AL FITCH - Drum set
Al was born in Kentville, NS, and began to study and play the drums when the band program was formed at Kings County Academy. Following his high school graduation, he spent a year studying drum set privately with Ed Jardine and classical percussion studies with Craig Reiner with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, as well as playing with various college ensembles, dance bands and local Broadway musical theatre productions with Kipawo Showboat Theatre and Acadia University Theatre productions. He then enrolled at Acadia University, as a percussion major. Soon he was lured by full time employment, working on the local Maritime nightclub circuit, playing drum set, his preferred instrument. The circuit included dance clubs, hotel lounges and show bars, with backing singers, dancers, hypnotists and comedians. Since 1978 to the present, Al has performed and/or recorded with The Small Band, The Blomidon Consort, The Rhythm Method, Don Osborne(NS), The Centennial Dixieland Jazz Band, Kate Hammett-Vaughan (NS;BC), The John Tetrault Group (NS), The Swell Guys(NS), Mike Murley (NS;Ont.), Craig Wood (NS), Frank Leahy (Ont.), Jeff Goodspeed (NS), Lisa Lindo (NS), The Kim Bishop Ensemble (NS;NB), Patricia Leger (NB), The Big Valley Swing Orchestra, The Hupman Brothers(NS), Caleb Miles (NS), Jaime Junger (NS), Kim Doolittle (NS;Ont.), Jay and Tammy Roy (Texas;PEI), and he has performed and recorded for CBC Radio and Television. Al has continued drum studies throughout the years, having the opportunity to work with Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr ( Duke Ellington; Dizzy Gillespie), John "JR" Robinson (Quincy Jones; Michael Jackson; Stevie Winwood, etc.), Peter Erskine(Weather Report; Steely Dan; Diana Krall), Omar Hakim (Sting; Madonna), Chuck Silverman (MIT-LA), and Dom Famularo (Director of Education Programs for Sabian Cymbals and Vic Firth Drumsticks. From 2005 to 2011, Al taught drum lessons at Kings Edgehill Private School in Windsor, NS. He has done several workshops and clinics in the public school system, as well as Acadia University Summer Jazz Camps and the Nova Scotia Honour Jazz Program. He now takes a limited amount of private drum students and is a registered Vic Firth-PDT (Private Drum Teacher) and endorser for the Vic Firth Drumstick Company. Al currently performs with The Kim Bishop Trio/Quartet, The Paul Barrett Quintet/Sextet, Split Decision, Bluesmobile and does sub work recording studio sessions.