A Drummer's Dream

Drummer-turned-director John Walker celebrates his craft in this documentary built around a week-long Ontario drum camp for 40 students. The player-instructors include Mike Mangini, Horacio "El Negro" Hernández, Giovanni Hidalgo, Raul Rekow, Dennis Chambers, Kenwood Dennard, and Montreal-based organizer Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr. Rekow and Chambers have logged time with Santana, while Hernández, Hidalgo, and Al-Khabyyr performed with Dizzy Gillespie's ensemble. Each drummer performs solo, while also explaining how they came to the instrument (the film also features a couple of group jams). Mangini started drumming at the age of two with whatever tools he could find, at which point the die was cast, and he never considered any other vocation (he's since developed a reputation for "the world's fastest hands"). The son of a Motown backup singer, Chambers started drumming at four years old, and developed a similar "do it or die" attitude (he can also play so fast that his sticks turn into blurs). Hernandez, who grew up in Cuba, says he used to fix his broken drums by securing X-ray film to the heads. Hernandez teaches the students the Afro-Cuban clave, while Hidalgo and Rekow share their conga expertise. Dennard teaches the kids funk drumming while rapping about legendary beat-makers, such as Elvin Jones. Along the way, the students express enthusiasm about the hands-on instruction. An inspirational paean to the art of drumming, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)