TigerBill Meligari
TigerBill Meligari is a professional drummer, educator, clinician, author, freelance writer, web developer, video & audio producer, publisher, martial artist, self defense instructor, computer programmer, and Lifestyle Blogger.
In his career as a musician, Bill has played numerous styles; his credits include performances of classical pieces with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, jazz performances with American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Thad Jones, and hard rock performances with Vince Martell, the original lead guitarist of Vanilla Fudge.[1]
Bill's nickname "Tiger" was given to him by American jazz drummer Joe Morello; the nickname came from Bill's ability to pick up on technique as fast as Joe could teach it.[2] At the time of Morello's passing (March 2011), he still credited Bill as being the only student of his to have played through his book of transcribed drum solos at the original tempos.[2]
He is also known for his Keepsafe system of practical self defense, which he has taught to law enforcement personnel and civilian men, women, and children since 1988.[3]
Bill has become internationally recognized as a music educator for his "Tension Free Drumming Concepts"; a technique promoted to optimize a drummer's power, speed, endurance, and control, while mitigating the risk of repetitive motion injuries.[4]
Early Life
Born William Wayne Meligari on March 28, 1952 to William Meligari and Dolores Souza.
Bill began playing drums in the 4th grade. His early inspirations include jazz drumming legends Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. At age 13 he began taking drum lessons and secured his first paying gig the same year. It was a weekly gig with the North Jersey School of Ballet. By age 15 he was playing gigs on most weekends, and was always the youngest musician in the band. He attributes his sharp reading skills, exceptional coordination, and ability to perform any musical style to the solid foundation provided by his first private instructors, Al Germansky and Glenn Weber. In his final year of high school, he began to study with American jazz drummer Joe Morello of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and soon became one of his top students. It was Morello who gave him the nickname “Tiger”; a moniker that was intended to describe the rapid rate at which he would progress through his lessons.[5]
Education
Bill graduated from Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, New Jersey in 1970. He attended William Paterson University as a Music Major for just one semester in 1971. His attendance was cut short when he left to go on tour with the band, Kathy Keegan and the Jennymen.[2]
He later graduated from the Chubb Institute for Computer Technology in Parsippany, New Jersey in 1981.[2]
He earned his 1st degree Black Belt in Taekwondo from the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) in 1988 under the tutelage of Master Ik-Hwan Kim.[5][6]
He received his certificate from the IMB Academy for training in Kali, Eskrima, Western Boxing, Savate, Jun Fan Gung-Fu, Jeet Kune Do, and Muay Thai in 1989.[5][6]
Career
Music
Bill came up playing show rooms in hotels throughout the Poconos and Catskill mountain circuit under agent Sammy Maislin from New York City. He secured his musicians union card at age 15 along with an ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) card, allowing him to play in clubs serving alcohol whilst underage.
In 1970 he spent a brief stint playing with American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Thad Jones.[1] That same year, he registered as a Music Major at William Paterson University; an enrollment that lasted just one semester. His attendance was cut short when he left to go on tour with the band, Kathy Keegan and the Jennymen.
Bill played with funk music group Home Cookin’ from 1973 through 1975, when he left to join the show band Hi-Lads and a Lass. For the next four years he toured the globe with the Hi-Lads, playing gigs from Las Vegas to Puerto Rico.
During the 1970’s Bill also played with Jazz greats Roy Haynes and Joe Morello. During this time, he recorded with Dickie Goodman and Bill Ramal on their hit novelty album "Mr. Jaws".[1] TigerBill's first book "DoubleDrum," published in 1978, received praise from master percussionists around the world, including Louie Bellson and Roy Haynes.[7][8]
By 1979, Bill had resurfaced on the west coast, playing with the Ron Rubin Orchestras and Jonathan Wolff (of Seinfeld fame), who got him involved in musician sideline work. During this time he appeared as a musician sideline in the movie Private Benjamin, the TV show The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, and other productions of the era. During the same period, he began a brief stint working as a studio musician.[5]
Disillusioned with the life of a studio musician, Bill returned to New Jersey to focus on music education. Through the 1980’s and 1990’s, Bill trained thousands of students and laid the foundation for what would later become his Concepts of Tension Free Drumming.
