Drum Teacher Reacts: ROD MORGENSTEIN | Jordan Rudess: Modern Drummer Fest 1998 | 'Over The Edge'

[@billgrabbe9992]

The story I heard was when Jordan Rudess was playing keys for the Dregs, the sound system died and the only instruments that could be heard were keys and drums. Morganstein and Rudess jammed until the situation could be fixed and that was the beginning of the Morganstein Rudess project. Jordan Rudess has a degree from Julliard, I believe, and his left hand work is incredible. I stood about two feet from Rudess when he was playing in the Kurzweill booth at Comdex in Atlanta, Georgia. I had never heard of him, but I was a big Dregs fan from an early age, so I knew he would be good. I did not realize HOW good, though. Check out the Dregs and the early Steve Morse Band if you want to hear more of Rod.

[@Silentghos]

Love this has some Rocky vibes too. Great stuff Andrew 🙏🏼

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Glad you dug it James!

[@trafalgerdavis7839]

LOL, the cop chase. Hilarious, Andrew.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

HAHA!

[@craigjames5150]

It always makes me chuckle remembering that he was in Winger!

[@alexi.e.roivainen]

IS*

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Right on Craig :)

[@enriquemora9272]

Rod Morgenstein is one of the most awarded Rock drummers in the 80s and early 90s from the readers of Modern Drummer magazine, behind Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Phil Collins and Steve Smith. Amazing drummer.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

So good Enrique!

[@rickydariel2018]

i know it is quite randomly asking but does anybody know a good place to stream new tv shows online?

[@valentinokayden6964]

@Ricky Dariel lately I have been using Flixzone. You can find it on google =)

[@heatha7745]

One of my first ever Dream Theater concerts, they opened for DT. Will never forget their performance!

[@hypnosis4207]

Hahahaha your cop scene hahahah that had me dieing... I had to rewind it lol you should clip that and put it on KZbin shorts lol

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

HAHA!

[@joeldrummer23]

Always loved Rods playing !

[@HeAD-CRuMBs]

Great drummer!!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Sure is Michael!

[@ericdravenX00X]

In my opinion... Rod and his band mates should do a show or tour with Jojo Mayer and his band Nerve.. I think this would be a Very entertaining show.. Also at 7:35 the Fill he executes, along with the brief down tempo transition is Very nice.. Then coming back in to ride out the rest of play through..

[@tweevers2]

He is also the drummer for Fusion icon band The Dixie Dregs since the 1970's with guitar giant Steve Morse and Andy West bassist. That is what Rod is mainly known for in drum world....sad most in the general public only know him drumming for the band Winger in the 1980's

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Can't wait to check out Dixie Dregs!

[@tweevers2]

@@AndrewRooneyDrums They started a little later than the great Mahavishnu Orchestra with the great Billy Cobham shreds double bass drumming in 1972....The Dregs though came around in mid to late 70's . And just like Mahavishnu having shred electric violin, Dixie Dregs also had electric shredding violin. The dregs have more chicken picking blue grass though. The Dregs reform every now and again. They did from 2001-2006 then again in 2018."Leprechaun Promenade (Live 1978) at Montreux Jazz Festival is as good as any place to start

[@michaelgross8635]

Rod got his start in the '70s/'80s fusion band The Dixie Dregs (AKA, The Dregs) with Steve Morse on guitar (Morse would later play guitar in Kansas and with Deep Purple for the past 20 years or so). Rod would also record and tour with Morse on his first few solo albums in the '80s. When I was managing record stores in the '80s & '90s, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rod while he was promoting his current gig at the time, the pop metal band Winger. I'm sure playing to big arenas was exciting, but he was rather pragmatic about it. As he told me at the time, "Hey, man. Gotta pay the bills!" He was great to talk to, and I was the only one who knew who he was since I'd been a fan of The Dregs for years at that point. We talked about various drummers we liked. I'm a huge Rush fan, so Peart was certainly top of mind for me, but knowing of Rod's fusion past, we talked about a lot of others, likely including Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Danny Gottlieb, Dave Weckl, and others. Really nice guy. If you want to follow up with some of Rod's early work, I'd suggest Take It Off the Top from the Dixie Dregs' "What If" album, Cruise Control from The Dregs' "Unsung Heroes" album (much better produced than their earlier version on "Freefall" IMHO). You should also check out Cruise Missile, VHF, and On the Pipe from the Morse solo album "The Introduction." Enjoy!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Wow! Thanks for the great info Michael

[@michaelgross8635]

