The last clinic held in a month of mega-clinics, it was perhaps the best of the past few weeks. The two super professionals, with their years of experience, know what it is to make music on drums. In one hour and a half they showed the audience how drums music should be played, with perfect (improvised) arrangements, spectacular solo\'s and valuable lessons in which the basis still remains: know your (basic) techniques and rhythms and listen to your fellow musicians.

And that is exactly why this night was so succesful. Not only are Luis and Chester virtuosi on their instruments, their musical interaction made the sum of the pieces played become much more than it\'s parts. They listen, react on each other and are complementary. The show was a permanent interaction in which easy parts, as well as violent solos of both the players, culminated into beautiful moments of almost silent playing and rough drum work.

Luis Conte
Are adverts your only reference to Luis? Well, there is much more to say about him. Born in Cuba, but having the entire planet as his playground for many years now, Luis is one of the busiest musicians in music today. With over 800 registered albums on his CV he is one of the most influential artists of the past 30 years. Having played with nearly all the great artists of the past decades, such as Madonna, Eric Clapton, Tania Maria, Santana, Ray Charles and James Taylor, he can also be heard on several soundtracks of major movie productions. To name a few: Mission Impossible, Rain Man and Brother Bear have Luis on the credit list mentioned.
During the \'80\'s he was bandleader of his 16-piece Afro-Cuban jazz band. Not only is Luis one of the most renowned percussion artists, but he is also a composer, arranger and even conductor. His style and music are of great influence on many artists around the globe.

Chester Thompson
The other greatness on stage this evening, being the charming personality of Chester Thompson, was such a relief that all drummers present could only look and be amazed by Chester\'s playing. The former drummer of Genesis, Wheater Report, Peter Cetera (Chicago) and Frank Zappa showed that, in spite of the complex things he did in the past, drums can be just as beautiful when played with a more simple approach. Find out yourself in the attached streams where Chester\'s solo is played with Single Strokes over Toms and Cymbals while his feet keep beat in quarter notes. This way he lays down a construct for the solo that has a great up building and becomes more intense with every measure. A perfect lesson that tells us that complexity still isn\'t the major factor for successful drumming!

Drumworld was, again, able to contract a unique duo that you will find on stage only rarely. Not only did the two artists play so fine, beautiful and dynamically, they also gave very good tips and lessons to the approximately 600 people in the audience. For instance, the very helpful lesson of Chester concerning fills over toms:

\"If you start a fill with your right hand, from snare to floor tom, then go back starting with left. That way you will end up right and it won\'t mess up your hands.\"

Or the Zen-like approach of Luis about his conga setup:

\"I don\'t know why I don\'t setup my drums in the classic order. It just seemed suitable the first time I did it, and now I just change the order regularly...\"

Two examples of thinking freely on playing and techniques. Perhaps that was the underlying message both Luis and Chester wanted to give us: don\'t get stuck in your instrument but try to develop yourself by trying new things.

You can see Luis and Chester together in action on the latest DVD of Phil Collins: Finally... The First Farewell Tour. And, according to Chester, in the near future a DVD of their clinic serie will be available as well. In the streams attached to this article and on their artist pages you will find some foretastes of it, as well as many pictures of the Clinic at Drumworld in Ittervoort, The Netherlands.