1. By Kerry Ashline
KEEPING TIIE BEAT IN SOUTII
FI,ORIDA... JEF F I,EE AND
RESURRECTION DRUMS
In 1963 a three-year-old wanders away
while his family watches a parade in
Richmond, Virginia. The father, noticing the
boy missing, frantically alerts a police offi-
cer. The young boy, oblivious to all the
commotion, is found happily marching at
the end of the parade, moving in time with
a group of the parade's drummers. A year
later that same precocious young boy,
watching his black and white television,
sees the legendary Beatles on that famous
episode of The Ed Sullivan show. Bouncing
along to the beat of drummer Ringo Starr,
the boy decides "instantly that this is what I
was going to do. "My Mom said that I 'beat
the paint off the cribl" recalls leff Lee.
"Later I remember putting magazines and
ashtrays on the living room coffee table and
banging out beats to Beatles records." But
home-made drum kits didn't cut it for the
little drummer boy from Richmond. He
began begging his parents for a real drum
set. On Christmas morning 1967, the plead-
ing paid off. Lee, now age 7, finally got his
very own drum set. Two years later he won
a talent contest playing "Make me Smile" by
Chicago. Older sister Page, a musician her-
self, pushed to enroll her little brother in
formal lessons. By high school age Jeff was
studying privately and enrolled in the local
school music program. "I've been a drum-
mer all my life. That's why I was put on the
earth," says Lee.
That wannabe drummer kid not only fulfilled
his dream of becoming a professional drum-
11i.,1.1+
Hermitage High School Marching Band, and
outside school he played in both rock and
funk bands. His hard work and dedication
paid off. Jeff was awarded a full jazz schol-
arship at Virginia Commonwealth University,
playing drums with the Jazz Ensemble.
During that time he continued playing with
a variety of cover and original bands. After
a few years in college, Jeff decided to go on
the road with a working band, toured for a
few years until he ended up at Stefano's on
Key Biscayne. Not long after his restless
spirit called him to Los Angeles where he
ended playing with a group called
"Papillion". In 1986 Jeff was asked to sing
and play in a band for the NBC TV show
"The Pulse of Miami", which featured music
from the TV show "Miami Vice." The band
eventually became the house band at
Clevelander on South Beach.
When the recession of 1989 hit
and the gigs started drying up,
Jeff went to a local drum store,
Resurrection Drums, to look for
a job.
Where did the name
Resurrection Drums come from?
According to Jeff, Rez Drums
opened in 1982 in a small ware-
house in Fort Lauderdale by two
brothers-in-law. John was a profes-
sional drummer and Frank was a
cabinet maker, both born-again
Christians, which could be one
explanation for the name. The other
more likely scenario is what hap-
pened when John was in Frank's
cabinet shop, intrigued by Frank
gluing a Formica sheet to a counter top he was
building. John wondered if the same procedure
would work on his seriously beat up drums.
After stripping the drums and gluing Formica
sheets to the bare drum shells, John and Frank
discovered they had successfully "resurrected"
the drums. A similar process is still used
0n lha iilaslc ficene, c0nfinued 0n Dg. l4

2. was golng to do. "My Mom said that I 'beat
the paint off the cribl" recalls leff Lee.
"Later I remember putting magazines and
ashtrays on the living room coffee table and
banging out beats to Beatles records." But
home-made drum kits didn't cut it for the
little drummer boy from Richmond. He
began begging his parents for a real drum
set. On Christmas morning t967, the plead-
ing paid off. Lee, now age 7 , finally got his
very own drum set. Two years later he won
a talent contest playing "Make me Smile" by
Chicago. Older sister Page, a musician her-
self, pushed to enroll her little brother in
formal lessons. By high school age Jeff was
studying privately and enrolled in the local
school music program. "I've been a drum-
mer all my life. That's why I was put on the
earth," says Lee.
That wannabe drummer kid not only fulfilled
his dream of becoming a professional drum-
mer, but as owner of Resurrection Drums
(Rez Drums) in Hollywood, he's become the
go-to man in the South Florida drum and
percussion business. His laid back attitude
and humble demeanor shouldn't be con-
fused with his burning passion for anything
to do with drums
He marched with the award-winning
drums and drumming, his liJeLong passion. pened when Jonn was rn hranK's
cabinet shop, intrigued by Frank
Hermitage High School Marching Band, and
outside school he played in both rock and
funk bands. His hard work and dedication
paid off. leff was awarded a full jazz schol-
arship at Virginia Commonwealth University,
playing drums with the Jazz Ensemble.
During that time he continued playing with
a variety of cover and original bands. After
a few years in college, Jeff decided to go on
the road with a working band, toured for a
few years until he ended up at Stefano's on
Key Biscayne. Not long after his restless
spirit called him to Los Angeles where he
ended playing with a group called
"Papillion". In 1986 Jeff was asked to sing
and play in a band for the NBC TV show
"The Pulse of Miami", which featured music
from the TV show "Miami Vice." The band
eventually became the house band at
Miami's "G-Wizz Club", where the show was
filmed.
A few years later the band moved to a Boca
Raton club called "The Bounty", where Jeff
and friends became the backup band for
radio station Y100's feature artists when
they came to town. The band soon moved
on to become the house band at The
gluing a Formica sheet to a counter top he was
building. John wondered if the same procedure
would work on his seriously beat up drums.
After stripping the drums and gluing Formica
sheets to the bare drum shells, John and Frank
discovered they had successfully "resurrected"
the drums. A similar process is still used
0t, thF [tastc $c0no, contlnaad 0n pg. l4
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