DWF 2016 - Virgil Donati
Where does the time go? Donati is already 57 years old. But still in top shape—which is necessary for the utterly insane stunts he pulls off on his drum kit.
After the Australian drummer made waves in this part of the world in the late 1990s, he went on to build his career further in the U.S. In addition to many clinics where he pushed boundaries, he played with bands like Planet X and with artists such as Steve Vai, Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale, and Tony MacAlpine. He regularly tours with his own Virgil Donati Band. He calls his clinics ‘drum concerts’ and sets the bar high: metric modulations, polyrhythms, and multidimensional grooves fly at you from all directions. Watch for the high-speed bass drum work, the otherworldly juggling techniques, the sheer power with which he plays, but also the musicality in everything he does.
Photos: Margriet Cloudt & Jan Kloosterboer
