John Cummings, the original drummer for the acclaimed San Jose rock act The Odd Numbers, died Friday (Aug. 27).
He was 58.
News of his death was made public through social media posts, including one from The Odd Numbers vocalist-guitarist Dave Baisa.
“Sad to let everyone know that John Cummings passed away Friday night,” Baisa wrote in a Facebook post made on Sunday (Aug. 31). “I hope he’s in a better place now. He was a great drummer and artist. Although he was complicated he was the real thing. RIP”
The cause of death has not been made public at this time.
Cummings formed The Odd Numbers with two of his fellow alums from Leigh High School in San Jose — Baisa and bassist Dave Miller — in 1988.
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The trio went on to release its debut album — “About Time” — in 1990 and quickly garnered a sizable fanbase that appreciated The Odd Number’s mix of power pop, mod rock, ’60s soul and punk.
“I wanted to have a good time playing rock ‘n’ roll music, traveling around,” Baisa said in a 2013 interview with this newspaper. “That was what I wanted to do with my life.”
The Odd Numbers would succeed in that goal — playing countless gigs, both as a headliner and opening for such internationally known acts as Flogging Molly.
In 1995, the band returned with its sophomore effort — “Retrofitted for Today” — drawing another batch of solid reviews, especially in Sweden, which would lead to The Odd Numbers touring that Nordic country. During that trip, Cummings “was injured in a motorcycle accident that left him in the hospital for months,” according to information on the website of the band’s label, Beer City Records.
Dave Conrad would join the band on drums for the group’s next record, “Guide To Modern Living.”
But Cummings returned to the drum throne for The Odd Numbers’ fourth outing, 2001’s “The Trials N Tribulations of,” which was the band’s last full-length until finally returning in 2017 with “The Odyssey” (again featuring Conrad on drums).
The Odd Numbers’ story is quite impressive, having outlasted countless trends and overcome multiple challenges over the decades on its way to becoming one of San Jose’s signature rock acts.
And It’s a story that all started when three Leigh High School buddies came together to start a band.
“… I could have never imagined what we would end up creating with Numbers,” Miller wrote on his Facebook page in remembrance of Cummings. “It was truly something special. And when we were on each others side, it was a force to be reckoned with.”
There was no word Monday on plans for a memorial service.
