AprilCadence2013

sing along with ella, and i would keep scatting the same phrase until somebody
moved the needle across (laughter). apparently i scatted along with the clicks as
well, so even then i was listening closely to all these things and music just became
a part of me.
CAD: At age two you were described as a drum prodigy – was this pots and pans
in the kitchen?
dm: pretty much that, then my mother found me playing with chopsticks and
decided i was in to this music and before long i had a kit of drums. i was five at the
time.
CAD: Did you have any formal teaching?
dm: no, i was pretty much self taught at that stage – just listened closely to the
radio, and studied and copied what i could from my parents’ record collection.
CAD: So your first professional job playing drums was a Community Theatre
Production of A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum – that was in
Anchorage, Alaska and you were aged ten?
dm: Yes, that’s right, in anchorage.
CAD: So you were reading by then?
dm: no, no, i just got hold of a record of the show, and learned it from that, so
when rehearsals started, i was ready. it was a very short season, only a few nights.
CAD: Was it a full group of musicians?
dm: no, no, only a quintet. But around that time i began really listening to other
things. see my mother really loved jimmy smith’s records, so she wanted me to
play keyboards because of the organ, you see. and i liked those records because
they got me listening carefully to Grady Tate, the drummer in the trio, and to jimmy
of course, and i also got really interested in the electronic sound of the organ. at
around this time there was a strong move in the rock world towards electronics and
all my friends were listening to that.
CAD: So your influences during those early years was rock rather than jazz?
dm: i guess so, r ‘n’ B. see we were all listening to radio all the time, not records,
and like everybody else i got caught up in it. soon i was paying more attention
to the bass, the electric bass, than the drums, and before too long i had a bass
and was working at it. Then it occurred to me that the bass player only had one
case to carry around, while the drummer……you know? also i was still struggling
to learn to read drum music, and the bass seemed to have a lot less to read – it
seemed a whole lot easier to me. and before long i was with a pop group on bass!
sometimes, drums, but mostly bass.
CAD: You graduated from High School in Las Vegas?
dm: Yes, clark high school.
CAD: Was there a music faculty there?
dm: There was, but the marching band was strong but, um, let’s leave it at that.
CAD: Not strong on jazz – is that why you were more into R ‘n’ B?
dm: That’s what we listened to, and at that time, because of my interest in the bass,
i listened to a lot of english pop bands with great bass players, they were getting a
103 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
Interview Dennis Mackrel