A Celebration of World Drums and Drummers

World famous percussionist and Woodstock Chimes founder, Garry Kvistad (www.chimes.com) is proud to present the Drum Boogie Festival™ on Saturday, September 19 (rain date, Sunday, September 20) on the lawn of Cornell Park in the Rondout section of Kingston, New York, from noon to 7pm, with major support through NYS Assemblymember Kevin Cahill.  The festival is a free event in a comfortable outdoor setting near the Hudson River which coincides with the celebration of the 400^th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic trip up the river in 1609.  Cornell Park was chosen for many reasons including the natural amphitheater acoustics on a multi-tiered hillside overlooking the river.

The Drum Boogie Festival is the brainchild of Garry Kvistad, founder of Woodstock Chimes and Executive Director of The Woodstock Chimes Fund, spurred by numerous conversations with New York State Assemblymember Kevin Cahill over a span of several years.  Mr. Cahill, a supporter of the arts and lover of percussion, encouraged Garry to develop a multi-cultural festival, celebrating the diverse styles of world percussion.  Realizing that it would be impossible to be all inclusive in a one day festival, Garry selected performers to represent North American drumming in five distinct forms:  jazz, modern, rudimental, rock and Native American.  He then added representative musical styles from Trinidad & Tobago (steel pan), Bali (Indonesian Gamelan Music) and West African (Ewe style).

Drum and percussion are among the oldest and most common instruments in the world and include both the easiest and most difficult instruments to play. Garry called upon colleagues who are the top performers in the world to create a festival that won’t soon be forgotten.  World renowned drummers and percussionists will perform side-by-side local professional artists on two stages.  Jazz great Jack DeJohnette will appear with David Sancious and Roberto Quintero.  Voted Best Drummer in a 2008 DownBeat Reader’s Poll, Jack DeJohnette has collaborated with major figures in jazz history. Some of the great talents he has worked with are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, and Keith Jarrett.  Rock drummer, Jerry Marotta, will be joined by bassist Tony Levin.   In a world where most drummers and musicians all sound alike, Jerry Marotta stands alone as a charismatic legend that has performed with Lennon/McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Orleans.  The Canadian percussion quintet NEXUS (“…the high priests of the percussion world”, New York Times) will be there with dozens of exotic instruments, performing classic works of the 20^th Century including Steve Reich’s Drumming Part One.  Liam Teague, winner of numerous awards in his native country of Trinidad & Tobago will amaze everyone in attendance with his impressive musical approach to the Steel Pan. One of the country’s top Rudimental Drumming ensembles, the Not-So-Traditional Players, will feature 86 year old Nick Attanasio, arguably the greatest bass drummer whose unique and thrilling style has been copied around the world.  The Silver Cloud Singers, an intertribal Native American singing and dance troupe will perform contemporary Native song and dance woven with the traditional.  The festival will also include the inspirational Percussion Orchestra of Kingston (POOK) – a youth dance and drumming group dedicated to presenting world music while offering local kids meaningful activities and skills.  Giri Mekar, the resident Balinese Gamelan Orchestra at Bard College will feature traditional dance.

The poster and logo for the event has been designed by Milton Glaser, one of the most celebrated graphic designers in the world (his “I Love NY” campaign is legendary). 

The Drum Boogie Festival is a production of the Woodstock Chimes Fund with Major support through NYS Assemblymember Kevin Cahill.  Additional support from Woodstock Chimes and Family of Woodstock.  Created in 1986 by Diane and Garry Kvistad, the Woodstock Chimes Fund is a non-profit foundation to support food, shelter and arts programs in the Hudson Valley and beyond.

For More Information Contact:
 Lu Ann Bielawa
Drum Boogie Festival Coordinator
845 594-6518
lbielawa@gmail.com