SABIAN WELCOMES BERNIE DRESEL TO ARTIST FAMILY
Bernie comes to SABIAN at the height of a storied career including gigs with Maynard Ferguson, David Byrne, Chaka Khan, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Ringo Starr and the LA Philharmonic to name but a few.
Bernie has earned the title of ‘Best Big Band Drummer’ in Readers Polls for both Modern Drummer and DRUM! Magazine, and has won 5 Grammys along with numerous nominations. He is a first call artist for TV and movie soundtracks. That’s Bernie playing on scores for Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and movies like the upcoming Star Trek, The Bourne Supremacy, Superman Vs. Batman, Mission Impossible 3, Jurassic World, Zootopia, and he was one of a dozen top drummers recruited by Hans Zimmer to record Superman Man of Steel soundtrack all playing at the same time. His oft partner on that short list of session artists is none other than Alex Acuña who has this to say about working with Bernie. “Bernie is one of the great drummer/percussionists of his generation. He plays and reads all styles of music including classical percussion so well. I always enjoy playing sessions with him!”
He has led his own bands Bern and now his 16 piece big band "The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel" with whom he recently recorded the album Live 'n' Bernin' for August/September release. SABIAN’s Director of Artist Relations Chris Stankee says, “The Swing genre is so difficult to master and watching Bernie play with his big band it is completely obvious where his heart is playing the instrument. David Aldridge wrote about Bernie, “He’s preserving a Style with Style” and we couldn’t agree more. We hope his new SABIAN cymbals inspire him for years to come!” Bernie says, “I’ve enjoyed exploring SABIAN’s options very much! From the long, smooth, & hot tones of the Artisan and Legacy lines to the more traditional sounds of HH and AA cymbals. On my most recent album I used HH Remastered 14” Dark hats, the beautiful, clean and present 21” Raw Bell Dry Ride, the heavenly 18” HHX Explosion Crash & 18” HHX Evolution Crash, and the dark, nicely spread, yet articulate 22” AA Apollo Ride. They are so “easy” to play and make music with them, and I can’t wait to mix down those sounds. Thank you SABIAN!”