Drums By Mark D'Ambrosio

RIP James Gadson. In 1977, this man was on a few BIG hits from the Saturday Night Fever soundteack album. That was probably my biggest gateway into music. Fascinating career. Incredible pocket.

Synsonics drums from Mattel came out in the early 80s- about 2 years before I started drum lessons. While they were sold as a "toy," many name drummers did the commercials, and I think Carmine Appice actually had some wired into his kit for his solo. That being said it was quite a novelty and quite pricey for the time. They have always been on my bucket list, and I found one on eBay about 2 years ago. Now that I'm going to emulating Cozy Powell's drum solo on Mars the bringer of War, I thought it was only fitting to bring out the big guns.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of ELPowell. At the time, I had been playing drums for about three years. I was already a fan of Emerson, Lake & Palmer; however, Cozy Powell, to me, was just a hard-rock drummer who had played with Rainbow. I was a little skeptical at first, but when the album came out, I really liked Cozy’s footprint on it.

Some believe he only got the gig because his initials were CP, and because Carl Palmer was tied up in contractual issues with Asia. That may be true; however, it turned out to be a very good gamble.

What truly floored me were the bootleg recordings from the Lakeland, Florida show on that tour. Cozy absolutely obliterated “Pirates,” “Knife Edge,” “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and “Tarkus,” just to name a few. He didn’t compromise the arrangements, but added a tremendous amount of power, flair, and double-bass work. Because of those recordings, Cozy shot high up on my list of all-time favorite drummers. We lost him in 1998.

Now that I’m playing music for myself and for my students, I’ve decided to embark on a drum cover of “Mars, the Bringer of War.” This was the final track on the album and was originally composed by Gustav Holst. During the tour, Cozy performed his drum solo in the middle section, adding a heavy dose of electronic effects. I’m going to butcher my way through what he was going for—but this will be my tribute to Cozy, and to the late, great Keith Emerson and Greg Lake. It will be coming soon. (Hopefully.)