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In all the years I played with percusionist Jim Lofrano, I cannot recall him ever making a mistake. Seriously, this guy was a machine. Moreover, with his natural musical sensitivity, Jim would take songs & themes of mine that just were not working for me, and add exactly the right beat to turn my awkward noises into something truly musical. I can clearly remember sitting behind Jim Lofrano's kit during a break, and staring at the drum heads. At first I thought they were brand new, but then I noticed that the wear spots were focused on a small 1-2" diameter area, dead on center, on each tom. That was how precise he was, due to the years of practice pad technique drills with his teacher, and his natural talent. Jim had a musical family, as I recall his cousins were in a band as well. Their name escapes at the moment, but this page is about Lofrano, his drums & his drum styx...so rock on, Jimbo. Cannot wait to hear the next batch of tunes.
Lofrano - The 2nd Century (2000-Pizza?)
Jim Lofrano studied music harmony, theory & musicianship in his teens, and continues his education to this day, keeping up with the most current technolgies as he continues to create new music. I expect that this top section will expand with time, since it is reserved for the current Lofrano works that Jimbo is learning to produce with a new set of reflexes, using the instincts, taste, timing & knowledge he gained during the his years sitting behind an acoustic kit, first as a student of Freddy Gruber, then an amatuer rock drummer with the likes of yours truly, and finally as a professional percussionist, as documented below. Enjoy!
High Hopes (December, 2009) I finally re-did the backing track of this. When I originally put the vocal on this I used an old backing track I did in 2005 before I really learned how to use Cubase and the result always left something to be desired. I fixed the problem areas and re-rendered each track properly as well as adding a few little things to spice it up. This is my final version of this Pink Floyd new classic from the Division Bell CD. Not much can be done to my limited vocal ability to improve it I'm sad to say - Jim Lofrano.
Space Time & Love (January, 2009) Clancy: A Jim Lofrano production of another Paul Wakefield composition, this time Paul is also playing guitars and bass, and singing lead. John CLancy on backing vocal & keys, Jim Lofrano all percusion and producer / engineer.
White Room (July, 2008) I have to show off my new copy of Drums From Hell drum collection Superior 2.0, they were done at Avatar in New York. Pat Thrall and Neil Dorfsman did the recording, Nir Z played for the sampling sessions. Inexpensive too, the upgrade from Superior was $129. White Room cover is me on my little DAW, the distortion on the bass is on purpose, trying to get the Jack Bruce EB0 bass into a giant stack of Marshall amps on 11. Anyway, the drums sound alright, the rest? me. (Song by Jack Bruce & Pete Brown)
Coffee Shop On A Moonlit Night (May, 2008) Clancy: Paul Wakefield wrote & recorded this song, and asked Clancy for some help with an updated arrangement. Clancy immediately sought out Lofrano's assistance on the basic beat & feel, and this is the result. Featuring Rich Hunter on electric guitars, Clancy on Keys, Lofrano on drums, and Paul Wakefield handling the acoustic guitars & vocal for this song, which he wrote for his wife.
Comfortably Numb (March, 2008) Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. Programmed via Cubase with final mix done on SonarLE. It's all synthesizer, Roland Hyper Canvas/LM-4 Wizoo Kits. Even the lead guitar is VST/midi. Effects were various reverb, Emu Lite Reverb(Power Effects), Cakewalk Amp Sim, PC was a Gateway GM5474 w/AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 3ghz 2046 MB ram, nothing fancy. I hope you enjoy it, it took long enough. There are no vocals on it so if anyone wants to take a crack at it feel free. me. Song by Pink Floyd.
Jerusalem (Feb, 2007 Drums, May 2007 Keys) Clancy:I do not recall if Jim & I ever got to play this together live, I did not learn it until after I left Sostice Mark III. But here we are, together again at last. There may be some vocals on the way (as of May 30, 2007). Song by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
A Town Without Pity (Completed April, 2007) Clancy:I always wanted to do this song, for some odd reason, and I convinced Jim to do a drum track just as we were all basking in the after glow of the rediscovered Solstice Mark III tapes. I love the feel, Jim gave it a Mickey Spillane feel, that would be one Rich Hunter tackling lead guitar duty. Hey Tee - we could use some vocals over here! Song originally sung by Gene Pitney, written by Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington.
Trance Me (October, 2006) Lofrano: Either you love Trance or you hate it, with that in mind here's a track called oddly enough called "Trance Me". It's all loops, I use Ableton Live to stretch, massage and mangle them.Song by The Police
The Beatles Meet Drums From Hell (October, 2006) Lofrano: Hi John, an old Beatles track with Drums From Hell from Swedish developers Toontrack. All the snare hits are generated from one note number, the program randomizes from the 35gig of samples contained in the VST program. Song by Lennon-McCartney
The Police Meet Drums From Hell (October, 2006) Lofrano: More Drums From Hell.
Learning To Fly Song written by Pink Floyd, all instruments were arranged & programmed by Lofrano in 2006. Featuring Jim's EmulatorX and Cubase software, and Roland TD-20 for the drums.
Lofrano - In L.A. With Jerry Strull, from "Medley" (1980)
Jerry Strull is an LA artist that was friendly with our band Solstice back in the mid 1970's, since before the Solstice he had worked in "Buster", which also featured our singer (Bob Teegarden) and drummer (one Jim Lofrano). Jerry has produced a large number of compositions over the years, and would continue to use Jim from time to time on drums.
Master of Disguise This is one of those, a song called called Master of Disguise, from Jerry's 1980 album "Medley". Very nice ending there, Jerry.
