Four on the Floor *Live* on Instagram IGTV featuring George Marsh

Please join us for the next episode of Four on the Floor *Live* happening next Wednesday, June 22nd at 12pm mountain (2pm eastern/11am pacific), appearing on Instagram Live IGTV @fouronthfloorblog featuring George Marsh, author of the book Inner Drumming.

www.georgemarsh.com

 

At fifteen George Marsh became a professional drummer in Belleville, Illinois. His early experiences included work with Sam Andria, Jimmy Williams, and Barbara Streisand (before she became a super star). He studied percussion with Tom Siwe and Jack McKenzie at Champagne-Urbana, and later played with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Judy Roberts Trio, John Klemmer, William Russo's experimental big band, The Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players and many great Chicago jazz musicians.

Since 1968, he has lived in the San Francisco area where he has performed and recorded with musicians such as: Denny Zeitlin, David Grisman Quintet/Sextet, Jerry Garcia, John Abercrombie, Mose Allison, Smith Dobson, Joe Henderson, Art Lande, Harold Land, Terry Riley, William Allaudin Mathieu, Pauline Oliveros, Kronos Quartet, Mel Martin, etc. If you were around in 1970, perhaps you caught him with Chuck Berry, Loading Zone or The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood at the Fillmore West and East.

I started teaching shortly after I got my first drumset at age 12. There were very few jazz drummers in Belleville and the surrounding area at the time (1953) and I had learned a lot by seeing Gene Krupa, Papa Jo Jones, and Buddy Rich at Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts. I can still feel the excitement when I saw Count Basie with Sonny Payne on drums! A little later when I was in high school I would go to Peacock Alley in St. Louis and see Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey - all at the young age of 16.

George has written percussion music for such films as Never Cry Wolf and The Black Stallion. He premiered a suite of his pieces for chamber ensemble in the fall of 2002 at the Lincoln Center in New York which featured Rich Fudoli (reeds), David Wessel (interactive electroacoustics), and Mel Graves, bass. And he also performed on this same concert with Timeless Pulse featuring Pauline Oliveros (just intonation accordion), Thomas Buckner (vocals), Jennifer Wilsey (percussion), and David Wessel (interactive electroacoustics).

George has taught drumming and rhythm theory at the University of California at Santa Cruz since 1982 and at Sonoma State University. He also teaches remotley from his private studio in Santa Rosa California. His book, Inner Drumming is a highly praised and unique manual for drummers.

This book is an instruction manual that offers ways to enhance internal awareness while playing with one, two, three and finally all four limbs. The method allows the drummer to de-condition pathways of inappropriate reflexive responses that often appear when body energy is not flowing most efficiently.

When you play the drums you are already experiencing Inner Drumming, if not consciously, then subconsciously. The easiest way to experience this is to play a simple rhythm with two hands. Playing

hand to hand is basic to all drumming and all drummers do it naturally. As you play hand to hand, slow the motions way down while feeling deeply what’s going on inside your body, what’s happening between the strokes. In deep slow-motion, be internally aware of your movement from limb to limb. This increased awareness is what I call Inner Drumming.