In 2003 Bill started working with Vince Martell, original lead guitarist of psychedelic symphonic rock group Vanilla Fudge.[9] As a member of The Vince Martell Band, he played at well known NY/NJ metro area clubs such as The Record Collector, Iridium Jazz Club, and BB Kings, as well as the national rock & roll fan festival Rock Con.[5]
In 2004, Bill performed at the NAMM Music and Sound Expo in Minneapolis, MN. The same year he won the World's Fastest Drummer Competition for Fastest Hands at Winter NAMM 2004 in Anaheim, CA. At the same event, he became the second drummer on record to play more than 1,000 beats per minute with his feet.[1][10][11]
Also in 2004, Bill organized and hosted his first DrumBeat Festival, a live event starring famous drummers and industry personalities from all over the globe. Performers included Dom Famularo, Kevin Soffera, Greg DiCarlo, and TigerBill himself.[12]
In 2005, Bill performed at the Cape Breton International Drum Festival in Nova Scotia alongside Yvette “Baby Girl” Preyer, Gil Sharone, Uriel Jones, Dom Famularo, Billy Ward, Vito Rezza, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Bruce Aitken, Keith Dawson Jr., Alessandra Belloni, Will Kennedy, Marco Minnemann, John Morrison, Peter Doyle, Joe McIntyre, Norm Calp, Dave Bartlett, Joel MacNeil, Mat Casey, Alister Hunston, Simon Minimis, Skip Hayden, Sergio Bellotti, Marcel Bourgeois, and Doug MacKay.[13]
In 2006, Bill performed at KOSA 2006 Music Festival in Johnson, Vermont alongside Kenwood Dennard, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ed Soph, Vera Figueiredo, Dom Famularo, Clayton Cameron, Kalani, Michael Wimberly, Memo Acevedo, Rick Van Horn, Valerie Naranjo, Gary France, Cassio Duarte, and Aldo Mazza.
In 2007, Bill organized a music festival in cooperation with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, in honor of his father who struggled with the disease until his death in 1994. Proceeds from the festival went to the Michael J. Fox Foundation in support of Parkinsons Disease research. The event showcased performances by the Hip Pickles, Billy Ward, Chip Ritter, James Walker, Vince Martell, and TigerBill himself.[14]
In 2009, Bill became the first to organize and host an online drum festival. Performers included Jason Bittner, Zoro, Terry Silverlight, Dr. Sherrie Maricle, Ph.D., Bruce Aitken, Wes Crawford, Scott Pelegrom, Michael Manasseh, and TigerBill himself.[15]
In 2011, Bill organized and hosted a Tribute to Joe Morello, who passed away in March of that year. The event was held at Glenn Weber’s North Jersey School of Drumming in West Orange, NJ. The tribute showcased performances by Matt Patella, Steve Fidyk, John Riley, Steve Forster, John Bushnell, Jeff Guenther, Ann Marie Guenther and TigerBill himself.
Martial Arts & Self Defense
Bill began his formal education in martial arts and self defense in 1983, studying Taekwondo and Hapkido under the tutelage of Master Ik-Hwan Kim. He went on to train with Paul Vunak and Larry Hartsell from 1986-1987 in Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts. He earned his 1st degree Black Belt in Taekwondo from the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, Korea) in 1988.[5][6]
Bill continued to train in Kali, Eskrima, Western Boxing, Savate, Jun Fan Gung-Fu, Jeet Kune Do, and Muay Thai under Bruce Lee’s top students, Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo through the late 1980’s. He also studied Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie Brothers in the early 1990’s.[5][6]
In 1988 Bill formed Progressive Defense Systems, Inc. to promote his Keepsafe brand. Bill went on to teach students through the late 1980’s and 1990’s under the motto “Keepsafe in a world gone crazy!”. He also appeared on major network TV and radio shows promoting the Keepsafe system.[3] During this period, he served as the resident personal safety & self defense consultant for NewsTalk TV in Manhattan, New York.
As part of his work with Progressive Defense Systems, Bill trained employees at various AT&T office locations throughout the NY/NJ metro area.
Bill graduated from Smith & Wesson Academy’s Defensive Tactics Program in 1993.[6] At the time, he was the only civilian registered to have done so. He continued to train law enforcement personnel, along with civilian men and women throughout the 90’s. As part of his curriculum during this period, he developed a specialized training program tailored to children, known as Keepsafe Kids.
Bill worked as an Instructor at Flying Tiger Martial Arts in Whitehouse, New Jersey from 1999 through 2003, where his two sons also studied.
