Modern Drummer Festival

On May 17-18, 1997, men gathered together and banged the drums loud enough to, I would imagine, give the male bonding, drum-thumping Robert Bly a four digit Excedrin headache. Aficionados of the cult of the pounded skins (i.e., drummers) will find more exquisite fills, riffs, and solos here than they can shake a drumstick at, as Virgil Donati, John Tempesta, Steve Gadd, Giovanni Hidalgi, Steve Ferrone, and others perform "highlights" from the festival. While the in-between footage of drummers waxing rhapsodic about the wonderfulness of drummers and the walk-on-water quality of the magazine Modern Drummer (the festival sponsor; surprise, surprise) tends to be even more grating than some of the free-form jazz ensemble pieces (band leader to band: "um...play whatever...ok, let's go"), budding drummers will enjoy this gathering of men with sticks. Warner Bros. Publications also has separate full-length videos of many of the individual performers listed here. Recommended for larger music collections. (R. Pitman)