Meet the Drum Clinician - Josh Duffee
Drum clinics and workshops were an important part of Louie Bellson’s musical life, where he would share his knowledge and skills with musicians ranging from a beginning level to a professional level.
We have been honored to host three incredible clinicians for previous Bellson Music Festivals. We were fortunate to have Walfredo Reyes Jr, Steve Smith and Gregg Potter visit Rock Falls and share their talents with us.
This year we’re excited to host Josh Duffee as our clinician, where he will talk about the traditional drumming styles from the 1910s and 20s, the drummers from those eras, as well as some techniques and skills he learned from Louie Bellson.
Josh has been a professional musician and a private drum instructor for the past 25 years based out of Davenport, Iowa. He performs a wide variety of musical styles, but his main focus is on the music from the 1910s, 20s, 30s and 40s. He has toured the United Kingdom over 15 times with various jazz ensembles, and has toured Australia three times with The Hot Jazz Alliance. He has performed at Jazz At Lincoln Center at Dizzy’s Club in New York City with the Hot Jazz Alliance, and at the world famous Birdland Jazz Club with Grammy award winner Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks.
When he’s not performing, Josh is an avid jazz historian on the music and musicians from the 1920s, and collects vintage drums and sound effects from the same era. He has been a historian on the life and music of Louie Bellson since the year 2000, and continues to share Louie’s musical legacy with the communities in the Quad Cities and in Rock Falls.