People Have to Dance I will let Jim tell this one:This is People Have To Dance from Jerry Strull's 1980 album Medley. He wanted to do this to showcase his writing ability, he hired Nick Phillips(bass) and myself as we had just come back to town after 5 months on the road together. Nick's claim to fame in his cousin is Simon Phillips of the Who, Jeff Beck etc.............Anyway Jerry wanted to change tempo and/or keys on some of the tracks and off comes Nick and on goes Mark Thorsel as we had left town again, who did a great job BTW, so it ended up being Buster with different singers. I remixed it and re-eq'd and added reverb. Lineup: Jerry guitars, songwriter producer; Barry Peterson, vocals; Mark Wayne keys; Mark Thorsel bass; me, drums
Bitter End With Jerry Strull, also from Medley, 1980.
Damn This Heart of Mine Lofrano: Damn This Heart of Mine, formerly All For The Best or as Jerry called it Better Off Left Alone. Medley, same lineup (1980) By Jerry Strull, also from "Medley".
Suzy Lofrano: Suzy, Medley, different singer, beats me who it is, I was out of town, Danny something I think. me. (1980) By Jerry Strull, also from "Medley".
Cassandra Lofrano: Lineup: Jerry guitars, songwriter producer; Barry Peterson, vocals; Mark Wayne keys; Mark Thorsel bass; me, drums (1980) By Jerry Strull, also from "Medley".
Lofrano - With Wedgewood, "Places Like These" (Released 1993)
Looking Forward To Missing You Lofrano: "...here's a Wedgwood track from Places Like These on Voicepoint Records that was released in England and The Netherlands. "
Take Me Away CD Info: Michael WEDGWOOD - Places Like These, 1993 (Voiceprint) [CD] Michael Wedgwood (g/b/kb/syn/pgm/voc) - Brad (voc/g) - Bob Stern (g) - Peter Catlin (g) - Tom Thucher (g) - Anthony Aldrich (vln) - Garth Reid (syn) - Steve Kircher (b) - Paul Beavis (d) - Jim Lofrano (d) By Michael Wedgewood
Searching For a Fantasy CD Info: Rec: 1975, Win 1987-88, Mar-Apr 1993, 15 Mar 1993 - Loc: Dome Studios, Fairbanks,Alaska / Brad's Place, Salisbury / FovantVillage Hall, Canterbury - Pr: Mike Wedgwood Tracks: 1. Life Live - 2. Places Like There - 3. Act Like A Dog - 4. Loving And Leaving - 5. New Man Coming - 6. A Piece - 7. Searching For A Fantasy - 8. Fundamental Fool - 9. Indigo - 10. Cry Nightly - 11. Tale Me Away - 12. Looking Forward To Missing You - 13. Take It As It Comes - 14. You And I Combine
Lofrano - With Buster (Early 1970's)
Be My Lover A cover song, originally by Alice Cooper. Buster included Bob Teegarden on lead vocal, Jerry Strull on guitars, Mark Thorsell on Bass & Jim Lofrano on Drums.
Sidewalk Love An original song, written by Jerry Strull
OK Corralle An original song, written by Mark Thorsell
Lofrano - With Piper (Around 1977)
Let Me Know Line up :Tim Piper lead vocal, rythmn guitar; Greg Piper bass,vocals; Jerry Strull lead guitar, Barry Peterson  keyboards, vocals; Jim Lofrano drums, percussion.
In A Dream
This Can't Happen Again Lofrano: Here's a Piper track from 1977, recorded somewhere in Hollywood next door to a Laundramat. Tim Piper went on to portray John Lennon in a movie of the week. Here's how they make a living these days.
Lofrano - With Lee Rogers & Motown Records (1977)
Love Bandit Lofrano: Lineup: R.G. Ingersol pr; Prentis Anderson writer; Billy Bea arranger; Roger Heman guitar; Fred MacDonnald sax; me drums; ????? bass, it was the 70's after all ;
They called us Lee Roger and The Whitehouse Staff, our first gig was in the center of Watts where our new guitarist(they fired Roger) Johnny Love told us, do not set your drink down and come back to it, people will fu** with you cause your white...yikes. A Motown recording artist who's name escapes me was shot to death in the same place the week before, I've heard of suffering for my art, but come on. The usual Motown production line approach, move 'em in, move 'em out. My very best Clyde Stubblefied impersonation, they offered me the gig although I don't know why my playing was pretty stinky on this track. Hey I ain't no funk drummer, I'm a rocker damn it.
Lofrano - With Tom Akers & Greg Lee (around 1978)
Slum Lot Roller Lofrano: This is called Slum Rot Roller, it's a basic track with Tom Akers, Greg Lee and myself. He ended up finishing these and I had a copy on the songs but they were lost somewhere between L.A. and Anchorage.
So, Jim was always in demand back in LA, and you had to know when you worked with him on a non-paying original musical project (some of which are documented elsewhere on this site - check out Carlysle Archives [Coup d Etat], Solstice & The Late Show) that his drums might go missing at a moment's notice whenever he got a call for some semi-pro or pro work. Naturally, that would always generate some disappointment, since we would come to depend on Jim's stability behind the kit, but it was understandable since - unlike us - he never 'gave up' & worked a day gig: music was everything for Jim. Yet as understandable as the vanishings were, I always wondered where he went, and what he was working on. Well, the mystery is finally solved, since Jim recently uncovered his archive, and provided us with a few samples from his resume. So above is a nice slice of the LA & Alaskan underground music machines of the late 70's & 80's, with some rather flawless percussion as the predominate theme.