THE DRUMMERS of COURT JESTER

When Court Jester formed, a child hood friend of James Azrael, Greg Kania, was recruited to play drums.  Though his heart was never in it, he plugged on for almost four years becuase he knew the desire and the passion his friend James held for the band and the music.   After Greg's departure in the spring of 2002, Court Jester went into a whirlwind of drummer auditions that seems to have never ended. 

Court Jester had begun recording their debut full length release "GINA" at the time, so an immediate solution was needed.   At the advice of their producer, Todd Joos, studio-musician Bob "The Birdman" Brady was brought in to lay the drum tracks. As the Executive Producers of the album, James Azrael & Dan Boehne reuested the drums be kept very simplistic so when a proper drummer was found they could learn the songs and make them their own.  Johnny was an incredible talent and was able to jump right in and perform like they had been in Court Jester for years. 

Nearly a year-and-a-half later, Court Jester was still without a drummer and it was time to shoot the music video for their first single, "Stand Up."  So with yet another time crunch at hand, former keyboardist, Rochelle Redell, brought in her friend Mike Terrana to fill in for the shoot.  Unfortunately, Mike and Court Jester were at different stages of their lives, and Mike didn't have the desire to go forward.  Luckily there was another option.  At the video shoot, and if you watch close he is in the crowd scens of the video, was a guy named Jon "J.S." Stern (hailing from Canada) who was interested in the position.

J.S. soon joined up and was quickly learning all the songs and sets in preperation for a strong lineup of shows in support of "GINA."  Tragically, J.S. soon encountered medical problems with bone-spurs in his shoulders and was finding that playing drums equated to excrutiating pain.  He was forced to resign his position shortly after the Rock N Roll Circus 2004 Tour, but has continued to perform on occasion, pending his ability. 

During their tenure, Court Jester has run into many great msuicians, and some have become quite good friends.  As in the case of Bill Nychay, former drummer of Diamond Rexx.  When the situation with J.S.' medical condition erupted, Court Jester had some major gigs scheduled and Bill jumped in to assist.  A complete pro, through and through, Bil grabbed the reins and filled the position. 

The Court Jester family of drummers continues to grow with Kenny Burns [from "Big Mondays @ The Joint" in L.A.], good friend Scott Davidson [of "Smoke" and host of Rebel Radio] and....