Lunch with Lucas

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Back in 1996 I had the pleasure of meeting Lucas VanMewijk. A Dutch, Spanish speaking drummer teaching with me in Germany at the second Drummers Summer Camp. Lucas and I hit it off right from the get go and talked about a multitude of things for a couple days before I had even heard him play a note.

One of the things that really intrigued me about Lucas was his love for Latin music. At some point, he decided to pack up and go to Cuba to learn all that he could about Cuban/Latin music. He didn't know anyone and didn't bring anything with him except a pair of sticks and his will to seek out instruction. Something to remember is that Lucas didn't speak …