How Naperville man's drumming hobby led to Cuba, concerts
Music is a hobby for Mark Riordan of Naperville, but a "very, very serious hobby."
When he scopes out a band, he takes notes on the songs its members play.
When he plays a gig, he arrives prepared with an "everything rack" of tambourines, shakers, cowbells and other instruments he'll use.
"I view myself as a pro," said Riordan, whose day job is as a construction sales executive. "When I show up, I'm totally prepared."
And when he wants to learn the art of conga drumming perfected in Cuba, he travels to Cuba, even years before diplomatic relations with the nation thawed.
Riordan's next performance comes Saturday when he'll blend his beats with the sound of Deacon Blues, a band of a dozen musicians that's taking on the tall task of recreating the "sophisticated and intricate" music of Steely Dan.
"Deacon Blues is able to reproduce the studio sound that Steely Dan had, but they do it live," Riordan said.
Riordan, 60, says band leaders asked him to join them in Naperville as well as earlier shows this summer in Palatine and Bolingbrook.
As a hand percussionist, he plays instruments other than the drum set. He's careful not to overpower any band he joins, but to pepper in a new flavor.
"My philosophy is really adding a little bit of spice to the music," Riordan said.
With Deacon Blues at Naper Settlement, he'll mainly play congas or other instruments from his everything rack.
"That drum set is the main groove and many Steely Dan songs have particular drug set rhythms," Riordan said. "I'm there to accent that rhythm and the feel of the whole band."
Riordan has been a percussionist since he bought a drum set during Beatles mania while he was in high school. He became interested in Afro-Cuban beats and bought congas, but said he didn't learn to make them sing until he traveled to Cuba in 1999 and 2002 with his son, Brian, to study at Escuela National de Artes.
"Different hand techniques were developed in Cuba and that's what we learned," he said.
A friend who played congas in a Latin jazz band in Chicago helped Riordan and his son make the connections they needed to visit Cuba when only Americans who were traveling to study something related to their career were allowed to go.
The father-son pair used the rhythms they learned in 2010 when they performed at the Jaycees Last Fling festival in Naperville with the band Brother John.
Riordan said Brian, who's now studying for a doctorate in music composition at the University of Pittsburgh, won't be able to attend his Saturday show with Deacon Blues.
But he's looking forward to the performance and to playing such Steely Dan songs as "Reelin' in the Years," "Green Earrings," "Do it Again" and "Night by Night."
"I'm delighted to play with a band of this caliber," Riordan said. "Everyone is really talented and at the top level of their game."
The performance is part of the final Naper Nights concert event of the summer. Deacon Blues opens for Simply Elton, an Elton John tribute. Tickets to the 6 and 8:15 p.m. shows at 523 S. Webster St. are $15 for adults and $10 for kids ages 4 to 12.
If you go
What: Final performances of Naper Nights
When: Deacon Blues performs at 6 p.m. and Simply Elton at 8:15 p.m.
Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for kids
Info: napersettlement.org