World renowned drummer, percussionist, and inventor Bob Gatzen passed away on December 29, 2023 following a nine year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. I first met Bob in the early 1970’s soon after his retail store Creative Music Inc. had opened in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Even back then, Creative was the home for all things percussion. Every major drum and cymbal company was fully represented. They also offered private lessons, and a continuous roster of the best clinicians on the planet.
Creative’s clinic space provided an intimate setting for everyone attending. There really wasn’t a bad seat in the house… Yet, I will always remember the time Dave Weckl was set up right in front of me.
Creative Music always had a welcoming ambiance. Bob and his wife Joann were always cool about their customers checking things out. On one occasion, Creative had just received a brand new shipment of cymbals from Zildjian. Before they even went on display, Bob let me play on a few straight out of the shipping case. To this day, I still have much of the equipment I purchased from Creative over the years. This is a true testament to the quality of the drums and cymbals Bob carried in the store. Everything was always on the ‘cutting edge’ whether it be acoustic, or electronic drums.
My very first introduction to electronics came in 1983 at Creative when I had the opportunity to play on a set of red Simmons SDS-V drums. The analog sound was killer, but they were definitely out of my price range. A year later, I purchased a used set exactly like the one I had passed on for less than half the price, and I still have them. It was meant to be… The labels on the original shipping boxes were addressed to Creative Music Inc. Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Another great find was a custom designed Patrick Foley DW snare drum which was part of the full kit on display. I asked Bob if I could buy the snare separately and to my surprise, he said – Yes.
When Bob first became affiliated with Noble & Cooley drums in the 1980’s, I bought one of his early models… Later picking up a Zildjian alloy Noble & Cooley snare also designed by Bob.
He was always innovating… Creating original designs of which he holds numerous patents. Besides Noble & Cooley, Bob was affiliated with J. D’Addario Inc- Evans Drumheads, ProMark Drumsticks, DrumFrame, DCI Videos, and many others.
It would be difficult to count how many times I went to Creative Music. It really was the place to be for all things drums. When Ed Soph was teaching there, I studied with him every two weeks for over four years… That’s a lot of trips down to Creative of which I will never forget. -- Rest in Peace Bob Gatzen
Very sorry to hear of the passing of Bob Gatzen. A really great guy, brilliant drummer, innovator, inventor, designer and on and on. For years he created the innovations at Noble & Cooley, Evans drumheads and many more. Rest In Peace Bob. You’ve left a legacy behind.
-- Rob Wallis
Very sorry to hear of Bob’s passing. I didn’t know Bob personally but I talked to him on the phone when I opened my drum shop in Jackson MS in the mid 80s. I had read about the Noble & Cooley single ply drums and asked him if it was modeled after the Slingerland Radio Kings. He told me the shell was designed by him to have the same shell construction and tonal response as a Radio King, so I bought one. I still have it and it’s a very special drum. It sounds sooooooo good. It is one of the early ones they made with the lug in the center. I’ll never sell it. It is the only instrument I have from that first drum shop. I became a Noble & Cooley Dealer and sold them well into the 2000s. The Famous Drums that I make and sell are modeled after Bob’s drum and a couple of good Radio Kings that passed through my hands. I respected and admired Bob for being the “ultimate drum nerd, drum tinkerer, inventor and drum shop owner”. He was a special person.
-- George Lawrence
This breaks my heart. I studied with Bob Gatzen for many years starting in 1973. I can’t say enough about him and still think about his teachings in music, life and our many escapades Thanks for the passion and inspiration you shared with me… and so many others.
-- Thomas De Sena
My memory of Bob correlates directly with the respect and admiration I had for him and Creative Music. Without a doubt, C.M. was the hippest drum shop on the east coast. Better than say, Jack's in Boston or Manny's in NYC? Yes, because those shops were like supermarkets, with pressure on the customer to "buy or leave." Conversely, amidst the CM's relaxed atmosphere was due to Gatzen's personality permeating his shop. First and foremost, Bob was an artist himself, with genuine concerns of making life better for his fellow artists, such as his many drum-oriented inventions. He was always "cutting edge," highly tuned into what was around the bend both musically and equipment-wise. By that, I mean he was really interested in his customer's musical growth, and how his instruments could fuel that growth. Creative was a great hang, and it was nothing to spend an afternoon sharing war stories with those of the same persuasion as you (famous or not). Thanks to Bob's stewardship, when you entered or left the building, you felt like you mattered...and you did. Cling and clang of cymbals or the rat ti' tat-tat of the drums,
Thanks, Bob..for the memories.
