Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials on DVD

Hudson Music in association with Vic Firth has collaborated with top drummer/educator Tommy Igoe (The Lion King, Art Garfunkel, Lauryn Hill) to create Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials DVD. Based on the collection of contemporary Rock, Jazz, R&B/Funk and World/Ethnic drumming styles contained in the Groove Essentials poster that Igoe and Vic Firth developed last year, the enhanced DVD features drum artist, teacher and author Tommy Igoe who demonstrates, explains and performs nearly four-dozen of today's most popular drum patterns. "These beats have become like rudiments for the 21st Century drumset player," comments Igoe, whose 20-plus years of experience as a first-call studio and touring drummer as well as an in-demand drum teacher inspired him to develop the Groove Essentials concept. "Learning the Groove Essentials patterns will not only open a drummer's mind to new styles and ideas, it will make them more well-rounded players. Being able to play a wide variety of authentic musical styles with authority is the mark of a successful professional." Included among the forty-seven drum patterns on Groove Essentials are 8th note, 16th note and half-time Rock; Jazz waltz, shuffle and swing; R&B, Hip-Hop and Funk as well as World music styles, including New Orleans, Reggae, Bossa Nova, Samba, Mambo, Cha-Cha, Bolero, Tango and many others. During the course of the three-and-a-half hour disc, Igoe thoroughly explains and demonstrates each of the grooves, breaking them down to their basic elements and then encouraging drummers to play along. Another feature of the Groove Essentials DVD is that each groove is demonstrated with a real band track at two different tempos. These tracks feature musicians who have played with Quincy Jones, Steeley Dan and Betty Carter among others. The DVD package includes a free Groove Essentials poster which contains fully-notated examples of every one of the 47 grooves on the disc. Hudson plans to release a separate companion book with audio CDs and additional play-along versions of all of the backing tracks at a later date.