A man who knows a thing or six about drumming, Bill Summers is putting together an ambitious celebration of all things percussive. Dubbed “DRUMANOLA”, the event will be a “day of the drum” on Friday, October 4 and will be documented on photo, audio and video.

Bill Summers

The goal, he explains in a release, is to celebrate 400 years of drumming from the gatherings on Congo Square to the gigs in local clubs today. “Our team wants to bring various entities together to compile a full recording and filming of the project and showcase the major types of music ‐ from its origins at Congo Square, to its profound effect on the present day music of New Orleans and music from around the world.”

Known for his years in Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and recently in Los Hombres Calientes, and lately leading his own band Jazalsa, Summers plans to gather all the city’s major drummers together for a photograph in Gasa Gasa (4920 Freret St.) at 2 p.m. Lined up so far is a dream team of Summers, Jason Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Luther Gray, Alexei Marti , Judah Mason, Stanton Moore, Johnny Vidacovich, Uncle Benny Jones, Jonathan Bloom, and Lamar Lablanc of the Soul Rebels; with many more likely to be added. The above will all perform at the club beginning at 9:30 p.m. and the event will be recorded for a DVD/CD release.

And no, we don’t know how they’re going to fit twenty-odd drumkits onto the less-than-massive stage at Gasa Gasa, but we intend to show up and find out. More Info: www.billsummers.net