-- Bob Girouard
When I learned early morning on New Year’s Eve about the recent death of Bob Gatzen, I was struck in an unexpected way. It wasn’t just the loss of Bob Gatzen and his many talents. To me, it was another reminder of the loss of an era.
I became a steady customer of Creative Music in Wethersfield, CT starting in 1979 when I moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut to join Eight to the Bar as drummer and vocalist playing (very) full time. Like most drummers, we are a bit obsessive when it comes to our instrument, beginning as hoarders of the multitude of catalogs you had to send away for, as well as knowing where you might check out the latest gear. We would occasionally trek down to W 48th in Manhattan and gawk at all the drums at Manny’s, Sam Ash, and the Pro Percussion store across the street. But once we discovered Creative Music, going to NYC just didn’t seem as necessary. Creative Music, owned by Bob Gatzen, had a great vibe, and as a pro drummer, it really catered to my needs and the needs of drummers of all calibers for many miles around. It was a drum mecca that I visited hundreds of times through the 80s. My career as a full-time musician started to end when my son was born in 1990, and in connection with my new career, I moved away from New England and Creative Music, in ’96. After many years, I digitally reconnected with Bob as I started following his YouTube series on drumheads and tuning that he produced in conjunction with Evans D’Addario, the manufacturer then led by Evans CEO and my dear friend of over 50 years, Rick Drumm. About 10 years ago, I reached back to Bob to say hello and chat. We went back and forth about life, and how much things had changed, especially for drummers trying to make playing the drums their living. He still has his infectious enthusiasm for everything drums. Little did I know that his affliction had already started.
Bob Gatzen was a drum geek before the phrase was coined, a thinker who always innovating and coming up with new ideas. Back in the 80s, I would often stop by the store on the way to Eight to the Bar gigs, to pick up some “lumber” or just see what was new. It was a special place. Besides a huge inventory of drums and drum sets, you could expect to find the most arcane little part, as well as every brand of sticks and every kind of drumhead out there. Bob was an excellent player in the fusion realm, which at the time, was sort of the prime metric by which drummers were judged. His playing really stood up, augmented musically by his masterful mallet abilities on keyboard percussion. Because of his own drumming skills, he had tremendous credibility and quickly established himself as someone who knew all about what you needed to know. Often, with the intent of just stopping by, if time allowed, I would just “hang” for hours. A couple episodes from the early to mid-80s remain clear in my mind and are illustrative of the enthusiastic talents that Bob Gatzen possessed.
Due to the high amount of sticks, heads, and cymbals I bought at Creative, Bob knew I worked a lot as a drummer and that “Eight to the Bar” was a swing era phrase, so I guess he thought I was playing traditional swing. When the first 80s version K Zildjians came out he called me, and with his excited voice said, “Oh, you have to try these 13” K hi-hats - they are perfect for swing”. While he was right, and I still cherish them, it was the darkness of the Ks-and their relationship to the 30s style swing sound that he had in mind, a sound vastly different than the high-octane swing and vintage R&B that Eight to the Bar delivered. Still, I loved those hats-and still do. A couple of years later a similar incident, when the first Istanbul cymbals from Turkey hit the store: “Gary, you have to try this 20” ride-it is perfect for what you do”. Well, actually it wasn’t-I preferred a 1969 22” A Zildjian that was on loan to me then from my (recently deceased) friend Wes Talbot. That Avedis had the cut, ping, and bell sound I needed, but I still cherish that Istanbul 20 Medium Ride, especially when paired with the K hats. I still have all those cymbals to this day. Bob Gatzen was way, way ahead of the curve in terms of drummers gravitating towards much darker cymbals, and because of Bob’s foresight, I could be ahead of the curve in a way, as well. His direction helped me remain current with the emerging trends.
