Gary Chester
| Gary Chester | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Cesario Gurciullo |
| Born | October 27, 1924 |
| Died | August 17, 1987 |
| Genres | Pop, rock, rhythm and blues |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer, session musician, drum instructor |
| Instruments | Drums |
Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo, October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was a studio drummer. According to The Complete Idiot's Guide To Playing Drums, "When talking about the great studio drummers, Gary Chester deserves a place near the top of the list." His work appears on thousands of tracks, including hundreds of hit records from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He logged over 15,000 studio sessions over three decades.
Chester occupied the same position of studio prominence on the East Coast recording scene that Hal Blaine did on the West Coast, and had the musical abilities and creative spirit to roll with all the changes in popular music flow that happened during his lifetime. Beginning with doo-wop and rhythm and blues recordings, Chester also showed a great knack for rock, folk rock, rockabilly, and pop. In 1970–1971, Chester was the Musical Contractor for the Broadway musical production of Purlie. In 1964, Gary formed a group, 'Gary Chester and the Beatle Beat' which released its only album entitled Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! consisting of a dozen Beatles' cover songs.
Born in Siracusa, Italy, Chester's first successful recording session was to replace a studio drummer. He repeated his success with artists on songs that are considered to be hits, to the extent that Eugene Chadbourne has advocated the renaming of the "oldies" radio station format to "Gary Chester radio."
As his reputation grew, Gary became a respected teacher, with drummers searching out his expertise and demanding techniques. His drumming systems have been used and endorsed by drummers such as Kenny Aronoff, "Gary Gibbons". and Danny Gottlieb.
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