Paul Wertico, drumset
The Music Conservatory Faculty
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Paul Wertico started playing drums at the age of 12 and became a professional by the age of 15. Self-taught on the drum set, he developed his unique musical concept by listening not only to jazz and rock, but to a variety of musical styles from all over the world. He then applied elements of these styles to his drumming in a melodic, as well as a rhythmic fashion. Paul was awarded a music scholarship at Western Illinois University where he studied percussion with Gary Chaffee. He later enhanced his musical studies with such renowned players/teachers as Philly Joe Jones, Freddy Gruber, Jim Chapin, Eric Gravatt, Barrett Deems, Roy Knapp and Ed Thigpen.
Hailed as “one of the most musical and versatile drummers in music today”, his playing has been compared to that of “an Impressionist painter”, while he has also been described as “an inspired madman” and “a restless innovator”. For 18 years, Paul Wertico was a member of the Pat Metheny Group. During that 1983-2001 period, he won seven Grammy Awards, numerous magazine polls, received several gold records and toured the world many times. Paul also divides his time between studio work, producing, session playing, and leading his own groups. He has played with such jazz greats as Larry Coryell, Eddie Harris, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Sam Rivers, Bob Mintzer, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, Jay McShann, Lester Bowie, Herbie Mann, Randy Brecker, Jerry Goodman, Ben Sidran, George Coleman, Ramsey Lewis and many others.
Paul has also been very active in the educational field. In addition to teaching at CCPA, Paul has written articles for Modern Drummer magazine, DRUM! magazine, Drums & Drumming magazine and Drum Tracks magazine, and most recently for Musician.com. He also performs drum clinics and master classes at universities, high schools and music stores in the U.S. and around the world. Some past clinics have been performed at prestigious institutions such as Drummers Collective in New York City, Percussion Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, North Texas State University in Denton, Texas and the University of Miami, as well as Musicians Institute in England, Drummers Institute in Germany, Università della Musica in Italy, Escuela de Música de Buenos Aires in Argentina, the Rimon School of Jazz in Israel and Polyrhythmia Drum School in Greece. Paul has also judged for many high school and college jazz festivals. In 1987 he released “Fine Tuning Your Performance”, an educational video for drummers, and his latest video (for Rittor Music in Japan) entitled “Sound Work Of Drumming” will soon be available on DVD for Warner Bros. Paul was also a contributor to Paul Berliner’s critically acclaimed book “Thinking In Jazz” and he’s one of the 25 featured artists in the new book “Percussion Profiles”.
Paul was one of the featured clinicians at both PASIC ’94 and PASIC ’99 (Percussive Arts Society International Convention) and he and his trio are scheduled to perform at PASIC 2002. He appeared with Kurt Elling and Trio New at the 1996 IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educators) convention and he conducted a drum seminar at the 1997 IAJE International Conference. Paul also performed at the Modern Drummer Drum Festival ’97. Part of his performance is included on the “Modern Drummer’s 10th Annual Festival Highlights” video.
Paul’s debut CD as a leader, entitled “The Yin And The Yout”, received great critical acclaim including 4 stars in Downbeat magazine. Paul’s 1998 CD, “Live In Warsaw!”, received 4 1/2 stars in Downbeat and features the Paul Wertico Trio with guitarist John Moulder and bassist Eric Hochberg. This trio’s latest CD is entitled “Don’t Be Scared Anymore”. It was voted one of the “Best Recordings of 2000” by the Chicago Tribune and Amazon.com lists it in its “Jazz Fusion Essential” category.” Paul also has released eleven recordings as a co-leader: two self-titled LP’s, “Earwax Control” and “Spontaneous Composition”; a live Earwax Control CD entitled “2 LIVE”; a drum duo CD entitled “BANG!”; a double guitar/double drums 3-CD set entitled “The Sign Of 4”; two piano trio CD’s entitled “Union” and “State Of The Union”; and four CD’s with the legendary Eastern European progressive rock band, SBB, entitled “Goodbye”, “The Golden Harp”,”TRIO Live Tournee 2001" and “Nastroje”.”
Paul played drums on Paul Winter’s 1990 Grammy nominated release, “Earth: Voices Of A Planet”, and he’s also played on and produced a number of CD’s for various artists including vocalist Kurt Elling’s 1995 Grammy nominated release, “Close Your Eyes”, Elling’s 1997 Grammy nominated release, “The Messenger”, and Elling’s 1998 Grammy nominated release, “This Time It’s Love”. Paul also serves on the Board of Governors of the Chicago Chapter of NARAS (The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences).
In addition to winning many awards as a member of the PMG, Paul has also been voted “Fusion Drummer Of The Year” in DRUM! magazine’s Reader’s Poll and he’s placed in the “Top Five in the Electric Jazz Category” in Modern Drummer magazine’s Reader’s Polls. Paul’s been featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including Drum Tracks magazine and Modern Drummer magazine, as well as on international drum publications such as Italy’s Percussioni and Belgium’s Belgo Beat. He also served on the board of advisors for Drum Tracks magazine and is currently on the board of advisors for Modern Drummer magazine.
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