Dr. John’s langjähriger Drummer Herman Ernest III (aka Roscoe) ist vorgestern (6.3.) verstorben.
http://www.offbeat.com/2011/03/06/drummer-herman-ernest-passes/
http://jazztimes.com/articles/27306-rip-herman-ernest-iii-aka-roscoe
Herman Ernest, longtime Dr. John drummer, dies of cancer
Published: Monday, March 07, 2011, 12:41 PM Updated: Monday, March 07, 2011, 2:18 PM
By Keith Spera, The Times-PicayuneHerman Ernest III, the longtime drummer in Dr. John’s Lower 911 band and a literal and figurative giant of New Orleans funk drumming, died Sunday of cancer at his home. He was 59.
Renowned for his larger-than-life personality, Mr. Ernest, known affectionately as Roscoe, was both a powerful percussionist and steadfast individual. He referred to his playing style as “diesel funk.”
He was featured on most Dr. John recordings going back at least 20 years, as well as on myriad albums by artists across the spectrum of New Orleans music. He starred in a 2004 New Orleans drumming instructional DVD alongside Herlin Riley, Johnny Vidacovich and Earl Palmer.
In 2009, jazz trumpeter Jeremy Davenport recruited Mr. Ernest to lay down the drums for “Mr. New Orleans,” a duet with Kermit Ruffins that appeared on Davenport’s album “We’ll Dance Til Dawn.” Davenport and co-producers Tracey Freeman and David Torkanowsky marveled at what Torkanowsky referred to as Mr. Ernest’s “proprietary groove.”
“Herman could play a trash can and it would sound like that,” Freeman said during the session, with admiration.
Most recently, Mr. Ernest cut tracks for “Nine Lives,” a forthcoming CD and musical based on Dan Baum’s book of the same title. Singer-songwriter Paul Sanchez recalled in a posting Sunday on the OffBeat message board how Mr. Ernest played through intense pain during the recording session.
The distinctly New Orleans hoodoo funk perpetuated by Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack was built on the sturdy foundation supplied by Mr. Ernest and bassist David Barard. On Rebennack’s 2006 Johnny Mercer tribute “Mercernary,” their seamless interplay was especially evident in the spooky opening of “Come Rain or Come Shine.”
Rebennack trusted Mr. Ernest implicitly, both on- and offstage. Mr. Ernest convinced him to rethink “Perdido,” a song on the 2000 Duke Ellington tribute “Duke Elegant.” “Whatever I was thinking for ‘Perdido’ would have been more dated sounding,” Rebennack said in 2000. “Herman turned it into a tribute to all the New Orleans drummers, like Smokey (Johnson) and Zig (Modeliste) and James Black and John Boudreaux, that era of New Orleans drummers. It was such a cool idea.”
Their rapport, honed over many years together and the result of a profound mutual respect, was obvious in Mr. Ernest’s humorous introductions and commentaries delivered from behind the drum kit. During a set at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, Mr. Ernest provided a play-by-play description of Rebennack’s zombie-like soft-shoe dance in “I Been Hoodooed.”
Mr. Ernest battled cancer off and on in recent years, and was hospitalized several times. Whenever he felt up to the task, he reoccupied the drum chair. Otherwise, Rebennack employed various substitutes. At the Howlin’ Wolf on Feb. 27, Herlin Riley filled in.
The band dedicated a Sunday night show in Massachusetts to Mr. Ernest’s memory.
“We played a beautiful gig last night with every note and beat played and sung in his honor,” guitarist John Fohl posted on OffBeat.com. Mr. Ernest “was a mentor, a teacher, a protector, a leader and a great friend. We all miss him dearly. Lucky for us we have thousands of stories and even more music to remember him with.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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