Julian Pavone

Are discussions about Julian Pavone taboo? For many years now, I've followed the YouTube videos of "The World's Youngest Professional Drummer". I know that since he's a kid there's can be a lot of heated discussions regarding his talent and I honestly don't want to debate on whether or not the kid has talent. He has some skill...or probably better to say "a skill set". However, there is no discussion about him anywhere on the internet (I couldn't really find much about him in Drummerworld either). Seems that what I do find about him are all carefully placed press releases, PR hype, and gimmicks (like being offered a contract to join the Cavalier's drum corp at 15 months old and being an inventor of his own drum gloves, etc.) While any kid able to understand "keeping a beat" on the drums is still an impressive demonstration, I'm not sure if I would necessarily call him a prodigy.

Yes, the kid can keep a beat...that's no question. But am I the only one that seems to feel that even though this kid is learning how to play the drums, he is not really learning how to be a musician. As I've continued to watch his progress in the last few years, I've noticed that his grooves are not really getting any tighter and he doesn't really think about the appropriateness or dynamics of his fills. It's more like a kid who obviously has innate aptitude, but the overall sloppiness seems to indicate that he's not getting any real guidance or discipline on the instrument. Just more toys and more accolades. With all this hype about how great he already is...is it possible that he already thinks he's great and untouchable; and therefore, does not require to have any real discipline behind the instrument? I'm sure he's already got great contacts and mentors in the industry, but does he pay attention to them and learn? All the hype about him seem to be much bigger than him.

All his YouTube videos have comments disabled. It's like he's being sheltered from criticism. Do his parents also shelter him from criticism from his teachers/mentors? I don't know. Whether or not he's "good" is the least of my worry. It just seems that if Julian is more of a byproduct of his parents' skillful PR work and professional networking and less about the kid's actual talent and growth, he is going to end up as just another gimmick. Or quite possibly grow up to become an incredible drummer with an incredible ego.

In contrast, I've been also following another young drummer for many years named Igor Falecki. I've seen this kid grow and develop into an incredible young drummer. His playing is very musical and well thought out. You can tell he has learned well from Dom Famularo and from all the other great drummers he's encountered. He doesn't have to go out there touting to be "The World's Greatest..." or "The Worlds Youngest..." His playing and skill speak for itself. He seems to be someone that wants to learn and every time I see a new video of him, he just gets better and better.

Wondering what other people's thoughts are on this? Or maybe there's someone out there that personally knows Julian that will set me straight. Like I said, I'm not looking to debate about whether or not this kid has talent...he has talent...what worries me is that the way he is being paraded to the world. Seems like this kid is being set up to live in a world of hype and not reality.

Julian is doing well! I have been Julian's primary percussion instructor since he was five years old along with a selected few others during my occasional absence. My name is George Dunn. I have been a professional musician for over 55 years; making a living in the music industry and still doing so. I live in Sterling Heights Michigan. It is in my professional opinion that Julian is musically sound and is quite capable of doing anything musically that you or anyone else may think is appropriate. He is now taking a sabbatical from performing but is still studying percussion and playing cello. He can perform in all idioms of music and is managed and marketed by his father who basically dictates what everyone sees. Julian is always working on independence, creativity, time-keeping skills, technique and musical phrasing. With all of this being said, Julian attends a prestigious private school performing at a near genius academic level. He will be successful at anything and everything he does both musically or anything else he chooses to do in life! It sounds like you are skeptical about what he's capable of doing musically; he can intimidate and hang with anyone. With this all being said Julian (and his family) are loving and kind people and he is truly a protege that I have the honor of working with! Thank you for your concern.

George Dunn said:

Julian is doing well! I have been Julian's primary percussion instructor since he was five years old along with a selected few others during my occasional absence. My name is George Dunn. I have been a professional musician for over 55 years; making a living in the music industry and still doing so. I live in Sterling Heights Michigan. It is in my professional opinion that Julian is musically sound and is quite capable of doing anything musically that you or anyone else may think is appropriate. He is now taking a sabbatical from performing but is still studying percussion and playing cello. He can perform in all idioms of music and is managed and marketed by his father who basically dictates what everyone sees. Julian is always working on independence, creativity, time-keeping skills, technique and musical phrasing. With all of this being said, Julian attends a prestigious private school performing at a near genius academic level. He will be successful at anything and everything he does both musically or anything else he chooses to do in life! It sounds like you are skeptical about what he's capable of doing musically; he can intimidate and hang with anyone. With this all being said Julian (and his family) are loving and kind people and he is truly a protege that I have the honor of working with! Thank you for your concern.

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Hi George! After almost 3 years of this post, I'm really glad to finally hear from a close source. I'm glad to know that Julian's talent is being properly guided and nurtured. What was a concern for me with all the published hype and the sheltered manner in which much of information about Julian was presented, that there was a good possibility that he could be living in an environment where his own "legend" was far larger than what he could realistically keep up with or even want to be in. There seems to be two major outcomes in those circumstances: 1) the person gets too overwhelmed with the expectations that they crumble, or 2) the person buys into the hype and maintains sub par skill along with a disproportionately large ego. So, I was just concerned and hoping he maintains a good head on his shoulders. I'm glad to hear that he is making great accomplishments in many areas. Wishing him all the continued success. And thank you for your reply!