For Immediate Release

Drumming Icons Return to
Cleveland for Concert and Workshops

Cleveland, Ohio (July 21, 2009) – Cleveland will once again play host to a jazz concert and workshops featuring some of the world’s top drummers. The event, entitled drumFantasy.09, will take place on August 15 at the Forum Conference Center downtown.

 

Featured performers will include drumming legends Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Michel Camilo) and Steve Smith (Journey, Vital Information, Jean Luc Ponty). Both share the distinction of having been named among the “25 best drummers of all time” by Modern Drummer magazine. Also teaching and performing will be jazz legend Peter Erskine (Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Weather Report), and drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto (Herbie Hancock, Arturo Sandoval, Roy Hargrove). Each instructor will take turns playing with Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy, a band that pays homage to many great jazz drummers of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

 

The concert is part of the annual Drum Fantasy Camp, which is in its second year in Cleveland. More than 300 drummers from 10 countries will attend the event. After the August 15 concert, the instructors will run small group workshops at the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade through August 19.

 

Cleveland’s role in hosting the concert and camp is no accident. Steven Orkin, a Solon-based marketing consultant with clients in the music industry, owns and manages Drum Fantasy Camp.

 

“I brought the camp to Cleveland last year after running it in New York the year before,” says Orkin. “I wanted to run the event closer to home and also give back to Cleveland’s music community.” Orkin says the camp has been a success here. Smith and Weckl have made several stops in Cleveland with their own bands since beginning their affiliation with Orkin.

 

Smith, a drumming icon since his days in the rock band Journey, says he has become quite fond of Cleveland in recent years. “The city looks great and there is a strong musical heritage and culture here,” says Smith. “This year’s concert will be a real treat for the Cleveland music community.”

 

The educational clinic will begin at Noon on August 15. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m. Both events are open to all ages.

 

Tickets to the concert and instructional workshops can be purchased online at www.drumfantasycamp.com, by phone at 440-498-3395, or at the venue the day of the show.

 

The Forum Conference Center is located in the One Cleveland Center building, 1375 East Ninth Street, downtown.

 

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