@@AndrewRooneyDrums - No problem, my friend. Enjoying your channel. Please reach out to me anytime you want to chat about Rush or prog/fusion artists. Random suggestion: There's a great Simon Philips solo on KZbin you should check out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX6opayMl9RkppI - He's an incredibly talented session drummer and this particular clip blew me away. :-)

[@michaelgross8635]

@@AndrewRooneyDrums - Looks like he was just getting warmed up with that first solo. Here's Simon Philips again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2SrgaqXodSdaqM

[@alistairclifton1286]

You called Winger pop/metal? Gotta pay the bills? Winger has always had a progressive twist to their stuff. Have you listened to any of their stuff post 1990? He continues to make albums and tour with Winger. A little history on each member that you just casually insulted. Winger was born in Colorado to parents who were both musicians. He grew up playing in a band named Blackwood Creek, with his brothers Nate and Paul plus friend Peter Fletcher (formerly in Pigmy Love Circus). Blackwood Creek broke up in 1980. Kip, his brothers, and Fletcher also played the Denver area bar scene while calling themselves Colorado. Winger’s first release was a Rainbow Music Hall live recording of the song "Wizard of the Key" on the KAZY Thunder on the Mountain compilation in 1980 under the band name Winger which was the Colorado band line-up under a different name. At age 16, Winger began studying classical music after hearing the works of composers such as Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky in ballet class. At that time he sent a demo tape to Alan Parsons, from whom he received a personal reply. Years later, when Winger was chosen to be the lead singer of The Alan Parsons Live Project, he presented Parsons with that letter from 30 years prior. In 1982, he studied with Sam Guarnaccia in Denver then moved to New York City and waited tables while studying composition with Edgar Grana Beach attended Berklee College of Music in the early 1980s, he played in Fiona's backing band and became an accomplished studio musician, working with the likes of Howard Jones, Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees, Twisted Sister, and Roger Daltrey, among others, showcasing Beach's ability to adapt to various musical styles. While working with Fiona, he was introduced to Kip Winger, who was touring with Alice Cooper at the time. Eventually they formed the band Sahara along with Rod Morgenstein and Paul Taylor, which was later renamed to Winger. Winger recorded and toured in support of three albums, Winger (1988), In the Heart of the Young (1990) and Pull (1993). The band also released a number of hit singles, including "Seventeen", "Madalaine", "Headed for a Heartbreak" and "Miles Away". After Winger disbanded in the mid-1990s, Beach first joined Alice Cooper's band and later replaced George Lynch in the heavy metal band Dokken. With Dokken he recorded one studio album, titled Erase the Slate, and a live DVD, titled Live from the Sun. He was also involved with Sega, as he recorded the soundtrack for the video game Daytona USA 2. Since leaving Dokken, Beach has been a part of several different recording and touring projects. In addition to sporadic touring with Winger, he released a solo effort entitled Masquerade in 2002. Since 2002, he has been a member of David Coverdale's current incarnation of Whitesnake and has been the longest-serving guitarist/member of the band to this day, excluding Coverdale. A "supergroup" project called The Mob with King's X frontman dUg Pinnick and Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy resulted in a single self-titled album, released in 2005. A reformed Winger released their first studio recording in over a decade, IV, in 2006. He replaced Jeff Watson in Night Ranger for a series of dates in Japan and the US, but announced his departure in January 2008. He splits his time between Winger and Whitesnake, recording Better Days Comin' in 2014 with the former band, and The Purple Album with the latter in 2015. He continues to tour with both acts. According to bandmate Kip Winger, Reb is quite adept at coming up with multiple rock riffs at a time, though he is often unable to remember them later. Rod isbest known for his work with the rock band Winger and with the jazz fusion band Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, the Steve Morse Band, and Jelly Jam. He has also done session work with Jordan Rudess including his ventures with the Rudess/Morgenstein Project. He also toured with Jazz is Dead. He has also been awarded Modern Drummer 's "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" five years (1986-'90), "Best All-Around Drummer" (1999) and was inducted into magazine's Honor Roll. He is currently a professor, teaching percussion at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Morgenstein continues to tour with the band Winger. He has also been a columnist for Modern Drummer magazine. Rod is known for his versatility of playing many styles of music. Paul Taylor and John Roth, also very accomplished players...gotta pay the bills lol

[@alistairclifton1286]

Here he is with Winger...just paying the bills lol kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3-bpHZtfJhpmtU

[@tortillasarenotbiceps7622]

I may have even posted this video myself in the past. I've watched all Rod's and Jordan's duets over the years. What an amazing duo they are. And with me being a massive Dream Theater fan of 35+ years there isn't much of Jordan's stuff I've missed. Rod's been killing it for decades. Dude's a BEAST!!!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

This is awesome!