Computer Programming
Bill’s career in computer programming began upon graduation from the Chubb Institute for Computer Technology in 1981. Upon graduation he went to work for Prudential-Bache Securities in New York City’s financial district as a Computer Systems Programmer/Analyst. During his time at Prudential-Bache he developed early interactive control software using Assembler and COBOL computer languages.
In 1984, he moved to RJR Nabisco to lead a project team in the design, development, and implementation of proprietary product inventory management systems. Nabisco would later use the software to manage product inventory & supply systems throughout its product distribution centers worldwide. During his tenure at Nabisco, Bill would also become involved in the production of in-house employee training videos; this would mark his first major foray into the world of video production.[5]
Through the 1990’s, Bill continued to work as a Programmer Analyst designing batch and real-time software systems based on COBOL, FORTRAN, IBM 370 Machine Code, Assembler, VSAM, CICS, MVS, VM/CMS, IDMS, RACF, Panvalet, XPEDITER, ABEND-AID, Endevor, DYL 260/280 and INTERTEST for companies such as Alliance Capital and MetLife.
Web Development
Bill’s life as an internet content producer began when he joined About.com as a subject matter expert in 1998. He served as the Expert Guide for Drums at About.com from 1998 to 2001.[2] In 2001, About.com was acquired by PriMedia Inc., at which time Bill migrated to his own URL and TigerBill.com was born.
TigerBill.com is a website that contains information on drum theory, events, concerts, biographies, history, schools, books, software and drum gear reviews. Since its inception, Bill's expanded the content on TigerBill.com into more specialized areas on his websites TensionFreeDrumming.com and TigerBillsDrumBeat.com.[16]
In 2019, Bill started the Lifestyle Blog, A Boomer Lifestyle.[17]
Audio & Video Production
Bill produced a weekly cable TV show called Fun with Drums. It aired on the public access channel at Comcast of Northwest New Jersey from 2005 through 2007.[5]
In 2007 Bill produced Volume 1 of his DVD series "Tiger Bill's Concepts of Tension Free Drumming". The DVD provided an introduction and instructional overview of his Tension Free Drumming System. In 2010, Volume 2 of the DVD series was released.[4]
He produced a video podcast called TigerBill’s DrumBeat Web TV. There were a total of twenty-one (21) episodes, airing from December 2011 through June 2014.[18][19]
Lifestyle Blog
Bill’s interest in health, fitness, and human performance dates back to his early training in the martial arts. As part of the training curriculum he developed under his company Progressive Defense Systems, Inc., he taught classes in low-impact Aerobics and Yoga.
In 2019, Bill started the Lifestyle Blog, A Boomer Lifestyle.[17]
Endorsement
In his music career, Bill has been a longtime endorser of Pro-Mark drumsticks, mallets and brushes, Sabian Cymbals, Taye Drums, Hansenfutz practice pedals, Axis Percussion, Pintech E-Drums and Aquarian Drumheads.[16][20]
Personal Life
Bill has been married since 1988. He has three children.
His father, William Meligari Sr., was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease in 1981. He passed away in 1994.
Awards and Honors
As a sophomore in high school, Bill won the Wayne Hills High School Patriot Marching Band Outstanding Musician Award (1968). As a Senior, he went on to win the John Philip Sousa Band Award (1970).
Bill earned his 1st degree Black Belt in Taekwondo from the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, Korea) in 1988 under the tutelage of Master Ik-Hwan Kim.
In 2004, he won the World's Fastest Drummer Competition for Fastest Hands at Winter NAMM 2004 in Anaheim, CA. At the same event, he became the second drummer on record to play more than 1,000 beats per minute with his feet.[1][10][11]
Discography
Bill has recorded on albums with keyboardist Rocco Ferrante and on Dickie Goodman's novelty album "Mr. Jaws".[1]
Filmography
In 2007 Bill produced Volume 1 of his DVD series "Tiger Bill's Concepts of Tension Free Drumming". The DVD provided an introduction and instructional overview of his Tension Free Drumming System. In 2010, Volume 2 of the DVD series was released.[4]
Bill produced a weekly cable TV show called Fun with Drums. It aired on the public access channel at Comcast of Northwest New Jersey from 2005 through 2007.[5]
Bill produced a video podcast called TigerBill’s DrumBeat Web TV. There were a total of twenty-one (21) episodes, airing from December 2011 through June 2014.
