135 – Doug Auwarter: Mentoring Generations of Kansas City Drummers, Preaching the Brazilian Gospel, Drumming as You Age

Doug Auwarter has spent most of his 40-year career in Kansas City and has been equally active as a performer and educator. He began his career playing across spectrum of American music – jazz, rock, funk, etc. In the 80’s he fell in love with Brazilian music and culture, and although he continues to play a wide variety of music, he is known and loved as Kansas City’s resident guru for all things Brazilian, from the proper Partido Alto feel to the proper Moqueca de Peixe (fish stew).

Doug is the cofounder and co-leader of the Sons of Brasil, an instrumental Brazilian jazz group currently in its third decade, and the long-time drummer for jazz vocalist Angela Hagenbach. He has taught drumset, percussion, latin combo, world music, and jazz history, and music appreciation at numerous colleges and universities in and around KC including University of Missouri-Kansas City, Missouri Western State University, Northwest Missouri State University, and Johnson County Community College, and is the author of two self-published books, “Essential Latin Styes for the Drumset” and “Essential Rock for the Drumset.”

In this podcast, Doug talks about:

How a bout with cancer and a stroke have affected his playing, and his outlook on aging as a musician

Discovering and digging into Brazilian music

Some of the common misconceptions about Brazilian music and Latin styles in general

Teaching, from private drum lessons to college world music classes

How listening, not physical exercises, is the focus with his advanced students

Doug endorses Paiste Cymbals.

This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums.