There are a few drummers who, when they drop new clips, I’m like stop everything.
One is Noah Fuerbringer. Another is this week’s guest for the third-ever in person podcast, Diego Ramirez.
Hailing from Ireland, and veteran of Berklee and Jazz Ahead, Diego is one of the most creative drummers I’m listening to. He’s played with Cartoons, Jonathan Scales, Marc Cary, and Jeremy Pelt. His own group, which recently released an album, is called Estratos.
It’s hard to describe his drumming exactly. It sounds “of the moment”, but also deeply individual - as if he’s pulling from a wider palette of musical choices than many of us.
Because Diego lives here in New York, I had the opportunity to host him in person, in the studio. Which went off almost without a hitch, except that our mics did not like the fan, so the audio, while clear, sounds a little like we’re speaking in the wind. Seated behind the drums, Diego was invited to play if he felt like it, or just chat, and decided he preferred to chat.
Almost from the word “go”, Diego fascinated me with his ethos. “I only practice when I want to practice” he says. I told him later of my “cave” construct, and that he reminded me of guests like Chris Turner - people who seem to fall in love anew with the drums every day.
But Diego’s background is important. Born in Ireland to a family of musicians, Diego was surrounded by music from early childhood. (His dad, he says, was in a semi-famous band in Guatemala in the ‘70s.) Which might explain why his relationship with music in later life - which is to say his teens and 20s - was astonishingly uncomplicated.
Practice, rather than the process of unearthing and machining weaknesses it is for many of us, was like an enchanting journey of discovery for Diego. He describes hearing Tony Williams on Nefertiti, and becoming obsessed with duplicating his sound.
Sound is a filter through which Diego views a lot of drumming, including improvisation. He doesn’t think in shapes or idioms, he says. Only in terms of creating the sound he hears in his head.
The results of that approach are evident. He has a style unencumbered by comparison to other drummers, that shows influence, but is almost impervious to trends.
I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.