One time for the wizard Soul Supreme, whose new album Poetic Justice dropped on May 26th and I’m very proud to be a part of. Stream it everywhere or pick it up on Bandcamp. Here’s a promo video for “Fraud Fades,” one of the two tunes I played drums on (the other being “Dues n Don’ts”):
A line up of amazing musicians on this album and the whole thing is dope, with a crazy back story if you do a bit of Googling for the tumultuous circumstances the album was made under. Dig!
In the summer of 1990 I bought Lord Finesse’s Funky Technician tape on Jamaica Ave and memorized the whole thing in about a month. 30 summers later I’m proud to be playing some drums on his new project, Motown State of Mind, out today! And as someone who grew up on my mom’s Motown records, to have my work on a record with a Motown label brings it all full circle. To work with people and pillars who’ve been inspiring me for 30+ years doing what I love most is one of the main reasons I’m still in this crazy business. Having my name next to Willie Hutch in the credits don’t feel bad either. And all the talented folks involved in this project. The tune I played on is called “Now Is The Time” by Sisters Love, originally appearing in the film The Mack.
Here’s a routine I use to warm-up sometimes. It’s essentially a fun montage of well-known/classic drum riffs that I run through to get my brain going. From Kool and the Gang to Paul Simon to Al Green to Lou Donaldson, there’s some iconic drum grooves in there that have helped define music over the last 50 years. I cite some of the original nuances as well as adding my own transitions and idiosyncrasies to glue it together. Enjoy.
After 4 drum break libraries and 6 years of frontin’ on producers requesting one shots, “social distancing” has inspired me to take on the arduous task of curating a library of high quality one-shots from my arsenal of drum sets, snare drums and assorted cymbals and percussion. The engineering, nitpicking, gruntwork and trial and error of creating a one shot library requires time – a lot of it. And with our current global health crisis keeping all of us indoors, I was finally able to laser focus and put in the necessary undistracted hours to come up with 100 killer sounds for your beat-making/composing needs. 31 snare drum sounds, 17 kick sounds, 21 hi-hat/cymbal sounds, 9 tom and percussion sounds + a bonus folder of a 22 of the kicks, hi-hats and snares run through an Akai S-950 sampler for a 12-bit sheen (courtesy of sound designer, Bullyfinger) – it’s all there!
Chopping up drum breaks isn’t for everyone, and part of being a working drummer is catering to the needs of the artist and producer. Combine that understanding of drums from the perspective of the drummer, engineer and producer – you get The Wild World of One Shots! Now I can go spend April working on boring yet essential practice pad exercises. Enjoy.
I was interviewed by Plus One Me about a lot of different things but mainly drumming, teaching college, my outdated studio gear, the economics of drum break records and a SXSW gig gone wrong that changed my entire musical path!
Here’s a few preview videos from a forthcoming mini-doc on Break Bonanza and the lessons I’ve learned behind the scenes over the years. One on woking with established artists and knowing what and what not to play – and the other on abandoning being a jack of all trades to put more practice time into drumming. Full video will go live next week. Pre-order the 7″ vinyl for Break Bonanza here. Check both videos below.
Break Bonanza out now (digitally)! Buy it here, exclusively at THE DRUM BROKER. Theres a YouTube clip on the product page to hear the entire thing right before you buy, but you can hear the whole thing right here if you’re lazy, want to get a taste and are waiting for the vinyl. 19 original drum breaks played and recorded by yours truly for producers and composers. The vinyl will be out in about month, with pre-orders starting before then. Dig in and happy groovin’.
I’ve got two new releases dropping before the holiday season: a new Du-Rites 7″ and a new drum break 7″. The former will be out next week and the latter by the end of November, but for now, here’s some test pressing action.
After an increase in sampling of me practicing on Instagram – and an increase in health insurance premiums! – I’ve decided its time for a fourth installment in my drum break series. Break Bonanza is done and in production at the moment. Digital version will be available November 1 via The Drum Broker. 7″ vinyl will be available in December via my Bandcamp. Till then, here’s the artwork, and remember – the higher quality of the previous releases beats an IG clip! Stay tuned
wizard Soul Supreme, whose new album Poetic Justice dropped on May 26th and I’m very proud to be a part of. Stream it everywhere or pick it up on Bandcamp. Here’s a promo video for “Fraud Fades,” one of the two tunes I played drums on (the other being “Dues n Don’ts”):
