When Virgil Donati made my evening…

It’s not everyday that you get a chance to see your idol performing live in front of you, so when such an opportunity shows up, you grab it with both hands. That’s exactly what I did when I attended a Jazz concert this Sunday evening. This was no ordinary jazz performance…it was one of the best line-ups you could imagine in modern jazz. So hold your breath as I present to you the line-up: Bunny Brunel (bass), Frank Gambale (guitars), Mitch Foreman (keyboards) and Virgil Donati (drums).

Virgil Donati is one of my drumming idols and I just could not take my eyes off whatever magic he was weaving behind that gleaming Pearl drumkit. This does not mean the other musicians were ordinary. Hell NO! Gambale is a guitarist par excellence and has some of the quickest fingers around. Foreman is nothing less than a man possessed once he is behind those keyboards and creates some unbelievable melodies. As for Brunel, well, he literally makes the bass guitar talk!

But Donati is simply irresistible. The way his hands moved around the entire kit, the evenness in the sounds from each tom, the perfect accents that added an unrealistic dynamic to the sound, it was all so mesmerizing. And what can I say about the double-bass drumming. He created some unimaginable patterns where his feet not only played the double-bass, but also kept switching between the bass drum and the two hi-hats (yes, he had hi-hats on either side of the kit!) without missing a single beat at speeds that would make a sprinter jealous! The amazing use of paradiddles and other basic rudiments speaks volumes of this master’s creativity and sense of rhythm.

After Donati finished his first drum solo of the evening, Brunel made a statement that summed up the mastery of this amazing drummer. He said something like this – “If there are any drummers in the house, now you know what you need to practice when you go home. You either practice harder or you just quit!” – and this had the crowd in raptures. But it was a very powerful and true statement made in praise of Donati. Seeing him perform live will inspire the true drummers to continue in their pursuit of excellence, while it would surely demotivate those who have taken up drumming because its cool.

I am still under the spell cast on me by Donati’s drumming wizardry. It was a once in a lifetime experience and will be one of the most memorable evenings of my life.