Endorsers

Leonardo Brucculeri was born in Palermo in 1985 and lives in Racalmuto. He fell in love with music as a child: at eight he started studying piano, but after about three years the sound of drums became part of his life.

After playing with several local bands he felt the need to study the instrument in depth and attended "The Brass Group Jazz" in Palermo, where he formed a quartet that played in many venues around the city. In the same period he moved into progressive metal with Running Dog. He then continued his professional studies with Ignazio Di Fresco, president of Accademia Musica Moderna Sicilia, and attended seminars with Franco Rossi, Furio Chirico, Lele Melotti, Maurizio De Lazzaretti, Virgil Donati, Steve Smith, Dennis Chambers, Jojo Mayer, Dave Weckl, Chris Coleman, Skip Hadden, Dom Famularo, Billy Cobham and many others.

Since 2008 he has directed the Accademia Musica Moderna schools in Agrigento and Racalmuto and the AMM DrumSchool in Canicattì and Enna, teaching pop/rock drums with Franco Rossi's "Drum School" method. He organises masterclasses and clinics with Italian and international artists such as Andrea Braido, Dado Neri and Roberta Frighi, Angelo Valsiglio, Ian Paice, Mario Guarini, Paolo Costa and Lele Melotti, Luca Colombo, Giacomo Castellano, Dennis Chambers, Mylious Johnson and Pino Saracini, Mel Gaynor and many more.

In 2009, with Improptu, he opened for Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions) and Kee Marcello (Europe) at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento; with the same band he opened the 2011 New Year's concert of Modena City Ramblers in Porto Empedocle and released the album "Image under construction". In 2012 he shared the stage of the Teatro Odeon in Canicattì with Ian Paice of Deep Purple.

From 2014 to 2021 he was the drummer of 10 HP, playing live all over southern Italy and releasing the album "Mantide" (2019). In 2016 and 2017 he played the Sicilian dates of the "Ossigeno Tour" by Iskra Menarini, Lucio Dalla's long-time backing singer. Since 2023 he has coordinated "DRUMSHOW – Drummers in the square", a show with about 40 drummers in the historic squares of Sicily.

Today he plays with Kosatosta, a 70s disco/funk cover band, works as a session drummer in several studios and performs live with Sicilian artists. He has been a Vulcan Cymbals endorser since 2019.

Alessandro Casci is a drummer, educator, and founder of the Free Stroke Drum School (est. 2007), a center dedicated to mentoring and developing the next generation of drum talent.

Throughout his career, he has organized workshops and masterclasses with top Italian masters (Agostino Marangolo, Ellade Bandini, Alfredo Golino) and enriched his teaching approach through his encounter with global drum ambassador Dom Famularo. A pioneer in immersive education, he directed international Drum Camps featuring world-class icons like Mike Mangini and Virgil Donati (3 editions), as well as the renowned Sorelli d'Italia camp (featuring Phil Mer, Max Furian, Daniele Catanese, Gabriele Boria, and Federico Paulovich). Since 2016, he has co-hosted the specialized Drum Recording course with bassist and producer Cesare Chiodo.

His core mission remains educational excellence, combining technique, musicality, and professional guidance to empower tomorrow's drum talents.

Vincenzo De Luca began taking drum lessons at the age of nine with highly respected teachers such as Mauro Gherardi, Walter Scotti and Sergio Di Natale.

In 2010 he graduated with top marks in Jazz Drums and Percussion from the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples.

Over the years he has played live and in the studio with Divieto di Swing, Nico Battaglia, Gianni Nazzaro, Tony Esposito, Rocco di Maiolo and many others.

Known affectionately as "Boneto" or "Bunny", he started his musical journey at 12, playing drums at his local church. His experience grew quickly and by 14 he was first-call drummer for many choirs and gospel and jazz groups in Birmingham. Mentored by the likes of Mark Fletcher (Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Ronnie Scott) and Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett (Grammy-winning reggae band Steel Pulse), he broadened his natural flair and mastered a wide range of genres.

