Bergamo-Tanka(S)-P

Tanka is a multi-percussion solo composed for and dedicated to Jan Williams. Its features sections of dense rhythmic material contrasted with open sections or improvisations

Number of Players: 1
Difficulty: Grade 6
Instrumentation: 3 Muted Cowbells, 2 Suspended Cowbells, 2 Triangles, Crotale, Bass Drum, 2 Timbales, 2 Bongos, Gong, 2 Suspended Cymbals, 3 Temple Blocks, 2 Woodblocks

From his early days as a drummer in New Jersey, John Bergamo has never lost his desire to expand his interest in percussion. In 1959 John attended the Lenox School of Jazz in Lenox Mass. next door to Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony. Under a scholarship, John studied drumset with Max Roach; had Percy Heath and Kenny Dorham as jazz band instructors; studied history and theory with Gunther Schuller, Marshall Stearns and George Russell; and was classmates with Ornette Coleman, and Don Cherry. In 1962 John earned an M.M. degree from Manhattan School of Music, followed by three summers in Tanglewood and time in New York City as a freelance musician.