Jazz Drummer. His father was a theatre violinist and teacher. Vic, a child prodigy, was hired as regular pit drummer for the Alhambra Theatre in Milwaukee at the age of 7, and while in his teens, he studied with Josef Zettleman of Chicago Symphony. During the 1920s, he played with well-known Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez and other commercial dance bands. He popularized the use of 'hot tympani' using a pair of machine kettledrums to play bass parts for novelty effects. He is said to be one of the first drummers, if not the first, to have transferred the cymbal from a place fixed to the bass drum, to its subsequent standard position as a separate instrument to be played by hand. Berton was also a featured soloist in several concerts with the LA Philharmonic, and was chosen by Igor Stravinsky as percussionist for West Coast performances of “L'histoire dusoldat.”
Jazz Drummer. His father was a theatre violinist and teacher. Vic, a child prodigy, was hired as regular pit drummer for the Alhambra Theatre in Milwaukee at the age of 7, and while in his teens, he studied with Josef Zettleman of Chicago Symphony. During the 1920s, he played with well-known Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez and other commercial dance bands. He popularized the use of 'hot tympani' using a pair of machine kettledrums to play bass parts for novelty effects. He is said to be one of the first drummers, if not the first, to have transferred the cymbal from a place fixed to the bass drum, to its subsequent standard position as a separate instrument to be played by hand. Berton was also a featured soloist in several concerts with the LA Philharmonic, and was chosen by Igor Stravinsky as percussionist for West Coast performances of “L'histoire dusoldat.”
Bio by: TLS
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