My Bumberdrum Performance at Bumbershoot

Michael Shrieve playing at Bumberdrum in Seattle, WA

Here's a fun and historic piece of music I performed on with Michael Shrieve (The original drummer for Santana who played at Woodstock ‘69)

I am so proud to have played at this event and am thrilled Michael felt this primal “drum jam” was worthy of being released. I learned several life lessons in the lead up and performance of this event. For example, I learned to trust myself and that my work had value. I would at times forget these lessons, but Michael would often remind me (and still does today!).

I even helped compose a few of the drum set grooves along with Michael and Conrad Ormsby (another great Seattle drummer).

I was Michael Shrieve's assistant for many years and he was always so thoughtful and kind to bring me into cool musical situations. He asked me to play at Bumberdrum one year and share the stage with some of the greatest drummers in the world. Trilok Gurtu played after us as did Mickey Hart, Boukman Eksperyans and more. It was overwhelming in all the best ways. I still get goosebumps thinking about how it felt to play that day, AND each year that Michael hosted Bumberdrum.

Dave Hill Jr. playing with Michael Shrieve and Conrad Ormsby at Bumbershoot in Seattle, WA

I only played the one year but I went each and every year. Another favorite memory was seeing the legendary jazz great, Art Blakey perform a drum solo and then jam with other world beat drummers. It was incredible.

Huge kudos to Michael for being such a visionary to bring so many great people to Seattle to elevate and celebrate the tradition of drumming. It opened my eyes to a lot.

Here is a video of me playing at the Bumberdrum event with Michael. The audio is not great, however the new release on Michael Shrieve’s Bandcamp sounds way better and you can support Michael by buying his music there.

Lots of rare and great releases over the years to choose from.