Jazz, rock and bossa nova: Abe drums through genres

Photo by Kirk Abe

History teacher Kirk Abe plays the drums at a gig.

When history teacher Kirk Abe first tried playing on his friend’s drum set in fifth grade, he discovered a lifelong passion. 

As the years went by, he began to play big band music, such as Maynard Ferguson and continued playing his favorite songs from middle school to adulthood. Although his musical focus has evolved through the years between genres such as jazz, rock and bossa nova, his love for playing the drums has never dwindled. 

Abe noted “his passion for music blossomed” after his first year of playing instruments at the age of 13. He began developing his skills through private drumming lessons with Terry Carleton and Dave Batanides.

Abe began playing jazz drums in middle school, where he joined his school’s jazz band to learn to play in a group. He especially enjoyed jazz because of the specific skills required for the genre and the collaboration required between all musicians.

“In a rock band, you have to rehearse all the time, but in jazz, there are standards you play,” Abe said. “There’s a common repertoire of between 300 to 1,000 songs that jazz musicians who are gigging know. You could play [every song] as a bossa, a swing or as a ballad.”

Around the time he started high school, Abe also developed an interest  in ‘70s to late ‘90s rock music. As a result, he formed a band with his high school friend and neighbor to cover their favorite songs — with Abe on the drums, and the other two as a guitarist and a bassist who also provided vocals. 

“My first gig was a talent show at my high school,” Abe said. “I played with my friends. It was fun.”

The band booked studio time at TRS, a studio in Sunnyvale, and recorded a few of their songs, although they never formally released an album because of the lack of enough content.

Additionally, Abe started playing gigs with various bands: After his first gig at a talent show, Abe continued to perform around UC Davis, his alma mater, with other bands. 

Abe  continued lessons in college with Dave Haddad, Scott Morris and Peppe Merolla, practicing songs by bands such as Rush and The Police. Although Abe’s band continued to cover bands such as U2 for gigs post-graduation, he soon transitioned toward new groups and genres — one of the longest bands Abe had been a part of was called Sidelines, a band of teachers consisting of four players: Abe, former SHS English teacher Dan McBride, Jon Klemm and Abe’s brother. 

In 2006, Abe also auditioned and joined a band, Sambosseros, after the original drummer was unable to continue playing with the band.

He joined four other members — a bassist, brass player, guitarist and singer — in the group, which primarily focused on combining styles of Brazilian music, such as samba, bossa nova and fogo. Sambosseros covered and recorded several popular songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, such as Meditação, in their album Gabiroba, which was released in 2006. 

“​​I was a little intimidated,” Abe said about his experience recording Gabiroba. “The recording engineer was this unbelievable drummer from Brazil, so I was a little out of my depth. Bossa Nova wasn’t my strength, but it was really fun.”

Although Abe doesn’t have a specific band that he practices with now because he mainly focuses on jazz music, which doesn’t require a set group, he continues to play with independent musicians in the Bay Area. 

“I love playing for people who appreciate music,” Abe said. “The people I play with, we have a communication and connection with the music. I’m so grateful that I started playing drums, because it changed my life and has helped shape the person I am today.”