If you've ever walked down Hollywood Boulevard, you may have noticed there's more attention given to bucket drummers than to even the most action-packed Superman-versus-Batman pigfight — and for good reason. The rhythms produced by those talented street drummers — the heartbeat of what used to be known in early-20th century New Orleans as “spasm bands” — is something the human organism responds to on the most basic level. Master percussionist Monti Ellison's Bucket Drumming Workshop, part of the ongoing J.A.M. Session series at the Ford Amphitheatre, shows you how to turn a 5-gallon bucket into a sonic beacon as you learn various rhythms and polyrhythms, what part of the drum gives off the deepest, richest sounds, and at what point you should stop because the workshop is over and you've started playing the dinner table and it's getting kind of annoying. John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hlywd.; Mon., July 8, 7 p.m., free. (323) 461-3673, fordtheatres.org.

Mon., July 8, 7 p.m., 2013

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