Jim E. Anderson

Personal Bio

Since my childhood days, I have had a deep love and fascination for rhythm in music. The drum set especially caught my attention. I was fortunate to live in a home where a variety of music was listened to and appreciated. The various styles of music I play reflect those early musical influences.

I learned to play drums from a friend and his family that lived "across the holler" from my childhood home. My friend’s family all played instruments and we would wait for everyone to come home from work or school to have jam sessions. I think the first song I could play all the way through with them was called "Peanut Butter". I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Variety Show like all my friends did, but before I saw them I saw Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong, and Buddy Rich on the same TV show. The Beatles sealed my fate but Gene set me on the path. Buddy blew my mind. And Louis Armstrong was the greatest. I still love trying to sing like Louis. I practiced to all the great 60’s music in addition to some great 50’s jazz and R&B when I was young. Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Buddy Rich, Joe Morello and the mighty Tony Williams were some of the drummers from that era that really caught my ear and whom I emulated.

My earliest musical performance experiences were in school bands and choirs and Christmas Caroling with my church. I began playing and studying drums in the fifth grade. I continued and was a featured solo performer in a summer high school Big Band class while still in the eighth grade. In high school I played in Pep Band, Concert Band and Marching Band with and later performed in an award winning Stage Band. I also sang in Chorus. One of my own notable high school era bands was the called "The Mission Street Overpass".

I continued my music studies at Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA where I majored in music. I studied jazz and took lessons from George Marsh in San Francisco. I was a regularly featured solo performer in our award winning Jazz Ensemble directed by Lyle Cruse. I also was a member of the popular Jazz/Rock group "Fafner". "Fafner" consisted of most of the first chair players from the Cabrillo College Jazz Ensemble, and was quite possibly the most creative band I have ever been in. That was a period in my life where I was involved in music 24-7. If I wasn’t in class or rehearsal, I was at a lesson, or a gig, or on my way in between one of those. And of course all we talked about (besides the great looking girls at Cabrillo) was music. I also tried my hand at playing guitar and concentrated on my singing with an acoustic duo called Gemini. The last band I had in Santa Cruz was Chameleon. Chameleon was a hybrid band with some heavy Latin influence. The band consisted of guitar, bass, keyboard, trap set and percussion. I learned a great deal about Afro-Cuban music from my partner and fellow drummer Michael Spiro. Most important for me, this band included Todd Epstein on and guitar and vocals. Todd and I wrote several of the bands original songs and went on to write many more songs together. Todd was my first song-writing collaborator. We traded ideas and music knowledge back and forth freely and both learned a great deal. Todd passed away a few years ago and I miss knowing he’s around.

My professional performing credits include tours, TV and recordings with: The Pointer Sisters, Maria Muldaur, The Cockrell-Santos Band, Elvin Bishop, The Tom Johnston Band (original and founding member of the Doobie Brothers), The Texas Chainsaw Band, Hearts on Fire (a Bammie Award winning Country band), Peter Rowan, Norton Buffalo, Roy Rogers (the blues guy), songwriter Alex Call, as well as a recent stint with Johnny Colla and the Lucky Devils.

Crazy Ivan is just a logical extension and continuation of my musical pilgrimage. In a way Ivan is like a return to what I know best. I love Jazz and Afro-Cuban music but the power of Rock’n’Roll is undeniable. And Rock’n’Roll is fun. At least that’s how it was originally designed. Did Little Richard look like he was having a bad time when he played? Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, did they look like they were bummed out when they were Rockin'? I don’t think so. That’s why I love jammin’ with Crazy Ivan. All my musical influences, as well as those of my partners, get expressed. But most of all it’s great fun. We have a ball when we’re on stage. Sure it’s work to keep a band together and make it happen. But anything that’s great takes work. I gotta go now. I’ve got work to do so I can have some more fun with the sub.

JEA uses the following equipment: Starclassic Maple Series Drums, Tama hardware, Zildjian cymbals (the only serious choice), XL Specialty cases, Aquarian heads and Vic Firth sticks.

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