It is always a fantastic experience and so inspirational when you watch a musician play
with passion. It leaves you realising how thrilling the prospect of making it in the business
really is.

This was the feeling Drumtech students were left with after a master class with Karl Brazil
as he gave an insight into his world of drumming and being an MD.

It began with Brazil warming up and then a track began to play as he smoothly went on to play
through it. From the beginning a smile covered his face as he almost jumped off his stool with every crash of his cymbals. Once this track was finished he introduced himself and explained his story. Almost totally self taught Brazil managed to work his way up the ladder and is now extremely busy playing with various artists including James Blunt. He reminisced about how it all started when he came down from his home town of Birmingham and was asked to fill in at Ronnie Scott’s club. His remembered fear showed as he talked about how he went to see what he was going to have to play. It was his dad that managed to talk him into it which has now led onto greater things. An audition for Pop Idol contestant Darius came along and Brazil managed to get the job, which started his climb upwards.

Brazil then continued by delving into his love for country music and showed this with a couple of tracks, which were loud and lively. It was then that he asked if anyone had noticed that he was actually left handed and left footed and demonstrated how he leads with his left hand even though he plays cross handed as if he were a right handed player. It looked odd but clearly works for him and ergonomically Brazil had worked his strange technique out.

The kit Brazil was playing was set up for the clinics he is booked for this year and he explained how this is not what he would use for a pop gig as it is just too much. He showed this with a James Blunt track as he played sparsly but cleverly and solidly.

Karl Brazil may have not had the chops of Tony Williams or Vinnie Colaiuta but he was a fine
example of how this is not always what is needed to make a busy career in the tough world of music.