Keep (it) Swinging: Rick Drumm and Fatty Necroses

Return From The Unknown
Fatty Necroses sounded to me like an old Memphis jazz or blues man, and I liked it, so that’s our name.(Quote: Rick Drumm)
Hans Koert

When you listen to this Rick Drumm debut album it is like a trip into the past - the music exuded the atmosphere of the 1970s - the fusion music as played by bands like Weather Report, The Crusaders or Return for Ever. The eight tunes, however, as to be found on the album Return from the Unknown by Rick Drumm and Fatty Necroses, were recorded almost two years ago.

Cover design: a photo of a castle turret from the bottom up that looks like a tunnel with light at the end, like a doorway to a different place, which seems appropriate on so many levels. (quote: Rick Drumm) ( cover design: Elizabeth Drumm)
The birth of this album was very special - The title of the band Rick Drumm and Fatty Necroses suggests at first sight, especially for those who are no native speakers, just a band name, but it isn't. Rick Drumm recorded this album at the age of ..... fifty-five - not really the age to debut in my opinion. I've always been a musician, he explains, and I voved that I wouldn't give it up when I started my business career. Rick headed several major music companies, like D'Addario & Company, a manufacturer of strings. I so love to play. It keeps me young and also keeps me in touch with my customers.

Rick Drumm ( photo courtesy: Katie Healy)

In his 50s he learned that he had to go through chemo due to his treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; fatty necrosis is a benign condition left over after surviving this disease. As he couldn't travel, as he was going through chemo, he asked a group of friends to come to his house and play ...... During the first session with guitarists Fred Hamilton and Corey Christiansen, bass player John Benitez, Cuban pianist Axel Tosca Laugart, tenor saxophone player Frank Catalano, trombonist Mike Brumbaugh and trumpeter Pete Grimaldi they played music in the style of the early fushion music from the 1970s. At a second set two musicians had composed some new tunes, and after a day of rehearsals the group went to the Sear Studio in New York City to record this album.

Corvey Christiansen (photo courtesy: Simon Miller)
The music of the album was composed by both guitar players. Six out of nine tracks were composed by Corey Christiansen and the first three by Fred Hamilton, entitled Gentle Spirit, Indi Funk and the opening tune Fatty Necrosis Sings The Blues. We played together when we could, but as I recovered, we formed a real band, and I named it Fatty Necroses, because although the doctors got most of my cancer, they left some dead tissue in places too difficult to reach. So I’ve still got fatty necroses inside of me. Fatty necroses sounded to me like an old Memphis jazz or blues man, and I liked it, so that’s our name.

Fred Hamilton ( photo courtesy: Simon Miller)
Rick Drumm raised in West Springfield - Massachusetts, and started to play the trumpet at the age of four and switched to drums later. After military service, where he could play in the vaunted Norad band, he joined his fathers Blue Unit of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus band. Being in the circus taught me to anticipate people's movements and how to read them. After two years he left the circus band and moved to LA where he became Artist Relations Manager of the drum company Remo, which would be the start of a successful career as a business man in musical instruments ....... Although no longer active in music he was stll playing his drum kit, whenever he got the chance and he learned what's what from great drummers like Ed Thigpen, Shelly Manne, Steve Gadd and Philly Joe Jones.

Frank Catalano (photo courtesy: Simon Miller)

I really like the Corey Christiansen composition Detours and Pulled Pork Sandwich which reminded me to the music as played by the Brecker Brothers. The album ends with the emotional ballad Return in which the Cuban piano player Axel Tosca Laugard makes his jazz debut in a tune in which each drum solo represents Drumm's emotional experience going through six rounds of chemo .......... : Return (from the Unknown).

Fatty Necroses: f.l.t.r.: Mike Brumbaugh - John Benitez - Pete Grimaldi - Frank Catalano (photo courtesy: Simon Miller)
If you like the music as made by great names like Chick Corea's Return For Ever or Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, this album will surprise you - this debut album with the telling title: Return from the Unknown.

25% of all proceeds from this album will be donated to Strike a Chord, a non-profit that provides musical instruments and music lessons to children with life-threatening illnesses.

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
Twitter: #keepitswinging Facebook group: Keep (it) Swinging

The name of his group sounds like a Memphis jazz or blues man: Rick Drumm and Fatty Necroses and even the openings tune Fatty Necrosis Sings The Blues suggests that, but ..... nothing is further from the thruth ..... Rick Drumm's, in his fifties, debut album has all to do with his treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and while suffering several rounds of chemo he and his friends decided to make music ..... and to record this album. We played together when we could, but as I recovered, we formed a real band, and I named it Fatty Necroses, because although the doctors got most of my cancer, they left some dead tissue in places too difficult to reach. So I’ve still got fatty necroses inside of me. Fatty Necroses sounded to me like an old Memphis jazz or blues man, and I liked it, so that’s our name. If you like jazz as played by great names like Chick Corea's Return for Ever or Miles' In a Silent Way this album should be in your collection. Keep (it) Swinging loves to point you to this kind of albums with a story. If you like, ask for its free monthly news letter: keepswinging@live.nl