Awesome Drum Solo: Dave Di Censo - 1996 HD

With Two Ton Shoe - Boston - 1996 Coming on the scene as a metal drummer in the late eighties, Dave DiCenso has since worked in a diverse array of musical contexts; from hardcore and prog, to rock, pop, jazz-fusion, funk, and soul. Along with his chameleon-like approach, he is known for his individual sound, musicality, and highly animated performances. Dave has also excelled in the field of education, and is considered to be one of the great player/teachers of our time. Dave grew up in a musical family in a suburb on the South Shore of Boston. His father, Dick DiCenso, was a well-known drummer and educator in the area. He was Dave’s first teacher when Dave was five years old. His older brothers John and Joseph were accomplished on drums and piano, respectively. Like their father, both brothers were jazz musicians at heart, while Dave gravitated toward the rock, pop, and R&B music of the day. Dave studied with his dad until the age of ten, then decided to take guitar lessons. These lessons lasted until age fifteen, when he chose to pursue drumming as a career-path. That same year, he had his first pro gig, filling in with a band playing a New Year’s Eve party at a hotel. At this point, Dave was playing with local rock and metal bands and discovered he was a fish out of water when the band leader turned around to “shush” him within the first bar of the first song. Despite his lack of skill for playing quietly, he began getting calls for more general business (GB) gigs, soon thereafter working regularly throughout the Boston area. It was through a colleague in the metal scene that Dave eventually connected with the Cro-Mags; the band credited for being the first to fuse hardcore and metal in the late 80’s. In 1990, Dave came in to finish touring the band’s Best Wishes album. He would go on to do several tours and albums with Cro-Mags including 1992’s Alpha-Omega, and 2000’s Revenge, the latter featuring guitarist Rocky George, from Suicidal Tendencies. Cro-Mags’ legendary front man Harley Flanagan said of Dave in his book Life of My Own, “He was a sick f*cking drummer. He could play just about any kind of music, but he was a metalhead at heart. He hit the drums so f*cking hard – one of my all-time favorite drummers I’ve played with.” In 1997 Dave also recorded pop icons Duran Duran’s “Out of My Mind” for the soundtrack to the major motion picture The Saint. The following year he contributed four tracks to ex-Baby Animals singer Suze DeMarchi’s Telelove, recorded all tracks on Two Ton Shoe’s Figures and Jon Finn Group’s Wicked, and did a short stint with the Steve Morse Band, featuring Morse, the legendary guitarist known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple. Steve was so happy with Dave’s work he published an article about him in the December ‘98 issue of Guitar Magazine titled, “Impressed and Inspired by a Temporary Drummer.” Another significant event in Dave’s career was in 1994 when he accepted a teaching position at Berkle