Shortly after turning 18 he went on his first international tour, in West Africa. Among his touring highlights to date is the Zao Jazz Festival in Japan, as drummer for the legendary original diva Chaka Khan.

Bunny has worked extensively for several years with Los Angeles singer-songwriter Howard McCrary (Dionne Warwick, John Patitucci), and he is a core member of Birmingham's Prime Studios and its pioneering "Chromosome Live Lab" project on YouTube, where signed and unsigned grime artists perform live versions of their studio songs; with over a quarter of a million views in its first months, the project has attracted global interest.

As long-standing drummer for Musical Youth, he is recording on their forthcoming album, and he tours nationally and internationally with singer-songwriter and Glastonbury headliner Aynsley Lister (Buddy Guy, John Mayall, Robert Cray). He holds a Bachelor's degree (2:1) in Music and Professional Practice. A lover of martial arts, badminton and reading, he has an ongoing appetite for personal development.

He has also recorded, toured and performed with The Risk (X Factor finalists), Garth Hewett, Mark Stevens (Jamaica Boys), Marcus Miller, Lenny White, Aziz Ibrahim (Stone Roses, Simply Red), The Christians, Alvin Ewen (Steel Pulse), Fred Thelonious Baker, Amlak Tafari (Sting, Steel Pulse), Yellow Wall, Junior Tucker, Julie Dexter, Andrej Šifrer, Audrey Wheeler (Najee, Freddie Jackson, Jeff Lorber), Pato Banton (Sting), Alvin Davis, Selwyn Brown (Steel Pulse), Sherwin Gardner, Ruby Turner, Joolz Gianni, Soweto Kinch, Jason Yarde and Pritam Singh, renowned disciple of Ravi Shankar.

Alberto Ferreri, born in 1978, began his musical journey at the age of six at the piano. Fate, however, had very different (and decidedly louder) plans: his real passion turned out to be the drums. After an intense and exhausting break-in period made of pots, lids and desperate neighbours, at 16 he decided it was time to get serious.

He put the kitchenware aside and began proper studies with teacher Giampaolo Conchedda at the "Costantino Nivola" music school in Orani. Still hungry for more, he flew to New York to sharpen his skills at the prestigious Drummers Collective, coming back with a bag full of trade secrets and a polished groove.

Among his most recent achievements is joining the large family of AMM (Accademia Musica Moderna) led by Franco Rossi, where he is the tutor for Sardinia. Versatile to the core, he moves effortlessly from one style to another, even though his heart beats to the rhythm of pure rock.

Drummer and yoga instructor, born in Hiroshima and based in Berlin. Aine is a Hit Like A Girl Japan ambassador and a member of the Women In Music Japan committee.

Aine grooves hard and builds a comfortable foundation for the band to play on. Her groove is in demand with artists from very different scenes: blues, Afro funk, Latin/Brazilian, indie pop and rock.

After studying drums at a music high school in Osaka, she moved to the US to follow her dream and graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. She started her career as a blues session drummer in Boston's local scene, toured the US with the indie band The Grownup Noise and played SXSW. She then moved to New York City, where she played with blues legends such as the late Bill Sims Jr., Grammy winner Vasti Jackson and Grammy nominee Junior Mac, and was one of the house band members at the famous Terra Blues.

Since 2015 her journey has continued in Berlin, where she plays everything from Afro funk and blues to indie pop and rock. In 2021 she started her own project, "aine wie keine", to express herself through her own music, and in 2023 she released her first mini album, "aine wie keine".

Performance credits: Bill Sims Jr., Clarence Spady, Hazmat Modine, Junior Mac, SaRon Crenshaw, Vasti Jackson, The Grownup Noise, Iyeoka, 79.5, Alli Neumann, Ben Barritt, Charlotte Brandi, Evelinn Trouble, TEll A ViSiON, Wallis Bird.

Recording credits: "This Time With Feeling" (2011), "The Problem of Living in the Moment" (2014) and "Stewing" (2015) by The Grownup Noise; "An den Alptraum" by Charlotte Brandi (2023); "FOS" by Todd Marston (2023).

