John Orlando, Drummer and Author

I try to take my art to exciting, new destinations, be it writing, music, or even cooking, although I love an old-fashioned plate of spaghetti and meatballs. My current passion is my fantasy series of four manuscripts that involve the mystical, Italian village of Legenderry, as well as real-life places like Yellowstone National Park and more. I hope that my love of European travel and outdoor adventures in the western USA shine through in my writing. During my earlier years, I enjoyed the urban lifestyle of New York and San Francisco. It took quite a while, but now I’m equally at home in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains near Denver.

I’ve played the drums almost all my life and had early success by winning the New Jersey Allstate Competition while in high school. As a member of a Dixieland band called Pure Trash, I was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the City of San Francisco. My Drum Songs CD received complimentary national reviews and was in the top hundred songs of the year on Boulder, CO public radio. I’ve performed with all kinds of bands, including marching bands, orchestras, twenty-piece swing bands, Soul, Punk, New Wave and Jazz trios.

I was fed up with the direction rhythm was taking in Rock and Roll, so I authored the article Drum Machines—the Big Musical Rip Off, which was published in the Whole Life Times and several other publications. I was the first place winner of a college poetry contest while attending Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey.

I occasionally teach world-percussion workshops at libraries and schools in the Denver area and performs at street fairs and festivals with my high energy, percussion ensemble. Between the downbeats, I am self-employed as a Certified Public Accountant.

My writing progressed into a series of novels that involve the mystical village of Legenderry. They include The Drums of Legenderry, and the yet to be published Curse of the Diamond Finger, The Totem of Aspira, and The Scent of Time. Thank you for reading about me and your interest in my web site.