Bio (the short one)
Brian Hamada - closet cowbell enthusiast, drummer and jazz educator - has performed with many modern jazz greats, including Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Lanny Morgan, Bobby Shew, Ernie Watts, Bud Shank, Bob Mintzer, Jeff Lorber, Tim Ries, Jim Snidero, Michael Davis, Carmen Bradford, Brian Lynch and Ingrid Jensen. As a member of the legendary CSU Fresno Jazz Band 'A' he toured Japan, Korea and Europe, performed at the Northsea and Montreux International Jazz Festivals, and in 1983 he was the recipient of a DownBeat jazz soloist award. (Other winners that year were Larry Grenadier, Vince Mendoza & Jeff Beal.) He has been an active jazz and drum clinician / adjudicator throughout California & Nevada for over 25 years, maintains a vibrant drum studio in central California, and currently holds down the drum chair for the Fresno Jazz Composers Orchestra.
Brian is now teaching jazz drumset at CSU, Fresno in the school's new Jazz Instrumental Performance degree option.
Since 2005 he has drummed with the modern jazz group "bug", featuring acclaimed saxophonist Peter Epstein, pianist/composer James Miley, guitarist Jeff Miley, and bassist Roger Shew. The group's second CD "The GADfly" was released in September 2009 (buy it!) and has received international airplay and critical acclaim.
Locally (in the Fresno area) he performs regularly with the Craig VonBerg Trio, the Mike Dana Trio, and the After Dinner Mints.
For over 25 years he has performed with virtually all of Fresno's best jazz and pop musicians at one time or another, and was honored by the local music community as "best drummer" at the "Contemporaries", hosted by the "Wild Blue" nightclub in 1990. During that era he played regularly with Aqua Bob, No Prisoners, Bill Bixler & Leslie Letven, Jim Bixler, George Roessler, Folly's Pool, The Dodger Haters, CSUF Alumni Jazz Band "A", and many more.
His extensive show drumming skills have had him backing legendary artists as varied as Andrea Bocelli, Regis Philbin, Don Ho, Eartha Kitt, Bob Hope, Jerry Vale, Dick Contino, Sons of the San Joaquin, The Tokens, Red Skelton, Bob Newhart and Joan Rivers, just to name a few.
Brian's recent studio drumming credits is represented by jingles for local businesses - Good Company Players, Table Mountain Casino, KMPH, The Big Fresno Fair, Fresno Distributing, and other regional and national accounts.
He resides in Fresno with his wife Lori and his two happy children Madeline and Evan. Lori is a board member of Jazz Fresno.
Recent Jazz Education Highlights:
Adjudicator/Clinician/Guest Artist
Fort Lewis College [Durango, CO] Jazz Festival (2011)
Willamette University [Salem, OR] Jazz Festival (2010)
John F. Kennedy Jr. High Jazz Festival (2009-2011)
Mid-Valley Jazz Festival [Tulare, CA]
(1998, 2002, 2004-05, 2007-08, 2010-11)
Reno International Jazz Festival (1992-2011)
Folsom Jazz Festival (2005-2010)
San Joaquin Valley Jazz Festival (1986-2009)
Delta Jazz Festival [San Joaquin Delta College] (2008-2009)
CMEA (Central Section) Jazz Festival (2008)
Central Coast Jazz Festival [Cuesta College] (2004-2005)
Redwood Empire Jazz Festival [Santa Rosa JC] (2005)
Fresno City College "City Jazz" (1986, 1993-1996, 2000-2001)
CSU Fresno Jazz Day (1995)
Jazz Drumming Clinics/Workshops
JazzFresno "Jazz at the Library" presentation:
A Brief History of the Jazz Drum Set (2010)
Reno International Jazz Festival (1992, 1994-96, 2006, 2008)
Folsom Jazz Festival (2006-2008)
Tulare City Schools (2007)
Tulare/Kings Music Educators Association (TKMEA) (2006-07)
Hanford West High School (Hanford, CA), Sanger High School, Clovis West High School (Clovis, CA), Buchanan High School (Clovis, CA), Clovis High School (Clovis, CA), CSU Fresno, Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA), Hope College (Holland, MI), Cherry Avenue Junior High (Tulare, CA), Pioneer Middle School (Hanford, CA), Woodrow Wilson Junior High (Hanford, CA), Madera High School, Kingsburg High School, Selma High School, Kastner Intermediate (Clovis, CA), Alta Sierra Intermediate (Clovis, CA), Clark Intermediate (Clovis, CA), Roosevelt High School (Fresno, CA), Bullard High School (Fresno, CA), McLane High School (Fresno, CA), College of the Sequoias (Visalia, CA), Central East High School (Fresno, CA), Sierra High School (Tollhouse, CA)
Faculty
CSU Fresno: adjunct lecturer in applied jazz drumset (2009-2011)
CSU Fresno: adjunct lecturer in jazz history (2011)
Drury Jazz Camp: [Drury University] Springfield, MO (2008-2011)
CSU Summer Arts: Jazz and Beyond: A Music Workshop in Improvisation (2011);
The Complete Jazz Musician (2006)
We Got The Beat: Summer Camps (2004, 2007-08)
Jazz Residency
with bug @ Hope College, Holland, MI (November 14-15, 2007)
Bio (the long one)
coming soon...I promise.