August 1-5, 2026
The Los Angeles College of Music
Los Angeles, CA

Drum Fantasy Camp wrapped up an amazing 18th annual U.S. camp (20th overall) on August 6, 2026. And what a roster of instructors we had! This year saw the return of Steve Smith and another appearance by the great Dave Weckl! Gary Novak, who was supposed to join in 2020 (cancelled during the pandemic), finally made it! And Kaz Rodriguez provided a fresh new face and unbelievable talent to our roster!

The band featured bass legend Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets/Allan Holdsworth), keyboardist Stu Mindeman (Kurt Elling), singer Chrissi Poland (Michael Bolton/Moby), and guitarist Vinny Valentino (George Benson/Vital Information).

This was our first year at the Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) in beautiful Pasadena, CA. It’s a great facility with the music school vibe and a tradition of accomplished graduates including Tal Wilkenfeld, Nate Wood, and more. The staff over the years has been legendary: Frank Gambale, Dave Carpenter, Joe Porcaro, Ralph Humphrey, Tierney Sutton, Alex Acuna, Peter Erskine, John “JR” Robinson, Terry Bozzio, and many more!

The camp opened at Noon with a roundtable discussion with our four drumming instructors. They provided an exciting opening jam followed by a two hour Q&A with the audience. The audience learned a lot and the instructors learned from the audience, including one audience member who had overcome paralysis to play drums again. Then, at 8pm, the instructors and band took the stage for a groovy concert and group jam.

The next four days included four days of classes with each of the drumming instructors. Classes were intimate, fun, and very informative. There was a lot of playing but, just as importantly, a lot of listening to players who have seen it all.

On August 6, Dave Weckl ran his amazing studio class in one of the two recording studios at LACM. Drummers were treated to Dave’s finely tuned idea of sound and his mastery of recording techniques.

Special thanks to LACM for being such an amazing host - and to drummer Nic Kubes for all of his help during the event!