Published Literature
TigerBill's first book "DoubleDrum," published in 1978, received praise from master percussionists around the world, including Louie Bellson and Roy Haynes.[7][8]
Bill became the first to publish an article detailing the techniques of famed drummer Billy Gladstone in Modern Drummer Magazine in August 1979.[21] The Gladstone technique would later become the foundation for TigerBill’s own Concepts of Tension Free Drumming.[5]
In 2004, Bill became the first to publish a monthly video lesson for a major drum publication, with the debut of his monthly column in DRUM! Magazine.[22][23][24][25][26][27] He published numerous articles for popular music publications including Modern Drummer Magazine, On Stage Magazine, Making Music Magazine, and DRUM! Magazine as well.[28][29][30][31][32]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Tiger Bill Meligari". SABIAN Cymbals. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Jazz, All About. "Tiger Bill Meligari @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz Musicians. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 McAdoo, T. (April 7, 1994). "He Teaches People How To Be 'Street Savvy'". Hunterdon County Democrat. p. B-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Press – TigerBillsDrumBeat.com". tigerbillsdrumbeat.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 "Tiger Bill - Interviews - The Black Page". www.theblackpage.net. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Biography of Drum Expert Tiger Bill Meligari developer of the Tension Free Drumming System". tigerbill.com. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Wayne Author Gives Book To Bellson". Wayne Today (Newspaper). January 3, 1979. p. 9. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Spagnardi, Ronald (August - September 1979). "The Printed Page: DoubleDrum Book Review" (PDF). Modern Drummer Magazine. 3 (Issue 4): 40. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Percussion, Axis (2017-04-21). "Artists M-Q". Axis Percussion. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Worlds Fastest Drummer Competition WFD Extreme Sport Drumming and the Drumometer". tigerbill.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "NAMM 2004 International Fastest Drummer Competition". tigerbill.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ "Tiger Bill's DrumBeat Festival 2004". www.tigerbill.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ "Cape Breton International Drumfest by Tony Dalton". PBase. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ "TigerBills DrumBeat Fest 2007 – TigerBillsDrumBeat.com". tigerbillsdrumbeat.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ "Bruce Aitken To Perform In DrumBeat Fest for Michael J. Fox Foundation". Cape Breton Post. October 30, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Tiger Bill's Drum Beat drum blog site for Expert Advice on Drumming and Percussion". tigerbill.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "ABoomerLifestyle.com – A baby boomer's perspective on living life to the fullest". aboomerlifestyle.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ FM, Player. "Best Tigerbill Podcasts (2019)". player.fm. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
- ↑ "Tiger Bill's Drum Beat Web TV on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
- ↑ Spagnardi, Ronald (July 2004). "Who's Using What". Modern Drummer Magazine: 171.
- ↑ "Teachers Forum: The Gladstone Technique". Modern Drummer Magazine. August - September 1979. Retrieved December 23, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (July 23, 2015). "Tiger Bill's Speed Lesson: 6 Steps to 1000 BPM. DRUM! Magazine". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (March 12, 2018). "Tiger Bill Video Lesson: Chops Builder - Part 1. DRUM! Magazine". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (October 28, 2019). "How To Develop Hand Speed and Control". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (August 6, 2019). "Accented Triplets with Multiple Rebounds (Part 1)". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (May 27, 2019). "Jazzin' Up 'Stick Control' With 4-Way Coordination (Part 1)". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ Meligari, TigerBill (June 25, 2019). "Jazzin' Up 'Stick Control' With 4-Way Coordination (Part 2)". DRUM! Magazine.
- ↑ "Getting Creative With Reed's Syncopation, Part 1: Jazz Variations" (PDF). Modern Drummer Magazine. 27 (Issue 6). June 2003. pp. 88–89. Retrieved December 21, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Getting Creative With Reed's Syncopation, Part 2: Rock Variations" (PDF). Modern Drummer Magazine. 27 (Issue 7): 94–95. July 2003.
- ↑ "Getting Creative With Reed's Syncopation, Part 3: Latin Variations" (PDF). Modern Drummer Magazine. 27 (Issue 8): 90–91. August 2003.
- ↑ "Getting Creative With Reed's Syncopation, Part 4: Unlimited Variations" (PDF). Modern Drummer Magazine. 27 (Issue 9): 80–81. September 2003.
- ↑ Meligari, Bill (2010). "Sharps and Flats; Drums". Making Music. 6 (Issue 4): 29.
This article "TigerBill Meligari" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:TigerBill Meligari. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
