Happy Anniversary! Yamaha Drums Celebrates 25 Year Relationship with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

NEW ORLEANS—In 1985, Yamaha Drums became the official drum sponsor of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Now, 25 years later, Yamaha still provides every stage of the festival with a quality drum kit along with tech support. This year, the company provided Rock Tour, Stage Custom Birch, Oak Custom, Recording Custom and Absolute Birch kits.

"This is a very special annual musical event and we take a lot of pride in providing top-notch drums for the great musicians who grace the stages every year," said David Jewell, marketing manager, Yamaha Drums. "New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and this festival helps keep this great musical city rooted in its traditions."

Yamaha Drums does much more than just provide drum sets; they also make sure the drums remain in peak condition. "We are once again impressed by the caring attitude of Yamaha and the consistent quality of the drums," said Eddie Pearce, Staging Production Director at the festival. "The drum kits performed great in all weather conditions and never had any trouble. Our tuning crew raved about how easy it was to work with them. Our festival is about the music and it's refreshing to work with a company that gets that."

When the festival ends, Yamaha packs the drums from the stage and sends them to Ray Fransen's Drum Center in Kenner, Louisiana, the state's oldest and largest establishment dedicated solely to drumming. Fransen then sells the drums to the public at his store.

For more information on Yamaha Drums, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Drum Products, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone 714-522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com or visit usa.yamaha.com