Currently, I'm playing with Class Trip (www.classtripband.com) and The Liberty Band (www.thelibertyband.com).
I teach drums at the Academy of Drums & Music in Toms River, NJ (www.academyofdrums.com).
I am a Vic Firth PDT, Private Drum Teacher (www.vicfirth.com).
Influences
Starting with my personal influences, the first would be Neil Garthly (www.neilgarthly.com) and the rest of my "family" at the Academy of Drums (www.academyofdrums.com): Bryan Brosen (www.myspace.com/bigbabyernie), Ryan Carver (www.myspace.com/ryancarver), and Nat Garratano. And Steve McNabb -- your spirit is with me every time I sit at the kit -- we miss you. Another personal influence is Dom Famularo (www.domfamularo.com) -- his intensity and positiveness are infectious, never mind his amazing drumming talent. Another accomplished talented drummer, that I'm proud to call friend, is Joe Bergamini (www.joebergamini.com). In the beginning... there were two drumming friends that got me into it, Wayne Goble and Mel Holloway. There were many fellow drummers through high school which influenced me, including Wally Bakley, Aleen Davenport, Linwood Lundy, and Harold Hand, as well as band director and percussionist Dave Tobias. And from high school tennis is drummer Scott Magann, whose son Lee is carrying on the drumming torch! I've had experiences with many drummers and musicians over the last ten years and they have all influenced me -- thank you all, especially my bandmates! From the "artist" level, my first idol was Buddy Rich. The first player that influenced what and how I play was Danny Seraphine of Chicago, although I was probably being influenced by Ringo even before I started drumming. The next big influence was Ian Paice of Deep Purple. After that, there is the usual list: John Bonham, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Charlie Watts, and any drummers from the "Classic Vinyl" era. Then there was fusion, and Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Narada Michael Walden, Harvey Mason and the drummers of Frank Zappa: Ralph Humphrey, Chester Thompson, Terry Bozio, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Chad Wackerman. Since then the list goes on into jazz, like Tony Williams, Philly Joe Jones, & Roy Haynes, and modern drumming icons, like Steve Gadd, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, David Garibaldi and again, Vinnie. Through my association with the Academy of Drums, I have been able to meet and witness first-hand performances by some of the world's best (besides those I mentioned earlier!): John Favicchia, Jeff Salem, Mark Guiliana, Zoro, Sam Aliano, Gene Lake, Chris Pennie, and Hip Pickles. Memorable events include working as Neil's drum tech/assistant at the Cape Breton Drumfest and performing on stage for the finale, as well as hanging backstage several years at the Montreal Drumfest.
Sounds Like
A little about each of the tunes I put up here:
Lucky (originally by Richie Kicklighter) is a fusiony, funky tune played by Off The Hook (see "Lyrics" for a listing of personnel on each track). It was recorded in our rehearsal space (Dean's house) by a mobile unit. I played Dean's vintage Sonor 6-piece with my Supraphonic snare and Sabian cymbals. I chose this tune to put up because I get to let it hang out a bit at the end. The Liberty Band is a kick-ass classic rock outfit, but our best stuff is Santana. Give a listen to Black Magic Woman/Oja Como Va and see if it don't sound like the real thing! This track was recorded at Gear Studio in Shrooos-beary and I played my full 7-piece vintage Ludwigs. Heartbreaker was a favorite with Shore2pleaze; this track was recorded at Metro studio in Bayville, and again I played the 7-piece. Acid Test Dummies is a 3-piece jam band -- the core remnants of Darwin Beagle. This is one of my favorite tracks, where totally unplanned, we created a 20-min medley of three tunes, including two originals. This was recorded at Dave Darwin's rehearsal space with his home equipment. I was playing Dave's entry-level Yamaha 5-piece with my cymbals.
Charlie has been drumming since eighth grade and is an accomplished rock and pop drummer. After four intense years in the Oakcrest High School drumline, he worked with several rock bands at college in Hoboken, which included I.S.S.S.B. and Steel Trees. While living in Maryland for a short period, he performed with Annapolis's Crabtowne Big Band and jammed with some of the top musicians in the area, including guitarist Dick Rausch[Carl Anderson]. Within the past 10 years in NJ, he has been studying with Neil Garthly and teaching at Neil's Academy Of Drums in Toms River. He has played in a variety of Jersey Shore rock, pop, fusion, and original bands, including Off The Hook, Five Spot, TRAX, Shore2pleaze, Honey Browne, Acid Test Dummies (aka, Lemon 714), and Darwin Beagle. His experience includes not only stage, but studio, too. Currently he is performing with The Liberty Band and most recently hooked up with Class Trip -- both bands playing classic rock. Charlie is a PDT (Private Drum Teacher) with Vic Firth. For more info on Charlie check out www.wiedemerdrums.com/charliesbio.html and www.academyofdrums.com/teachers_charlie1.htm
Hi Charlie Wiedemer, we hope you had a great christmas season and looking forward to a wonderful new year - thank you for being a friend of the Jazz Pistols. We really appreciate your support.
Good luck for the things you do and have a great week. Best regards - Christoph
We would love to stay in touch with you - the best way is to sign up for our newsletter. If you would like to hear more tunes of the Jazz Pistols you can check out our homepage and get the Jazz Pistols CDs in our own shop - if you are living in the USA it will be cheaper to get them at CDBaby, Abstract Logix or at iTunes as digital download.
Hi Charlie Wiedemer, just a quick hello from the Jazz Pistols - hope you are doing fine and can enjoy the last days of 2006. Wish you all the best for 2007 - thanks for being our friend and good luck for the things you do. Best regards - Christoph
Our Live-DVD will be released on the 1st of February 2007!
If you would like to hear more tunes of the Jazz Pistols you can check out our homepage and get the Jazz Pistols CDs in our own shop - if you are living in the USA it will be cheaper to get them at CDBaby, Abstract Logix or as digital download at iTunes. Please join our newsletter if you are interested in our tour schedule and upcoming releases.
