Here is a list in no particular order of splendiferousness of artists who have over the years manipulated waveforms in ways that made me go "I wanna do that!" When I was little: The Beatles, The Stones, Hendrix, The Wombles, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, The Who, Chicory Tip, Lieutenant Pigeon (I got banned from playing Mouldy Old Dough on the piano by a killjoy housemaster at boarding school), 10cc, Sweet, when I was a bit bigger: prog rock, Genesis, ELP, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Focus, Van Der Graaf Generator, Split Enz, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Cream, Deep Purple, Queen, David Bowie, Supertramp, Kate Bush, The Tubes, Frank Zappa, Return To Forever, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Ravel, Debussy, Bartok, Messiaen, Takemitsu, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, getting bigger: jazz!!!!! Drummers such as Buddy, Elvin, Tony, Jack (first names suffice) and Gadd. Al Foster and Bob Moses deserve more appreciation. Loads more. Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Mike Brecker (RIP), Dave Liebman, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, George Duke, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays. At Berklee I took an improvisation class with Gary Burton-coupla times he sent in John Scofield and Steve Swallow as deps/subs, WOW!!! Salif Keita, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, The Clash, XTC, James Brown, Tower of Power, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, Bob Marley, The Beach Boys, Tom Waits, R.E.M., Radiohead, Danny Elfman, Mister Bungle, Sepultura.
For the past few years I've been crazy for the music of Brasil, where I now live. Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Os Mutantes, Raul Seixas, Hermeto Pascoal, Airto Moreira, Nana Vasconcelos, Egberto Gismonti, Maria Bethania, Simone, Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown, Timbalada, Olodum, Martinho Da Vila, Renato Borghetti, Toninho Horta, Djavan, Ivan Lins, Luiz Gonzaga, Gonzaguinha, and loads more.
Originally from Newark in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, and gripped by music earlier than I remember (my Mum says I stood, entranced, for an entire showing of The Sound Of Music when I was three - got over it) I received my first drum set when I was five and commenced drums and piano lessons around the same time. Boarding school tried (and failed) to dampen my enthusiasm for all things musical; I took up the oboe also (a mistake-beautiful instrument in the right hands; ugly in mine), and in 1980 I was accepted at London's famous Guildhall School of Music and Drama, by now developing an interest in jazz. My first professional engagement was on percussion with internationally renowned guitarist John Etheridge (Soft Machine, Stephane Grappelli) and violinist Ric Sanders (Fairport Convention), opening for Ron Carter at the Camden Jazz Festival in 1981, followed by a UK tour, on drums, with John and Ric, keyboardist Dave Bristow and bassist Fred Thelonious Baker. Wishing to study further, I entered the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, USA, graduating in 1985. Shortly after, I relocated to Hiroshima, Japan, becoming involved in the local jazz scene, playing in RnB bands and writing jingles for TV and radio, I moved to Tokyo in 1987, teaching, gigging and recording with keyboardist Shiro Sawa, The Unit-a new age jazz group led by prominent bassist Shunsuke Mizuno, and a trio with Yokohama based pianist Ake Kubota, and Tetsuya Mashine on bass. A highlight of this time was performing at a concert for Nelson Mandela in 1990. Also around this time I became more aware of Brazilian music, and wore out my CD player with the music of artists such as Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins, Djavan, Hermeto Pascoal and Tom Zé.
In 1995, after one earthquake too many, and narrowly avoiding being gassed on the Tokyo subway, I felt more than a tad homesick and returned to the UK, where I began a new career as a session and theatre musician, playing drums and/or percussion in London's West End. Shows include: Miss Saigon, Salad Days, Starlight Express, Sunset Boulevard, Evita, Always, The Edna Everage Show, Kat And The Kings, The Producers and We Will Rock You. I also worked in pantomime, supplying drums, percussion and sound effects for Russ Abbott, Frank Bruno, Hale and Pace, The Chuckle Brothers, Linda Lusardi and others. I also worked extensively in music education at this time, teaching drums and music theory at DrumTech and Thames Valley University in London from 2000-2007. In September 2007 I felt the time was right for something very different, and so moved to Florianópolis in the south of Brasil for a new life and new challenges.
Dear friends, I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday with your families. God is so faithful! I have had a chance to take a break and reflect . I pray that everyone will have a blessed year. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. God Bless, John Buckler
Just letting you know that the Bear TV Christmas special is up on our page featuring highlights from SXSW, also a sneaky look in to the making of our Video for our first single 'Show Emotion'(out february 2010) and some other bits from the past year. So when you got a spare 3 mins go check it out.
Also we got LOADS of big stuff coming up which we will be posting on our page throughout January. So keep checking back!!!
Hope you had a great Christmas and got some wicked presents!!!
Hello my friend!! Thanks 4 the add. Listen on my player new tracks "Candy Land" and "Take Me Away" Thanks for sending feedback! Have a great day! Keep in touch! KOUROSH TAZMINI
