (George Benson/Vital
Information), our dynamic singer Chrissi Poland
(Bette Midler/Sam Moore), and keyboardist Stu
Mindeman (Kurt Elling/Gloria Estefan)!
Mark was amazing and joined the great Virgil Donati
for a duet at the end of the show! Mark, Virgil,
Dave Weckl, and Antonio Sanchez opened the show by
playing Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover."
The August 9 show featured performances by Dave and
first-time instructor Antonio. During
theintermission, camp director Steven Orkin
presented Weckl, Valentino, and Poland with plaques
to honor their 10 years of excellence at Drum
Fantasy Camp! At the end of the show, Dave and
Antonio melted the crowd with a memorable duet!
This year's classes were intense! Mark Guiliana
taught concepts from his Hudson Music book Exploring
Your Creativity on the Drumset. Antonio Sanchez
worked with his students on pure musicality. Virgil,
as always, put attendees at ease with his friendly
approach - teaching advanced concepts in a
straightforward way. Dave worked with his classes by
focusing on foundation.
Our famous "Jam Nights" in Vics' Showcase Room were
as fun as ever! Attendees played a wide range of
tunes with our world-class band.
And there were plenty of fun instructor moments,
including an amazing duet between Dave and Mark! But
the attendees were the real stars - bringing it from
every level of playing ability...and just having
fun!
