Professional Drummers teach and groove at Drum Clinic

 

 

Gorden Campbell on drums

The 7th annual Musicians In Action’s Drum Clinic featured the best drummers in the entertainment industry showing that not only can they play well but they can teach well also. Among the teaching drummers were Lil John Roberts; who plays with Janet Jackson.He not only plays for Jill Scott and is also her fiancé and father of her new son Jett; C.Von Parchman, who is a legend in the entertainment business as well as a drummer of Faithful Central Bible Church; Gorden Campbell, who has toured with many artists and is also a drummer Faithful Central Bible Church; Chris Hart, Marketing Promotions Manager for Remo, Inc.; Professor Joe Mitchell, Cal State Dominquez/L.A. City College; Chris Johnson, City of Refuge and currently touring with Frankie Beverly and Maze; Felix Pollard, a drummer for Lionel Richie and Taylor Hicks; Jehronn Garnett; Brandy Singleton and Victor Bell.

“Jackie and Gerald started this organization to show musicians that they are appreciated. The main purpose of this drum clinic is to give these students time to get to know techniques that they need to use and also the directors now have a grasps of the language that they need to use to speak to the drummers and get them on the same page. It also gives the inner city kids get a chance to understand that even though they amass a certain amount of fame and fortune, the root of what they do is in the church, that becomes part of being a servant like Jesus was. Being a musician is about offering a service, not simply being served. The musical department is like a body; the drums are like the heartbeat of the body. Without the drums it is hard for the body to function,” stated C.Von, who is the co-coordinator of this annual event.  

Each two drummers were in charge of teaching and coaching various students who skill level varied from the very beginning stages of drumming, all the way to the advance stages.

Gorden Campbell, who with Lil John Roberts, was in charge of teaching the advance students, set the Peoples Independent Church, on fire with his stellar drumming skills. He played 2 songs for the class as well as teaching them rhythm arrangements. Campbell also answered any and all questions. Campbell stated, “I grew up playing in church in Upstate, New York. I then went to Howard University, where I studied music and in 1993, I moved to California. I have also toured with Earth Wind and Fire as well as George Duke, Mary J. Blige as well as a host of other groups and artists. I find that giving back is the most rewarding thing anyone could do. I help the young musicians get exposure to different types of music that they do not get in church. Musicality, when drumming is important. Music is like a conversation, you don’t want to yell all of the time, you want to speak softly at times. Education in musicianship is very important, you have to have it in  order to truly succeed.”

Chris Johnson with Felix Pollard aka Felix D’ Kat taught the intermediate class. They stated, “This was a wonderful event. We are glad that I had the opportunity to share our gifts with these gifted young folks. It kind of reminds us when we started out.”

Professor Joe Mitchell and Brandy Singleton taught the beginners class. Singleton said “It was cool for me to teach the beginners class, because it gave me a chance to pass on what I learned as a drummer for a number of years. I remember when I first started drumming I did not have my own drum set. But I was dedicated to drumming. I loved it.” 

Guyen Sun, an advance student from Korea, said “This clinic was very informative, and I will definitely use it for my daily drumming activities.”

Jared, who is in the intermediate class, gave this reaction “I plan on applying this every time that I play for my church. I am the drummer for the services so I have to be on point this really gave me some insight.”

Founder Jackie Malone stated “Our goal at Musicians In Action is to be a safe harbor for musicians in various churches. They can come to us and we will do our best to help them with the problem.

We actually started this organization 17 years ago, Calvin Bernard  Rhone, Rhodina Preston, my husband and myself, found that during that time various musicians would come to us various problems and we would do our best to talk it out and help them solve them. It was during that time that we decided to give this organization the name Musicians In Action, we understand that we won’t be able to solve all of the church musicians problems but we will do our best to help them be understood. This drum clinic was a complete success and I look forward to working with all of these drummers again in the future.”