My favorite story, set about 1983, relates to his relationship with Noble and Cooley, a terrific Massachusetts drum maker with an incredibly deep history that extends back to the Revolutionary War. He explained how he was working with Noble & Cooley on a steam bent single ply snare, and that I should order one, based on this gorgeous prototype he had. One look at this instrument and you could tell it was of the highest quality, and design. Since I already owned a beautiful natural maple 60s Slingerland Radio King (coincidently artfully refinished by Jim Foley of Creative Music), I didn’t think I needed another snare with that kind of mid-range honk. Most of the recording engineers I worked with, especially at The 19 in Glastonbury, CT liked my 7 x 15 Leedy & Ludwig or my 6.5 x 14 chrome over maple Pearl snare for recording. And I didn’t like the idea of bringing a very expensive Noble & Cooley snare drum on the road where it would stay in the truck for months at a time. So, I politely said, “No, thanks, Bob-but those sure are beautiful”. Bob replied, slyly, “No problem…. but I am working on an entirely different concept, something else you will really like”. Without knowing anything about what he was envisioning, I told him to go ahead and make it and that I would buy it based on his recommendation and the heart he was obviously putting into the work. I was not disappointed.
What he created, and I believe only three drums like this existed, was a Noble & Cooley snare made with a super thin Blaemire Fiberglass Shell. I entered Creative Music and saw a white, 7 x14 snare with brass fittings and chrome hoops, just sitting on the glass case. I remember putting it on a stand and playing a five-stroke roll on it. Just one. Five strokes and I said, “I’ll take it”, to which he replied, “But you don’t know the price”! I responded, “I know the price will be fair, and I must have this snare”. If this drum was a car, it would have been a Ferrari. It was extremely responsive played soft and just did not choke no matter how hard I could play it, but because of the shell, I rarely had to play it more than mezzo forte, due to the richness and width of the tone. The sound, the response, everything about this snare was better than anything I had ever played before. Perhaps it was the resonance of the shell with the sharp bearing edges combined with the depth that gave it this special, bespoke quality. Why did he make only three of these snare drums? Fiberglass requires very different OSHA requirements and when friable (such as when cutting the bearing edge) is hazardous to the respiratory system, making it difficult and possibly dangerous to work with. He didn’t want to take the risk again. Done.
A few weeks later, I stopped by the shop on the way to a gig to tell him how incredible this drum was and inquired about buying another one, as back-up since I knew how very small the supply was. While he was very happy about it, he explained about the two other “litter mates”. He reminded me that only three were made, and until then he had the other two, both black. But now he only had just one, and he wanted it for himself, understandably. When I asked him where the third one went, he said, “I had a meeting last week with Phil Collins at the Worcester Centrum to show him the Noble & Cooley line-up of snares. He played a bunch of them, and while impressed with the quality of the single ply shells, he kept coming back to one drum: the Blaemire Noble & Cooley-that’s the one he took”. So, through Bob Gatzen, I had the same snare as Phil Collins, but most importantly, the same snare as the maker; Bob Gatzen.
Where’s mine? When I stopped playing full time about 35 years ago, I couldn’t stand the thought of the instrument not being played, the same way a Stradivarius violin or cello needs to be played or it atrophies. I sold it, at the price I paid, to Shannon Ford, a super fine drummer living in NY who had recently borrowed the snare to use on a track on the Danny Gatton album, “88 Elmira St.” Shannon was introduced to me by my best friend, Bill Holloman, who was also on the 1991 release playing all the horns and most of the keyboards. I didn’t sell it because I needed the money. I sold it just because that drum needed to be played.
Over the many years I have played the drums, I bought and sold a lot of equipment, most at Creative Music. The one drum I wish I never sold was that one beautiful piece of work, a snare drum that was a piece of the heart of Bob Gatzen. I am very thankful to have known him.
The end of an era
The end of an era. There are very few true Drum Shops like Creative Music still in existence today. Even the beloved W 48th music stores are all gone. But, living in Cleveland, I am fortunate to know the great folks at Stebal Percussion in Willowick, Ohio, which even today feels a little like Creative Music did back in the 80s. If you have such a “Pro Shop” near you, support them. Keep that marvelous part of being a drummer, within the community of drummers, alive.
- Gary Stevens