This month’s drumming sung-unsung hero is Israeli-born Tal Bergman.
Tal has had a passion for drumming since the age of six. He studied classical snare and mallets with Alon Bor, the percussionist of the Israeli Philharmonic while, at the same time, listening to anything and everything he could find; funk, jazz, bop, be-bop, vintage hard rock and everything in between. He has absorbed all these influences and, these many years later, it has served him well.
Tal’s mother had a cousin, Rivka Golani, who was a viola soloist with the Toronto Philharmonic, and the two got together. Through this connection, Tal studied with some of the percussionists from the well known group “Nexus”, who were all members from the Toronto Symphony. Their members were masters of African music, and this greatly influenced Tal’s adventurous style of drumming. To further enhance his drumming skills, Tal also studied with Robbie Gonzalez, Kim Plainfield and Frankie Malabé at the famous “Drummer’s Collective”.
Tal’s other influences are Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, Harvey Mason and many others.
Since settling in Los Angeles, Tal has had the good fortune to occupy the drum chair for such artists as Joe Bonamassa, Rod Stewart, Billy Idol, Joe Zawinul, LL Cool J, Chaka Khan, Simple Minds and Herb Alpert. And he acts as the bandleader, producer, and drummer of the jazz-funk supergroup ”Rock Candy Funk Party”.
Tal plays Sonor drums and Sabian cymbals. He uses Remo drumheads and Vater “Tal Bergman” signature sticks. You can find his discography here.