The Hands On'Semble is a contemporary percussion quartet devoted to the art of hand drumming, led by renowned percussionist / composer / hand drummer; John Bergamo. The group began in the fall of 1997 when it became apparent first, that there was a shared interest in many hand drumming styles from around the world, and second, that these four individuals found a common bond through the use of spoken drum languages. Since the groups inception, they have developed a repertoire of original compositions which blends the rhythmic concepts and playing techniques of North and South India, the Middle East, West Africa, Indonesia, South America, and Western Chamber Music.

"Masterful..." (Modern Drummer),

"An excellent recording for listeners who wish to hear the full spectrum of musical sounds available from hand drums from around the world" (Percussive Notes),

"Our favorite new frame drumming CD!" (rhythmweb.com).

"This just might be the best percussion recording ever made. The drumming is of such a high quality that this CD is on my short list of the CDs I can recommend to any drummer or percussionist. It is one of those rare CDs that is wonderful to listen to, and also can be played over and over in order to learn new rhythms and compositional forms. Instruments played include tabla, frame drums, riq, djembe, kanjira, mridangam, gongs, marimba, sogo , congas, and dumbek. Every drummer should own this CD. " - (Percussionmusic.com)

"The center of gravity clearly is Indian and Oriental rhythm without succumbing to cerebral exaggeration, the grooves are always exciting, and humor never goes short: They drum on spaghetti pots (why not, if the Indians do it on flower pots), Beethoven's Hymn to Joy is presented on a Hungarian Jew's harp. The impossible is made possible in the combination of two djembe drums with two frame drums by using expanded playing techniques. Indian rhythmics are applied to everything (African drums and bells, back beats, etc.) as a common denominator and never appear to be artificial. Thanks to short commentaries all the games are comprehensible; the two Indian teachers of the ensemble, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and Poovalur Srinivasan have splendid guest appearances. Surprising combinations of sounds and rhythms make listening a pleasure, the emphasis is on communicative group playing. John Bergamo, Austin Wrinkle, Randy Gloss, and Andrew Grueschow succeeded in presenting a CD clearly ranking among the most interesting percussion CD's of the last ten years.

Rating (the scale ranges from * - worst - to **** - best -): **** for musical content **** for production, recording and booklet (Michael Weil, Percussion Creative (Germany))

The Hands On'Semble has performed at the Percussive Arts Society Int'l Convention, The Seattle Rhythm Festival, Watts Tower Day of the Drum, Different Drummer Festival, Rhythms of the Earth Festival in Campinas, Brazil and most recently, the On'Semble performed at the the 2000 World Drum Festival in Hamburg, Germany.

"A stellar percussion group featuring John Bergamo, Austin Wrinkle, Randy Gloss and Andrew Grueschow. For this evening's performance the group was augmented by guest artists Mark Nauseef, Jamey Haddad, and Steve Shehan ... The audience was impressed by the ensemble's improvisations, extraordinary solos, and extensive palette of sounds." -(Modern Drummer - on the 2000 World Drum Festival. Hamburg, Germany)

 

The Hands On'Semble was recently voted runner up in best percussion ensemble category in the Drum! Magazine Drummies! readers poll awards. (june-july 2001)