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Paul Wertico

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Paul Wertico was born in 1953 in Chicago and is an American drummer. He became known as a member of the Pat Metheny Group, from 1983 to 2001. Metheny heard the Simon & Bard Group, in which Wertico played together with the bassist Steve Rodby, and asked both for his own band. With Metheny, Wertico played on ten albums and four videos, appeared on television and toured all over the world. He won seven Grammys, including for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Best Contemporary Jazz Performance and Best Rock Instrumental Performance. He left the group in 2001 to have more time for his family and to make other music.

Music and breakthrough

Afterwards he formed the Paul Wertico Trio with John Moulder and Eric Hochberg and worked with Larry Coryell, Kurt Elling and Jeff Berlin. From 2000 to 2007 he played in SBB, a Polish progressive rock band. He played on Kurt Elling's Grammy-nominated albums Close Your Eyes and The Messenger, and on Paul Winter's Earth: Voices of a Planet. He also played with, among others, Lee Konitz, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, Mike Stern and Ramsey Lewis.

Influence

Wertico is also a teacher: he is affiliated with Roosevelt University in Chicago, taught for years at Northwestern University and gives clinics all over the world. From 2010 to 2012 he presented his own radio show about jazz, and he devised TUBZ, a drum accessory.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to First Circle by the Pat Metheny Group, the first album with Wertico. Notice how the drums drive the music forward with shifting time signatures.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists