Sabian - Because Sound Matters

NAMM 2009

Jan 19, 2009

The greatest show on earth? Hmmm, if you're a musician, the four days of NAMM might just be that, because the show delivers the shivers for any player interested in musical gear and performance highlights. NAMM 2009 - which happened right across the street from Disneyland in hot and sunny Anaheim, California (a satellite community of Los Angeles) - saw SABIAN kicking off the new year with an assortment of cool new gear (the Vault Nano Hats and Artisan models along with the AAX X-Plosion Fast Crash and AAX Memphis Ride were notable hits), all-star autograph sessions, plus our annual SABIAN Live performance party. It was a show where friends came together. Ritchie Hayward, Joey Heredia, Johnny 'Vatos' Hernandez, Kevin Ricard, Walfredo Reyes Jr. and Sr. plus Daniel de los Reyes, Vinny Appice, Tony Braunagel, Tony Coleman, Seven Antonopoulos - it seemed like everyone was there. And we're happy to share some of the excitement with you.

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Toluca Lake, CA - Tuesday night saw our LA-based AR Team of Christian Stankee, Bobby Boos, and Shirlene Lau hosting a pre-show dinner that brought us together with many of our endorser friends at Tommy Nolan's eatery in Toluca Lake. This dinner is always a great hang, with attendees including Korn's new drummer Ray Luzier, rock legend Carmine Appice, Roy Mayorga of Stone Sour, the great Dave Weckl, Neil Sanderson of Three Days Grace,  percussion sensation Richie 'Gajate' Garcia, Tom Petty's Steve Ferrone, recent Modern Drummer magazine cover star Xavier Muriel of Buckcherry, and many others.

SABIAN Live

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Broadcast as a free webcast on www.DrumChannel.com to a worldwide audience, SABIAN Live is a show players tell us they would kill to attend (not that we're suggesting any such thing? which is why it was broadcast this year!). Because while it may have started as a tiny event many years ago, today Drummer Live is the must-attend performance party at the NAMM Show. Kicking off with high-energy introductions from Dom Famularo (it was a microphone, not drumsticks he was waving), Richie 'Gajate' Garcia paraded onto the stage with Oscar Cartaya's Enclave, a sensational latin funk band featuring a wicked horn section, Oscar's great bass grooves, and a lot of great drum and percussion interplay between Richie and guests Tal Bergman, Walter Rodriguez, and Joey DeLeon. Jojo Mayer and his New York-based band Nerve were the much anticipated followup. The audience was on its toes to see this sensational drummer deliver exhilarating drum 'n' bass style grooves over hypnotic bass patterns and snarling keys. Hand-foot interplay coupled with a non-stop left hand propelled the grooves and prompted spontaneous applause, but it was Jojo's solos that reminded everyone of why this Swiss drummer has made such an impact. Last up was hard rocker Jimmy DeGrasso with F5, featuring members of Megadeth. High powered guitar riffing driven by Jimmy's rock-solid playing, delivered the closing notes for another great evening of SABIAN Live entertainment.

 

Autograph Session

Saturday, January 17th, 2009  

The SABIAN booth was already too busy when hundreds of enthusiastic fans lined up to meet some of their favorite drummers, have a chat and get some autographs. Ray Luzier (Korn), Shawn Drover (Megadeth), Seven Antonopoulos (Opiate for the Masses, Leaves Eyes), Xavier Muriel (Buckcherry), Todd Sucherman (Styx, Brian Wilson), and Liberty DiVitto (formerly with Billy Joel) were up first. Later, Dave Weckl, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty), Jimmy DeGrasso (F5), Mark Schulman (Pink, Cher), David Garibaldi (Tower of Power), rock great Carmine Appice,  Jojo Mayer (Nerve) and studio legend Bernard Purdie did the honors.

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For all of you who don't get to NAMM (sorry, it's a 'trade' show so only open to those in the music 'business'), there are now lots of opportunities to check out the show online. Sure, there's nothing quite like walking the aisles, checking out the gear, and bumping into your favorite players (who are doing the exact same thing? walking the aisles, checking out the gear), but you can take some comfort in knowing that whatever is introduced at the show will soon be available at your local music store. Not quite the same, but maybe you'll get the right job or connect with the right people and be there next year!