Gianpaolo Lombardo, a Sicilian drummer, started making music in 1992. In 1996 he attended the C.S.M. in Vittoria, studying with Agostino Marangolo and taking seminars with Ellade Bandini and Roberto Gatto. He then studied for six months with Tullio De Piscopo, attended C.P.M. in Milan and Percentomusica in Rome, studied with Alfredo Golino in Brescia and for two years with Ettore Mancini.

From 2009 to 2015 he taught drums at the Yamaha Music Point school in Siracusa, and in 2012 he qualified as a Yamaha teacher and examiner, a title recognised worldwide. In 2015 he founded DAS Drums Academy Sicilia, teaching in Augusta, Siracusa and at his own school in Floridia.

He has played live since 1994. With the Moonlighters, led by soul singer Lillo Minniti, he shared the stage with Ivana Spagna on New Year's Eve 1997/98 in Piazza Duomo, Siracusa, and in 1998 toured Sicily with "Summer Live" (25 dates). On 10 October 1997 he took part in Sanremo Giovani with singer-songwriter Ugo Mazzei. He worked with blues guitarist Diego Geraci (Adel's Puro Malto) and in 1999 with the New Big Band Jazz led by Tony and Rino Cirinnà.

He has played with Gabriella Rolandi (Zucchero's backing singer), Fred Casadei (Roy Paci & Aretuska, Mau Mau), Gionata Colaprisca (Samuele Bersani, Lucio Dalla, Ron), Pierpaolo Latina and Luca Galeano (Sugarfree), Alfredo Longo (Carmen Consoli), Edoardo Musumeci (Sugarfree, Tinturia) and jazz guitarist Stefano Micarelli. In 2004 he worked with Warner Bros for Riccardo Maffoni, winner of Sanremo Giovani 2006; in 2005 he recorded at Music Village the single "Ci sarà ancora" by Giovanna D'Angi (Musitalia/Universal) and toured with her. He recorded for Alessandro Arena and Albo2 (Sugarmusic/Carosello). In 2006 he toured with singer Neja as far as Tokyo and in 2007 with Righeira for "Mondovisione". In 2023 Mario Venuti called him for his "The best of" tour.

Antonio Mambelli is a highly talented drummer and percussionist, known for his versatility and an extraordinary career spanning many genres, from pop to rock, from jazz to classical music.

Throughout his career he has worked with many leading artists across different musical genres. He has played and recorded with big names of the Italian and international scene, including Sal Da Vinci, Peppino di Capri, Marco Zurzolo, Rino Zurzolo, Antonio Sinagra, Roberto De Simone, Leonardo De Amicis, Riccardo Cocciante, the RAI Orchestra of Naples conducted by Renato Serio, Adriano Pennino, Luca Barbareschi, the Orchestra Stabile di Perugia Egea, Gil Goldstein, Gabriele Mirabassi, Don Moye, Baba Sissoko, Nello Daniele, Monica Sarnelli, Gino Rivieccio and many other artists of the Neapolitan music scene.

His career has also taken him to the stages of the most prestigious international festivals, such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz and Pomigliano Jazz, and to many other music events in Canada, the United States, Brazil and Europe.

Andrea Marchese was born in Catania in 1979. At the age of 25, after a serious road accident, he lost the use of his legs due to a spinal cord injury.

Despite everything, Andrea did not give up and did not abandon the drums: he studied, experimented and found an effective way to keep playing his instrument.

He started playing the drums at 13, first self-taught and then with a teacher in Catania, studying the instrument in depth and playing with many bands across pop, blues, funk, rock, reggae and metal. Through these experiences he performed in clubs, theatres and town squares, appeared on several TV shows and opened concerts for artists such as Gatto Panceri, Max Gazzè, Joe Barbieri and Alexia.

After a long rehabilitation, Andrea took up many sports, both competitive and amateur, including extreme sports and travel, with the aim of getting back in the game and regaining the highest possible level of independence and confidence.

