Event Review & Interview

He is an educator and a Yamaha Clinician since 1991. His grooves backed Earth, Wind & Fire for more than a decade and took America’s music scene by storm. He is Sonny Emory, the spotlight of the evening and one of the judges plus guest performer of this year’s "Yamaha Asian Beat Band Competition 2008-09 Grand Final" held on February 28 in Hong Kong.

Raised in an environment immersed with Be-bop, some of Sonny’s greatest musical influences include Jazz greats such as Art Blakely, Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Miles Davis. Over the years, Sonny has toured around the world and collaborated with countless number of musicians. This has further enriched Sonny’s knowledge, eventually leading to all sorts of music projects and opportunities. "My recent project is to work with Bill Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs, who are Country artists whom I have never worked with before. It was a whole new experience, and we had fun doing the recording."

Following his 1995 album release Love’s Pure Night, the Atlantan recently introduced a funky-fusion album titled Live in Session: State of the Art featuring Sonny Emory to the music market. "Instead of trying to cut and hit, the aim of this album was to capture the live energy of the band through recording. I wanted my band members to enjoy, play and express freely with music". With the ability to manage and handle multiple tasks, Sonny is now working on a new album that is more of Rock and Roll and Funk-Rock nature. Such project is due by Fall 2009. Alongside, he is also supporting Bette Midler’s resident show for three years in the Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.

Playing the same material repetitively may seem an easy task, however, maintaining consistency and keeping the music fresh demand a different set of skills and mindset from the musician. In response to an inquiry on this subject, Sonny revealed his tools of trade, "With dynamics and breath, you could grow with the music. Listening is very important, still. If the band is getting lazy, I would count the beat a little faster than what I did last night. But you have to be very careful. As a drummer, you could change the personality of a section, and what a section can do."

Despite his busy schedules and multiple-project commitment, Sonny still makes time to contribute the community by promoting the art of drums and percussion to the general public. On the 20th July 2009, Sonny, together with various acclaimed drummers will host the annual Sonny Emory Drum-set Camp at the Georgia Tech University, an event that is open to drummers of all ages. "And this year we may have Keith Carlock, Nikki Glaspie and Jerry Brown."

Whether it’s a set of drums, a tuba or an upright piano, results do vary when the same instrument was handed down to ten individuals. It’s often agreed that the simpler the set-up, the more demanding and challenging it would be to the musician. However, such challenge is certainly no sweat for Sonny. Performing on stage with a snare and a pair of drumsticks in the first twenty minutes of the clinic, Sonny laid down some funky grooves with an amazing assortment of patterns that were built with muting and rudiments, both radiant and vigorous. Topped with back-sticking and stick-twirling, two signature moves that Sonny is best-known for, audience had a difficult time in fighting back the tears of excitement invoked by Sonny’s unique sonic discharge.

Q&A Session

1) Would you please share with us some of your most memorable experiences with Earth, Wind & Fire?

I have several. One of it happened here in Asia, in the Philippines, we played to probably 10,000 people in an open field. Another memorable experience for me was playing in Southern Italy. There was an old, ruined theater and the way the drums were set up, it was open behind me, so I could just turn around and see the Mediterranean Sea! That was a really beautiful experience and the people appreciate the music as well.

A funny story to tell is when I first started Earth, Wind & Fire in 1988, on "Touch the World" tour.  On the first week of the tour I didn’t sleep at all because I was so excited, I was so ready to do it. We’ve been rehearsing for three months and we opened the tour in Florida. The whole week I just could not sleep, I was so amped up and I had so much energy. All my friends said after the first week I crashed like two or three days!

2) What makes a good drummer?

The most important ingredients are time and groove. If the groove isn’t there, the band will have no place to sit on. People prefer to play with a groove in the pocket, a guy who has a groove rather than someone who has techniques. Everything else is the icing on the cake.

3) Do you have a practice routine?

I usually start with the click track, do one hour of rudiments and then one hour of sight reading. Try to be organized so that you’ll be able to see the progress. Also allow time to play behind the drums. Do work on creativity because that helps soloing.

4) How do you develop dynamic contrast?

I would suggest take whatever you have to play loud, play it soft for a concentrated period of time, let’s say five minutes or ten minutes. Stay accurate. At the same rate, practice that at three different dynamic levels.

5) Some drummers act, and some drummers react. What is your style of involvement?

I think I do both. I think a good musician has to be balanced. A good musician has to know when to act, and when to influence the band. There are other times that you need to react to what is being played. So I think you have to strike a nice balance between the two.

6) In studio, how do you build up the groove?

I’d let the music around me dictate what I play. Then I’ll try to identify the style, where the song is trying to go, and identify what other players are doing. Sometimes it could be completely experimental. I’d use brushes for a different tone and color.

7) What advice would you give drummers?

I would say try to get some kind of formal music education, so that you can make sure that you have the vocabulary. It gives a drummer a better advantage if you have the technical tools to play. If you understand what technically is going on, I believe you can execute a lot better. It’s kind of like trying to speak a foreign language. I tell all of my students, you would like to learn all rudiments, all techniques so that you have the vocabulary, so that you could speak when you sit in front of the drums. It’s like somebody who’s learning to read or speak. If you don’t hear the words, if you don’t study, then you don’t have the vocabulary. It’s the same scenario with the drums.

- Francis Fu -

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