Jim Donovan :: Voted 2008 Drum Circle Facilitator of the Year by the Readers of Drum! Magazine
Visit his all new blog: Rhythm :: Ecstasy :: Evolution
A
blog by Jim Donovan... Thoughts on rhythm drumming... Ideas on
progression... Aim to evolve... with a nice helping of stories and
photos from my touring days..
And his all new website: Jim Donovan Drums
Visit Jim on MySpace and on Facebook
About Jim Donovan
From 1990-2005, Jim Donovan was a founding
member and driving force of the multi-platinum band, Rusted Root. Jim
made countless trips around North America and abroad with the popular
jam-band, sharing the stage with rock roll legends such as Santana,
Page and Plant, Sting, Dave Matthews Band, The Allman Brothers, Sheryl
Crowe, The Grateful Dead, and many others. They have appeared on
numerous national TV shows, including MTV, FX, David Letterman, Conan
O'Brien VH-1's Hard Rock Live and the CBS Morning Show. Their music has
been featured on numerous television shows as well as major motion
films such as Ice Age, Mathilda, Twister and the PBS Web of Life
Documentary.
Donovan studied and played African rhythms with
various master drummers such as Congolese master drummer Elie Kihonia,
Mamady Keita and Mbemba Bangoura. He also studied African Music with
noted scholar, Kwabena Nketia from Ghana.
He has researched
traditional African music for over 20 years via field recordings, and
has continuously integrated his findings into all his music both as a
solo recording artist and with Rusted Root.
As a solo artist,
Donovan has released 5 highly acclaimed solo CD's, an instructional
DVD, and 4 instructional drumming CD's. His newest releases include
Drum the Ecstatic International, The Yoga of Drum and Chant, and an
instructional DVD entitled, "Jim Donovan's Rhythmic Foundation:
Interactive African Drumming for Everyone."
Fulfilling his
desire to share the power of rhythm first hand, Donovan built a series
of educational drumming workshops that he teaches across the US and
Europe at universities, festivals, schools, corporations, and specialty
venues. He is a full-time instructor of music at Saint Francis
University in Loretto, PA, the current director of the Saint Francis
University World Drumming Ensemble and the director of the annual
Rhythm Renewal Drumming Retreat.