Nick Saumé has been a drummer and a percussionist for the last 40 years.
His musical roots are in New York City
in the Sixties where he grew up and played at a time when live music was being
played everywhere, and lots of musicians were working. One of his early
performances was playing with a well known group at the time, which played at
the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, NYC. It’s in NYC that he played and
studied with Stanley Krel, principal percussionist with the New York Philharmonic
Symphony. He was also a very busy drummer playing in many Broadway shows.
At
the same time Nick worked with the legendary talent agency William Morris, and became
one of their first on-call drummers. He worked with such “acts” as the Shirelles,
the Chiffons, the Hot Tamales, Johnny Thunder, Joey D and the Starlighters,
Baby Hughie and the Babysitters, Jimmy James and the Fabulous Flames, Sam the
Sham and the Pharaohs, to name a few, and Hot Ice his own recording group, on Avco Embassy Records.
He performed at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas
in 1972 with a group from New York
called the Marc Christopher Quartet. While in Vegas, he also played with the Harry
Belafonte Orchestra.
In 1973 Nick spent a year in South America playing with
local musicians and listening to and learning the music of Columbia.
Nick moved to San Francisco
in 1975, and fell in love with jazz. He
was one of the original band members of the well-known Pickle Family Circus whose
home base was San Francisco. As
principal drummer and percussionist he formed poly-rhythmical beats accompanying
the acts, as well as playing with the 5 piece jazz band. He created the music
and the percussive accompaniment for 8 years.He performed with several local theater companies while living in the
Bay Area through 1979.
While playing with a jazz trio he formed with his wife,
Sabra Redfern, bassist and vocalist, and Mike Greensill, jazz pianist, he moved
the trio to Hawaii to play in an
exclusive, private club. Nick and his wife stayed in Hawaii
for several years playing the jazz scene there with much success.
He moved back to San Francisco
and continued playing in the jazz scene while teaching and also studying with
some of the great teachers of the Bay Area: George Marsh, Richie Goldberg,
Anthony Cirone, the principal percussionist for the San Jose Symphony, and the
legendary Chuck Brown, where he started working on the “Method” which he
teaches today.
Nick and his wife made their way to Portland,
Oregon in 1990, where he continues to work
and teach. He enjoys playing in several jazz trios around town. One of his
favorites is The Andre St. James Trio with renowned acoustic bass player Andre
St. James, and Frank Tribble a fiery guitar player who’s in great demand. They
have been together for the last two years playing all around the Portland Metro
Area. You will also find Nick playing in theater productions where he can be
seen today.
Nick believes that the “Method”, part philosophy, part discipline, gives
drummers of all ages the confidence to play
any type of music with total control and independence.
