How can we put the wizardry of Damien Schmitt into words? Well, we can start by noting that he comes to us from France and that he's a trained player who is comfortable with street bands, Latin bands, electronic bands, fusion bands, big...you get the picture. When confronted with a familiar or foreign scenario, Damien has the knack for trotting out novel ways of doing the deed. He might scratch away at dry, cymbal-like discs atop a muted, pad-like kit or set sticks to a fat acoustic drumset anchoring legit rides and crashes.


 





Which brings us to the difficulty of predicting what Damien Schmitt is going to do at the Montréal Drum Fest 2009. We have a basic idea, based on his nimble performances with Alain Caron and Frank Gambale, which is to say you're in for a fast-moving program. Watch closely: He could pull almost anything out of the hat. Your camera auto-focus might experience difficulties keeping up with Damien. He's a living, breathing Bugs Bunny Show. He darts around, jabbing and probing. In a weird kinda way, he's graceful. Nothing he plays is right out of Ted Reed's Syncopation, to be sure, but it's all inspiring.

At the risk of failing at the word game, let's just say that Damien Schmitt is a contemporary musician who keeps the action moving by adapting his sound, his execution (and his antics) to diverse styles credibly.
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