BACKBEATS KoSA 2015
The innovative drum camp and festival celebrates its twentieth anniversary with a genre-bending lineup featuring heavyweights Dennis Chambers, John Blackwell, and many more.
The KoSA 2015 grand fi nale John Blackwell K
oSA’s annual International Percussion Workshop, Drum Camp, and Festival took place in its quaint home at Castleton University
in the Lakes Region of central Vermont this past July, just as it has for twenty years. The participation of fusion powerhouse Dennis Chambers added an extra bit of sizzle to an already outstanding faculty. Students of all stripes were able to interact with, learn from, and
perform among featured artists over the event’s six days. According to cofounder and artistic director Aldo Mazza, KoSA is unique among drum events in that it’s a very intense, intimate, hands-on experience. “You have nineteen artists on site,” Mazza explains, “and we purpose- fully designed the classes so that they’re very small. People who come here to see Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall, for example, will also be in a class with frame drum master Glen Velez.” Along with anchor artists like Chambers, Blackwell, Saturday Night
Live percussionist Valerie Naranjo, and classical percussion master Frank Epstein, KoSA’s 2015 lineup featured a diverse array of world percussion standouts, including steel pan composer and educator Tracy Thornton and samba master Marcus Santos. “I loved all of the experience,” Naranjo says. “[It’s] packed with seasoned artists who are culturally and socially aware. I was also impressed with the number and quality of seminars dedicated to the music business.” “I think that for the participants it’s a great chance to see and
experience some of their favorite players up close, and to have a chance to ask questions,” fi rst-time KoSA artist Chambers says. “They get a chance to see us, and we get a chance to see them.” Chambers seemed to be having as much fun as the campers, according to Mazza, who says, “I’ll never forget how much Dennis lit up once he began playing with rhythm section lab players Bob Quaranta [piano] and Francesco Beccaro [bass], who were so tight and solid. He wore a smile from cheek to cheek, and he played so funky and kept pushing
110 Modern Drummer January 2016 John Blackwell, Aldo Mazza, and Dennis Chambers
Valerie Naranjo conducts a master class on West African keyboard.
Peter Bruce Wilder
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