At the same time he worked on the best way to return to the drums comfortably and effectively: he tilted the bass drum into a vertical position, repositioned the hi-hat and added a second one to widen the sound options, placed the cymbals strategically, moved to his arms the exercises originally designed for four limbs and changed his seating.

Once he had mastered the new technique and regained strength and stamina, Andrea went back to playing regularly with several bands. In 2019 he started a music workshop at the Spinal Unit of Cannizzaro Hospital in Catania, teaching drums to young wheelchair users. The same year he was invited to give demonstrations at the Spinal Units of Montecatone Hospital in Imola and Niguarda Hospital in Milan.

In December 2022 he decided to share his technique more widely by opening a YouTube channel, where he acts as teacher and motivator. Through social media he offers support and technical training to people in his same condition, showing that it is possible to play the drums from a wheelchair using only the upper limbs. Thanks to this work he has been invited as a guest to many Drum Fests, where he tells his human and musical story.

Today Andrea plays with four bands, keeps publishing content on his social channels and travels all over Italy for demonstrations, meetings and workshops.

He has recently completed his method book, Drum Different: the first part is autobiographical and tells his rebirth after the accident; the second is technical, devoted to setting up the instrument and to the first exercises for playing the drums using only the upper limbs.

Versatile, energetic and driven by a constant search for new tones, Salvo Privitera is a drummer and session musician who has made eclecticism his signature. His sound blends the solidity and precision required by pop and singer-songwriter music with the nuances of jazz, funk and afrobeat and the power of world music. His training combines an excellent academic background, crowned by a degree in Jazz Drums and Percussion with top marks from the "Vincenzo Bellini" Conservatory in Catania, with in-depth private study with some of the best teachers in Italy. This background has allowed him to develop a richly nuanced, strongly percussive rhythmic approach, open to cross-genre influences.

Alongside his intense live activity, Salvo is an active studio session drummer, with many productions and recordings across different genres, where he shows his stylistic flexibility behind the microphones. During his career he has taken his grooves around the world, touring internationally in Russia and the United States and performing on cruise ships and at high-profile international events such as the renowned Crans Montana Forum on the coast of Morocco.

His versatility has brought him to the stages of major national and international festivals, sharing moments of improvisation with jazz greats such as Paolo Fresu. He has lent his rhythmic signature to important events such as the famous Festival De André in Rome, Time in Jazz Winter in Berchidda, Pistoia Blues, Rototom Sunsplash, Campovolo Reggae Fest, Marranzano World Fest and Alcantara Fest, as well as the jazz seasons of Catania and Ortigia.

For years he has combined his work as a performer and session player with a constant commitment to teaching, passionately giving private lessons and training the drummers of tomorrow. Since 2018 Salvo Privitera has chosen the craftsmanship and character of Vulcan Cymbals to give voice to his drumming, bringing their sound to clubs, major festivals and recording studios.

Sasha Santonocito is a jazz-trained drummer and percussionist, with a diploma in Jazz Drums and Percussion from the Catania Conservatory and a specialisation in Jazz Drums from the "A. Scarlatti" Conservatory in Palermo.

His concert work ranges from jazz to indie, pop and rock. He has performed with big bands, ensembles and swing sextets, taking part in events such as the Sicilia Jazz Festival and concerts dedicated to the swing repertoire. He plays intensively live in a jazz trio and has performed in many projects across Sicily and Italy, at festivals, music seasons and competitions. Alongside concerts he has gained studio experience, contributing to published EPs and albums, and he has taken masterclasses with internationally renowned drummers.

For Sasha, music goes beyond the instrument, and teaching is essential to keep an art alive over time. He teaches drums in music schools and academies, and has been drum mentor and tutor for a pop-rock project and for ensemble work in several schools, guiding students in playing together. His training includes workshops and seminars on music teaching, ear training and improvisation, music education in schools and international certifications, confirming a constant interest in teaching methods. He is also committed to education as a volunteer, as music consultant for a town council and as a youth group educator.

Alongside his career as a performer he organises live events and works as artistic director, as founder and president of the cultural association Moz Art Space. He also collaborates with the record label Musica Lavica Records.