[@tortillasarenotbiceps7622]

@@AndrewRooneyDrums For you on your own time. VERY RARE!: Rod Morgenstein & Jordan Rudess great performance! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpjSqZeZi9GGr6s

[@Keith_KC8TCQ]

Jordan Rudess, keyboard player for Dream Theater and the Prog Supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment (Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci and Tony Levin), as well as several solo projects and collaberations with other musicians. he can match Petrucci note for note and on the DT albums with Portnoy on drums, he could do the same with Mike Portnoy..

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Thanks for the info Keith!

[@Keith_KC8TCQ]

@@AndrewRooneyDrums If you really want to have some fun, pick up the live instrumental album that Petrucci and Rudess put out "An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess" put on your headphones and improvise drum tracks to go with the music they are playing. Great fun and great practice for creating drum parts for new songs

[@Dibulok]

It's Jordan Rudess of Dream Theatre!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Right Simon!

[@davidkoblentz]

You should check out his work with Ty Tabor (King's X), John Myung (Dream Theater) and Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater)... they put out 2 albums as "Platypus" and then 4 albums without Derek as "The Jelly Jam" ... great stuff, kind of 70s/80s prog arena rock... Rod is also a super nice guy, I was lucky enough to be invited to his house when they were recording/writing Jelly Jam 2 (thanks to Janet Rains.. RIP).... Rod, at the time, even jammed with his neighbors for fun... you finally got to Voivod so you need to add King's X to our universe also.... and damn Rod is so good.. he "fills" the spaces of the missing instruments, he knows to fill those voids with sound.. that is what makes this so special imo... the musical acuity...

[@EsDeib]

Big fan of Rod and the Dixie Dregs. I remember listening to the Rudess/Morgenstein album a bunch when I was getting into prog rock and fusion. A lot of talent there, no question.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Hey David! Yup they are awesome

[@martianshoes]

I saw Rod play with Dregs in ‘77, at a .94 cent show in a dumpy venue found on the south side of Chattanooga. A month or so earlier I had just seen Peart for the first time. I got to hear Rod warming up - he hit so hard. Between he and NP I wondered if drumming was going to a whole different level...

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Woah! Awesome stuff

[@respectfulremastersbymetal8336]

Dude, you have to check out: Craig Reynolds - Hardcore Drummer RUINS Jazz Fusion Song Then Inexplicably Lands 32 Bar Solo WITHOUT Click Great drummer. Great sense of humor.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

That sounds amazing!

[@guitarfan1980x]

Matt Halpern kinda reminds me of Rod that they look like they are having such a good time playing their kits

[@wxmaggot5669]

Rod is a multi time Modern Drummer hall of famer and one of my top 3 drummers of all time. When I bought my first real kit I searched high and low to find his cymbal setup (pre internet) from the album "Bring Em Back Alive" by his band The Dixie Dregs. I purchased that set up and still play some of those Sabians today. His signature dry ride is great! What an amazing, underrated, talented drummer. Bonus: got to meet him after a show and he's just as nice and humble as I thought he'd be.

[@jakeloranger1419]

I thought he would be nice and humle too from watching him do a clinic and interviews he had done with Modern Drummer. Thanks for confirming my "suspicions" as I have not been so fortunate to actually meet Rod.

[@jeffreyprehn5768]

Yes! Dixie Dregs!!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Great to hear he's a great human being also! Doesn't surprise me

[@jackp8993]

what amazing use of symbals to accent the note progression, inspiring performance. also big props to that keyboard player holy shit son!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Yup keys player is outrageous

[@tusotusin]

I saw them live supporting Dream Theater in Madrid (Before Ruddess joined DT)a lot of years ago. I had listened to WInger, but i had no clue what the name of the drummer was. When this 2 guys started playing was like OMG. I never seen something like that with only 2 guys.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

It's so good!

[@garygraham2513]

You finally covered a player who has his kit set up like Mine. Lefties are taking over the world!!!!! I LIKE IT! Tasty!

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Lefties always look more graceful on the kit Gary!

[@jmcruz5385]

Rod Morgenstein has been a forgetten name in the drummimg world and nowadays, only very few knows how good and inflentual he really was.

