Magadini was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to Charles and Ruth Magadini. At the age of 6 the family moved to Palm Springs, California where he played in the elementary school band. Magadini's professional career began recording singles for Lee Hazlewood and Lester Sill while attending high school in Phoenix, Arizona. In Phoenix he studied with his first and most influential teacher Donald Bothwell and was heavily influenced by the playing of Max Roach. In 1960 Magadini studied drum set with Roy Burns at the Henry Adler Drum School in New York City. He then enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied timpani with New York Philharmonic timpanist Roland Kohloff, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1965. During his time in San Francisco he formed a trio with keyboardist George Duke, also a student at the Conservatory, and performed with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. In 1973 he graduated from the University of Toronto with a master's degree in Percussion & Performance – "w.distinction" In 1968, while teaching at his alma mater, Magadini was awarded a fellowship to perform with The Berkshire Music Festival Orchestra at Tanglewood. The next year he moved to Los Angeles where he taught drums at the Hollywood Professional Drum Shop and played with the Don Menza quartet. Magadini toured with Bobbie Gentry through 1969 before joining Diana Ross' first band as a solo artist. After touring with Ross from 1970 – 1971 he attended the University of Toronto, receiving a Master of Music degree in 1973. In 1976 he produced Polyrhthym, for the IBis label, featuring himself, George Duke, Don Menza and Dave Young. His second album, Bones Blues, with Dave Young, Don Menza and Wray Downs, received a Juno award nomination for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 1979. Magadini has also performed extensively with and produced recordings for blues-jazz vocalist Mose Allison. From 1988 to 1997 he taught at McGill and Concordia Universities in Montreal and at the Brubeck Institute, University of the Pacific from 2003–2007. He also maintains a private teaching practice in the California Bay Area.
Polyrhythms
Magadini is widely known for his interest and expertise in polyrhythms as applied in western music and drum set. Originally inspired by his studies with tabla player Mahapurush Misra in 1966, he has published two major works on the subject: Polyrhythms for the Drumset and Polyrhythms: The Musicians Guide, which Modern Drummer magazine ranked 6th in their survey of "The 25 Best Drum Books." In 2012 he published The Official 26 Polyrhythm Rudiments.
Discography
1970 "Live at The Grove" Diana Ross drms. 1971 "Diana" Diana Ross drms. 1976 – Polyrhythmw. George Duke kys. prdcr+drms. 1977 – Bones Blues Sackville Records prdcr.+drms. 1978 Juno award Nominee 2000 – Night Dreamers prdcr.drums 2015 – Mose Allison Live in California www.moseallisonamericanlegend.com 2015 – "Outside in the Present"
Videos
2006 – Jazz Drums Hal Leonard Corporation|Hal Leonard
Books
1980 – Learn to Play the Drumset
1982 – Learn to Play the Drumset
1982 – Music We Can See and Hear Music book for children in the classroom 1986 – Drummer's Guide to Music Theory
1995 – Polyrhythms for the Drumset
1998 – Complete Drumset Rudiments
2001 – Polyrhythms – the Musician's Guide 1993 #6 the 25 Worlds Greatest Drum Books 2017 'All In One' "Learn to Play The Drumset" Peter's complete method from beginner to advanced
