Primary Instrument: Drums
Dutch drummer/percussionist Ron van Stratum has a reputation of being able to play in a wide range of musical styles: from Jazz to Pop, from Latin to Rock. Having studied both classical percussion and jazz/pop drums he can draw from a huge technical and above all musical vocabulary. Ron played and worked with the likes of Jim Beard, Jon Herington, Scott Kinsey, Mike Stern, John Beasley, Mike Mainieri, Randy Brecker, Eric Gale a.o. and leads his own Ron van Stratum band.
Besides that he also is the drummer/percussionist for Belgian singer Nadine Nix and performes clinics and workshops for reknown drums-, cymbals- and percussion companies. He holds a chair as drumteacher at the Conservatorium Maastricht Jazz/Pop departement since 1992
“Swingin' In The Swamp” - the story of how this album came into being is as unusual as the name itself! And the best way to hear it is from Ron van Stratum himself: “About five years ago, I felt that it was time to write a new repertoire for my band, go into a great studio, record a CD and get the ball rolling. But as life so often goes, I was constantly busy with other (wonderful) projects for other (wonderful) people on stage and in the studio. Parallel to this I started to build my own recording studio, finally write new songs and record demos. I invited some musician friends to play these pieces with me and - wow! It sounded so good that I decided to make the album completely by myself, as composer, drummer/percussionist, producer, sound designer, engineer...“
Ron van Stratum brings a very precise idea of “his” kind of music: jazz fusion with strong world music influences. He draws inspiration from greats like Joe Zawinul to whom the song “Zawinizm” is dedicated, and who has in Ron’s opinion created his very own style of music; Jim Beard who plays along on some tracks from the album and brings the composition “Ode To The Doo Da Day” along; and also from Scott Kinsey. “Swingin' In The Swamp”, a piece characterised by Kinsey's music and the title track of the album, was created from pure improvisation in the recording studio. It has neither a “real” theme or melody yet still holds to a traditional form.
Ron van Stratum thought spontaneously of the wide swamplands in their best sense: unbelievably flexible, incredibly dense, deceptive in appearance, and always bursting full of life!
(www.zawinulonline.org)
…great tunes came out using various line-ups in a fusionjazz style with strong worldmusic influences: it takes the direction of Joe Zawinul's music….. absolutely flexible and dense ….A great joy!
(monstersandcritics.de)
Swingin' in the Swamp
Mons Records
2010
Tracks: Zawinizm; Avoiding the Plot; Swingin' in the Swamp; Ode to the Doo Da Day; Sunrise at the Pyramids; Nomads Trail; Round Trip; Little Argument; Mind the Mosquitos; Heat Factor Seven; Let's Move.
Ron van Stratum: drums/perc/vocoder
Jim Beard: piano/Rhodes/synth.
Wilbert Kivits: piano/Rhodes/synth
Mike Roelofs: piano/Rhodes/synth
Andy Middleton: tenor/soprano sax
Peter Hermesdorf: tenor/soprano sax
Roman Korolik: e-bass
Henk de Laat: double bass
Jon Herington: guitars
Berland Rours: guitars
Frank Peeters: guitars
Sam Vloemans: trumpet
Nadine Nix: voice
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