These days musicians must acquaint themselves with all types of music, says Jay Lawrence, one of Salt Lake City's drumming pioneers.
"If you want to be a good rock drummer, you need to get into some Latin," Lawrence told the Deseret News. "And if you want to be a good jazz drummer you need to do some rock. The bottom line is music is music, and like what Duke Ellington said, `There are two kinds of music - good and bad.' "Lawrence knows what he's talking about. The man has played with everyone from Liza Minnelli to Roy Clark.
"Drumming is what I've always wanted to do since I was in the eighth grade," Lawrence said. "I became literally obsessed with the way the drums made me feel. I'd practice sometimes up to eight hours a day."
Lawrence - who cites his early drum teachers (Felton Hickman, Gerry Genuario, Richard Havens and Ron Falter) as well as Tony Bennett drummer Kenny Clare, Bill Bruford of Yes, Buddy Rich and David Garibaldi as his main musical influences - attributes his love for music to growing up near the showrooms of Nevada - Reno, Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas.
"I've never wanted to do anything else," Lawrence said. "I never wanted to be a doctor, nor did I want to be a lawyer. I wanted to drum."
Lawrence, who can bee seen regularly as the drummer for the Jazz at the Hilton Series, continued his training throughout high school in Nevada. From there he traveled to Boston, studied at the Berklee School of Music and eventually landed a gig with Liberace. Lawrence was only 19.
He's played gigs with Ann-Margaret, Shirley McClain and Tom Jones as well.
Lawrence has also been a part of various film and TV soundtracks.
"Double Impact," "Army of Darkness," "The Swan Princess" and "The Sandlot" are some of the movies that feature Lawrence's talents. As for TV, "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" are two popular titless that jump out. And if you ride the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland, you will hear Lawrence's drumming there, too.
Lawrence also co-founded the first Latin salsa band in the city, Orquesta Pachanga, which was the basis for the now-popular Salsa Brava. He's also involved in a couple of jazz bands - the Underpaid Professors and BRIDJJ - which include some of the best jazz artists in the valley.
The drummer also teaches music at the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Westminster College.
"That's pretty neat for me, because I didn't graduate college," Lawrence said. "I guess that says a lot for the school of experience."
The latest event in Lawrence's life is the release of his own solo album, "When I Look at You," a collection of romantic classic jazz tunes that features vocals by Melissa Pace and national jazz artist Joey DeFrancesco. (See review in related story).
"I chose some of my favorites," he said. "Those mean something to me and I hope they mean something to other people who hear the album.
"This is exciting for me because everyone who plays on the album, with the exception of Joey, is from Salt Lake," Lawrence said.
The album, which was mostly arranged and orchestrated by Dan Waldis - Lawrence's fellow musician in BRIDJJ - is available at Media Play, the Listening Room, Salt City CDs and Raspberry Records. Gordon Hanks, one of the co-founders of the Jazz at the Hilton Series, was the album's executive producer.
"I think one of the biggest challenges in my career is touring the thing I love, in this case music and playing, into a form of business," Lawrence said. "This cultural love is my livelihood, and I've got a family that relies on what I do."