Warwick drummer follows his beat to the big time

Chris Redden joins blues maestro Popa Chubby at the Sugarloaf Music Series on April 14 Sugar Loaf - Warwick seems to be a magnet to performing artists. The late actor Richard Kiley, musical director Shep Coleman and Latin jazz great Ray Barretto called Warwick home. And so it was for musicians Doc Severenson and Jim Hall as it had been for actress Gretchan Wyler. The wonderful jazz bassist Hal Gaylor lived for many years on the cusp of Warwick and Greenwood Lake. (In its heyday, there was some tremendous jazz recorded in Greenwood Lake with guitarist Billy Bean, pianist Walter Norris, and bassist Gaylor - not to mention it being the regular “hang” for baseball legend Babe Ruth.) Today Warwick is home to guitarists Jeff Ciampa, Frank Vignola and James Emery, pianists Richard Kimball and Jon Werking, and bassist Mark Egan, who participated in all the seminal recordings with guitar star Pat Methany . So, it would stand to reason that Warwick would nurture some of its own native “young lions” in the arts, most notably alto saxophonists Jimmy Mullen and Chris Barretto and a powerhouse percussionist Chris Redden. In fact, this twenty year old drummer has been touring the world with one of America’s most in-demand blues artists, Popa Chubby. From an early age, Redden is aspired to becoming a performing artist, practicing four to six hours a day in a studio which his father converted from the family’s garage. His parents were supportive as was his older brother, John, who has been a touring guitarist with another local blues legend, Bill Perry. Throughout high school Redden with his brother would regularly travel to jazz and blues clubs in New York City, hang out with notable musicians, and hone in on the skills necessary to cultivating a career in the arts. In his senior year of high school, the young drummer had a chance to rub elbows with one of his idols, Popa Chubby, when the school’s PTA invited the blues maestro to conduct a concert and workshop for the students. In fact, saxophonist Mullen happened to be a substitute teacher at the school that day and sat in with the bluesman and, as one eye witness recalled, “brought the house down.” And upon graduation from Warwick Valley High School, Redden was awarded the school’s coveted Louis Armstrong Memorial Scholarship. In the three years since then, Redden has traveled the world (by his estimate: 27 countries) with Blind Pig recording great, Popa Chubby. They will make their first appearance for Sugarloaf Music Series on Saturday, April 14, at the Pavilion of the Lycian Performing Arts Center on Kings Highway in Sugarloaf at 8 p.m. Seating is limited. Tickets can be purchased at Village Music in Warwick and Van Gelder Music in Monroe or reservations can be made by phone: 258-3019. For more information, Sugarloaf Music’s Web site is: www.sugarloafmusic.org. This article was provided by Russell Layne of Sugarloaf Music.