[@jakeloranger1419]

Hey Andrew, great vid. I had forgotten I much I love to see Rod play. Apart from his technical prowess, he really looks like he's enjoyng himself. I remember seeing him at a drum clinic some time ago. This was not long after he had recorded an album with the band Winger. During the clinic, he talked about his experience when he first jammed with Winger. Rod was used to playing fusion with the Dixie Dregs and other artists. So here he is trying to play more rock oriented grooves and the guys of Winger keep telling him to play more simply. He starts playing what he thought was the simplest groove he could play. Eighth notes on the hi-hat, 2 and 4 on the snare and a basic pattern on the kick. And they say: "No, simpler!" "Okay," he thinks, and he starts playing quarter notes on the hi-hat along with the 2 and 4 backbeat. But something doesn't feel quite right. He's playing the correct notes, in time' and yet something's a little bit off. Finally he realizes it is his attitude that is off. He's so caught up with the notion that this is too easy, too simple, he could play it in his sleep. And that's exactly how he was playing it, with no conviction, no emotional investment in the music. When he changed his attitude and played every note with intention, as if he was playing the greatest lick on earth, everything changed. Now the music was grooving. Now I had already read an interview with Rod in Modern Drummer where he discussed this very topic. But seeing him demonstrate the difference between just playing the notes and then playing them with conviction and attitude really helped me to understand the concept. He stressed the importance of having the right attitude for the music being played. It could make the difference between landing a gig at an audition or being turned away. Plus his positive energy and infectious smile really made for an enjoyable clinic. The funny thing was, after it was over and people were shuffling out of the hall, I heard a couple of guys complaining how disappointing the clinic was, that Rod hadn't played any amazing licks or any complicated fusion grooves. I thought to myself: "They missed the lesson." Rod had shown what it takes to be a professional drummer in the real world, and they hadn't heard it because they wanted drumming pyrotechnics instead. Anyway, Rod's lesson really informed my playing after that. And while I am nowhere near his level of playing, I've had quite a few musicians tell me they enjoyed making music with me. I'll give credit where it's due. Thanks Rod.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Wow. Awesome stuff Jake!

[@warren_r]

These two guys did a whole album together called the "Rudess/Morgenstein Project". Anyone who likes this song should seek that album out.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Can't wait to check it out Warren!

[@ericvalkenaar6276]

These drums sound perfect! What impact! Keyboard player is equally awesome.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Yup both monsters!

[@joeldrummer23]

It’s just them two all live

[@moumouzel]

He would fit really well with dream theater

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Yes!

[@Struud]

Jordan looks exactly like Shaggy in this lmfao

[@tylergoodguy1194]

The first example I think of in regard to hitting chinas that are orbiting the kit is Akira Jimbo's drum set

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Akira! Love that guy

[@trafalgerdavis7839]

Jordan Rudess is playing with Dream Theater these days among many other bands including his own stuff. A guru on the synth.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

I can tell!

[@cwkooper4954]

Is that Dream Theater's keys guy?

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

It seems to be. I didn't realize until now.

[@stewartjaquess287]

Please react to Rob Bourdon from LP

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

I hope to get to it man!

[@t3hgir]

I call that "riding a China like Vinnie" great pick here, I'd never heard this and I'm a huge JR and Dream Theater fan.

[@TwoandaHater]

check out the Rudess album Feeding the Wheel.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Yes very Vinnie!

[@GrahamMurphy525]

FIRST! What's up Andrew!

[@t3hgir]

Nice name lol.

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

What's up!

[@jonbulkley1852]

Check out a dregs tune or two.

[@Jmgtr42]

This guy has to be something considering he got Jordan Rudess to play with him!! That's like a singer or guitarist getting Mike Portnoy to play with the! Amazing drumming of course!

[@jeffreyprehn5768]

Dixie Dregs from the late 70's/early 80s is where he's from:-)

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

He sure is Justin!

[@localdrummer101]

We need some Blake Richardson drum videos

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

I've done vids of him and they got blocked unfortunately Josh

[@reddevil1105]

You should react too Opeth “Masters Apprentices” the drums are nothing short of insane! Also Slipknot “Nero Forte”

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

Can't wait to hear some more Opeth!

[@drakausdromgatti58]

HOLY MAGOOGIN!!! CHINA MUCH!?!?

[@AndrewRooneyDrums]

China level 11

[@cobra1995xx]

Ahhhhh they days of nice open sounding drums n cymbals.. miss that a little lol.. He had some tasty and smeaky drum parts with Winger for sure.. Plus me being a lkefty i could copy him kinda lol

[@wesworach7441]

I can't believe you've never heard of Rod !!! ... Dixie Dregs ? ... Rings a bell yet ? ... Steve Morse Band ??? ...