Percussion
Wolfgang Haffner grew up in Germany and began playing drums at a young age. He gravitated towards jazz and one of his first recordings was with Al Cohn in 1987. He went on to record with the likes of Dominic Miller, Metro, Eddie Daniels, and Peter Bolte. Wolfgang was interviewed for the NAMM Oral...
Antonio Sanchez began playing drums at the age of five in his native Mexico and by the time he was a teenager he was playing professionally. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Antonio earned a masters in jazz improvisation from the New England Conservatory of Music. After performing...
Masani Yanagisawa’s father formed the Pearl Drum Company in Japan just after World War II. Masani applied his marketing knowledge to assist in the growth and development of the company. Working with his brother, who served as president, they built the brand name out of a pure OEM business to become...
Dave Weckl was proudly inducted into the Modern Drummer Magazine's Hall of Fame in 2000. The award was extra meaningful to Dave given the list of previous winner who inspired his playing when he was a kid. Dave grew up in Missouri and studied Jazz in Connecticut before moving to New York for his...
Mario Procida formed a music distribution company in El Salvador in 1958 that soon expanded into several surrounding countries as well. His strong understanding of musical traditions and the import/export business resulted in Mario’s notable influence as a leader in the music products industry. He...
Dave Pike made an indelible mark on jazz vibraphones! As a percussive based player, Dave wanted to play with both rhythm and pitch and to explore melodies within Bebop riffs. He played with many of the legends of jazz and in doing so created music that would result in his own status as a jazz icon...
Henry Adler helped define the percussion industry with his music publishing company, drum shop and method books. His amazing life in music began as a drummer during the big band era. His many gigs and one nighters gained the attention of a friend who encouraged Henry to open a drum studio and...
Johnny Thompson had the distinction of being the very first music student of a young steel guitar player named Ernie ball. Back in the early 1950s, before he established a string company, Ernie was a well-known country player in and around the Los Angeles area and taught a few students for extra...
Warren Price’s father started a small Canadian music retail store when Warren was just 17 years old. Soon after Warren purchased his first drum kit and discovered he wanted to join his father in the music business. A few years later, with his father’s blessing, Warren started a drum shop and a...
Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since relocating from his native Poland after World War II). The same year, 1957, he formed his wholesale business and...