Late
in June I posted a little piece about Ben Sidran’s 2012 Salon for
Secular Humanists, Arch Democrats and Freethinkers, a summer-only treat ongoing
at the Cardinal Bar on Tuesday afternoons through the end of this month. I focused my prose on Sidran, as you’d
expect, but also highlighted bassist Nick Moran and guitarist Louka Patenaude,
longtime Sidran collaborators who’ve been on my radar screen for quite a while.
I pretty much skipped over percussionist Todd Hammes. Up against three of the
best-known players in town he essentially gets no billing for this event, and
I’d never seen or heard of him before. In
my June post I called him the new guy in town, but it turns out that wasn’t
quite right. So I’ve been watching him
play these last few weeks. I like his
intricate style, and his kit – bongos, congas, cymbals and sticks, no timbales,
no snare, no bass – is just right for this gig. Hammes wears several strands of ankle bells,
to boot – ghungroos or kahtak bells, worn by traditional dancers in northern
India.
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| © SKepecs 2012 |
Who is Hammes, and how
did he land onstage with Sidran and company?
Hammes grew up in Onalaska WI, up by La Crosse. “I’ve been making 100% of my living as a
musician ever since I gave up my job bagging groceries in high school,” he said
between sets yesterday afternoon. “I
play, compose and teach. I have a formal
music education and I play a lot of classical, but at 22, in 1992, I found my
guru – an Indian tabla player – and I devoted myself to learning his
style. That singular pursuit has taken
me all over the world and into hundreds of interesting situations.”
For 18 years Hammes called
Tucson, AZ, his home base. He played
with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and picked up a plethora of jazz and world
beat gigs. But he came home to Wisconsin
– to Madison, that is – five years ago.
“When I got here,” he says, “I went to hear who was playing. I caught the New Breed jazz jam, back when
they were at the Concourse [the current incarnation plays at the Cardinal,
Tuesday nights at 8:30]. That’s how I
met Nick.”
Hammes ended up sitting
in with Moran and Patenaude “on a bunch of gigs. So I wasn’t new to them this summer. And I’ve known who Ben was for 30 years.
I knew his books, and I first heard
the “Space Cowboy” song when I was 12.” (Yes,
it was Steve Miller who recorded that – but it was Sidran who wrote it, in
1969).
“But Ben didn’t know me from
Adam,” Hammes says.
Until the Salon started up in June, that is. And now the rest of us know Hammes a little bit, too. For more, check out his website: http://toddhammes.com/ – and catch the last two
Sidran Salons of the summer, Aug. 21 and 28 at 5:30 PM.
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There will be an encore – the very last of Sidran’s
Salons this season – featuring Leo Sidran (Ben’s son) on drums, on Tues., Sept.
4.
