Keeping time with drummer Dave Stanoch

Minneapolis-based drummer/percussionist Dave Stanoch is a man of many beats: educator, performer, composer, arranger, studio musician, clinician, producer, husband, father, and now author. Thanks to a suitcase record player he shared with his brother as a child, he loves and plays all kinds of music: jazz, rock, gospel, R&B, folk, classical, Broadway.

Stanoch has been on the faculty of the McNally Smith College of Music (formerly Musictech) since 1990. You might have heard him with the Minnesota Orchestra, the progressive jazz trio Triplicate, the alternative jazz-rock group Frankhouse, or the Cedar Ave. Big Band, to name a few of his many projects.

If you were at St. Anthony Main on Sunday enjoying the sounds of world-beat ensemble Axis Mundi, that was Stanoch on drums.

On Tuesday, he performs with free jazz/avant-garders the Ellen Lease/Pat Moriarty Quintet at Studio Z in St. Paul’s Lowertown. More about that shortly. Like any first-time author, Stanoch wants to talk about his book. And if you’re a drummer, you want to know about it.

"Mastering the Tables of Time, Volume I" took 10 years to write, was self-produced and self-published by Stanoch with help from his friends and his wife, singer/songwriter Katy Tessman, came out in 2008 and started earning raves almost before the ink was dry.

In 2009, it was voted first-place winner for Best Method Book in the 2009 "Modern Drummer" Readers Poll, a big deal in the world of drumming. Legendary sticksters Louie Bellson, Steve Smith (who played the Dakota on Sunday), and Johnny Vidacovich (Astral Project) have given it the thumbs-up.

How about a short description in layperson’s terms? Stanoch says: "It’s a comprehensive method to improve your groove, coordination, polyrhythmic and soloing skills. ... I focus on building a strong sense of time and doing it in a musical way, using a system called a timetable. When I started using it in my practice, certain things in my playing started ramping up pretty fast.”

Because it’s easier to understand music by hearing and seeing it, Stanoch has created an audio and video companion to his book, a series of demonstrations and tutorials available free on YouTube and on his website. As I watched him describe a way to play the snare drum — by pulling the beat back and enhancing the vibe, "like the last drops of syrup drippin' off a stack of pancakes" — I seriously thought about taking a lesson or two myself.

Tuesday’s gig at Studio Z promises to be an upbeat and bittersweet show. Upbeat because this is a group that enjoys playing together, reaching out to the audience, taking risks and having a good time; bittersweet because this will be trumpeter Kelly "Dr. Awesome" Rossum’s final performance with the quintet before he leaves for New York City at the end of the summer.

The band’s other members include leaders Ellen Lease on piano and Pat Moriarty on alto saxophone, Chris Bates on bass.

What can we expect to hear? "We’re all going to find out at the same time," Stanoch says. "We’re going to play Pat and Ellen’s music and do our own thing with it. We never play any tune the same way twice."

Why should people go? "Because there’s nothing like it in town and it’s worth seeing. ... We’re kind of a shock-and-awe band. Our brand of jazz is not necessarily the mainstream brand of jazz. It’s not for the faint of heart. No limitations, no holds barred. It’s a flat-out fun and wild ride, and it has flashes of great sensitivity and true beauty."

What kind of person would like this music? "Anybody who’s not afraid to be themselves. We don’t hold back. ... We know that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea but we don’t care, and it’s not because we’re selfish or self-centered. We feel there’s a place for that kind of limitless expression. It’s about freedom. It’s very American."

I was at the CD release for the group’s first recording, "Chance, Love, Logic" (Innova), back in March 2008, and I still think about that night and how much I enjoyed the music. It was melodic and tuneful, playful and unpredictable. The house was full and the audience was totally into the performance. Tuesday’s show will feature three premieres, one called "When Squirrels Collide." Sounds like a great way to shake summer’s cobwebs out of your head.

Tuesday, July 14, 8 p.m., Ellen Lease/Pat Moriarty Quintet, Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, St. Paul ($10 adults, $5 students). Reserve online or call 651-755-1600.