Jamie Drake's setup for Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel as put on by Acting Up Stage Company in Toronto, Canada, at Koerner Hall.
"Uncovered is an annual event that takes the music of a 'pop' artist and reimagines it in a more musical theatre-y way, with the tunes sung by some of the best Canadian performers from Broadway, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival etc.
I've been privileged to be part of these shows since the beginning, and in addition to playing, I assist the Musical Director Reza Jacobs with the arrangements and orchestrations. The band for this version consisted of piano, violin, bass, and percussion.
This year's show mostly switched between drum set and mallet percussion. I am a proud Yamaha guy but my Club Custom Kit was in another theatre, so the vintage Slingerlands came out for this one (and actually suited the arrangements really well). Other instruments included glockenspiel, vibes, tubular bells (thanks Yamaha Canada!), Mark Trees, crotales, chromatic bells from Steve Weiss, a trine, a single timbale (which sort of doubled as a repenique) and a table full of bottles and other sounds for a very cool arrangement of 'You Can Call Me Al'.
The bass drum is an old Leedy that I rescued from its past life as a coffee table (the previous owner had covered it in Seagrams ads - decided to leave them on there as it ads character, I think!).
And, of course, a Miller Machine and lots of great mallets from Innovative Percussion as well. And a whole mix of cymbals, including a gorgeous Dream Contact ride."
Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel - International - Jamie Drake
December 2015
