VALENCIA - They got rhythm. They made music. No one asked for anything more.

About a dozen residents at the Valencia Woods Nursing Center and percussionist Deke Kincade enjoyed a jam session in the facility's recreation room Thursday. Aside from the booming, clacking, jingling and singing, it was easy to tell everyone was having a good time by the smiles all around.

"I like music. Anytime there is a music performance, I come," said Hulda Schulz, 95, adding that she's participated in Kincade's drumming workshops six or seven times. "I'll come again next time he's here. Everybody takes part and it stimulates the mind."

Stimulating the mind and engaging the personalities of nursing home residents is as high on Kincade's list as the making of music. "I've been a drummer and performer all my life," he said. He currently drums with the Black Cat Otis band, which plays roots, rockabilly, blues and swing music and popular standards.

It wasn't until Kincade did a stint as the activity director at an assisted living center that he thought to put his skills to another use. "I enjoyed being with the residents, and I developed this program when I realized how much people enjoyed (the drumming). It's easy for (nursing home) residents to do. There's spontaneous interaction. It's joyful and stress relieving," he said. He leads the drumming by pounding on an African djembe while strolling about the room interacting with his audience.

"I do this five or six times a week" in assisted living and care facilities, Kincade said. He also performs in art galleries, yoga studios, coffee shops and schools and offers team-building drumming sessions for small businesses. He totes all the percussion instruments with him and makes sure he always has enough of his broad variety of instruments to suit everyone in attendance.

Residents at Valencia Woods played drums, tambourines, shakers, bells and shook strands of wonderful sounding African rattles while singing everything from old favorites to calypso and rock 'n' roll standards. As for those great rattles, they were made from organic materials - animal toenails, which are perfect for producing a dry, rubbing sound.