Yamaha Helps Artists At The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Sound Good

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Yamaha Drums has been the official drum sponsor of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival since 1985, ensuring that new drum sets are available on all of the event's stages and that the equipment is optimized. Each year, Yamaha and staff from Ray Fransen's Drum Center in Kenner, Louisiana, provide gear and service throughout the festival. This year, an average of six bands performed every day on each of the dozen stages, keeping the drum team busy servicing Club Custom, GigMaker, Oak Custom, Stage Custom Birch, Recording Custom and Absolute series kits in both Maple and Birch.

"It's a challenge to maintain all of these kits during the festival, since they are pounded on all day long, but it's very gratifying when things sound great and the audience responds to the music," said David Jewell, marketing manager, Yamaha Drums. "The average person may not understand how much work it takes to get the sound right, but you can tell when they appreciate it."

With Yamaha Drums ensuring that the drums are functioning properly and the drummers are happy, festival producers are free to take care of other matters. "What makes a music festival great are great musicians and great instruments and with New Orleans music, it's all about the groove and the sound of the beat," said C. Reginald Toussaint, the festival's Stage Production Executive Director. "Yamaha Drums have the sound a power to project the spirit of the music played at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival."

After the festival, Ray Fransen's Drum Center, the state's oldest and largest establishment dedicated solely to drumming, sells the drums used onstage to the public. Contact them at 504-466-8484.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; visit www.yamaha.com/press.