101 – Gary Hobbs: Touring with Stan Kenton, Applying Jazz Training to All Music, Breaking Jazz Out of Its Own Box

Gary Hobbs resides just outside Portland, OR, literally steps from the house he grew up in. His father and grandfather were both semi-pro drummers, but the drum bug didn’t bite Gary until his senior year in high school. He attended a Stan Kenton Jazz Camp where he studied with legendary jazz drummer and educator John Von Ohlen, who convinced him to pursue drumming professionally. After a stint in the army, Gary was invited to join the Kenton Band and toured with them almost non-stop for two and a half years. Since then, his hometown has been his home base from which he has commanded a successful career as a drummer and educator. In addition to playing all over the Pacific Northwest, Gary teaches at The University of Oregon. He has traveled the world as a sideman with jazz greats such as Randy Brecker, Anita O’Day, and Eddie Harris, and in his own right as an educator and clinician.

In this podcast, Gary talks about:

The influence of his mentor, John Von Ohlen

Having to turn down the first call he got from Stan Kenton

Networking and hanging – difference between being a presence and being a nuisance

The Kenton touring experience – two and a half years on a bus – and how there is no substitute for that kind of experience

How he keeps his students from developing short-sighted, condescending, or egotistical notions about being a pro musician

How live jazz can and should diversify away from jazz clubs

What “hippopotamus music” is

Gary Hobbs endorses Yamaha Drums and Sabian Crescent Cymbals

This episode is sponsored by Sonor Drums