 It's Christmas morning in 1970 and I’m five years old. I remember coming down the staircase and seeing that huge box with my name on it. I can still hear the tearing of the paper and opening my very first orange sparkle drum set. From that very moment on, I knew that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life! Through my years of growing up, I pursued studying music, practicing my playing and observing as many different drummers and musicians as I could. No matter how far I needed to travel, I was continuously going to drum clinics, master classes and seeing live music. Each individual event was an unbelievable learning experience to me. I just couldn’t get enough.
Charlie Perry was one of my first drum instructors who introduced me to jazz, Latin, and funk styles of music, as well as reading music. However, he also taught me about hand and finger control. I can remember there were times that Charlie would allow me to stay and practice for hours if I was the last lesson in his studio.
The biggest part of my practicing growing up was playing along to recordings of different styles of music. Again, I wanted to explore a variety of musical genres. Joe Zawinul once said, “I truly believe that as a drummer you’ve got to play like a boxer. You’ve always got to have the element of surprise. If you’re too predictable, you’ll get knocked out.” I have always kept that advice close to my heart.
As I got older and started to play in small clubs, I was slowly gaining some experience with an audience. I specifically remember at 16, playing in a Jazz bar called Sonny’s Place in Seaford, Long Island with a bunch of older guys. They had to sneak me in to play. I began to realize the more people I experienced and performed with as I got older, the broader my musical vocabulary became. It became almost like a game and I was on this insatiable quest for more.
I have been fortunate enough to experience traveling and living with musicians on the road. What a learning experience in itself.
Everything from booking agents, dealing with club owners, long hours of traveling, lack of sleep, sound checks, meeting interesting people, learning how to live with others 24 hours a day, while always remembering to stay focused on that one thing-that one reason for it all-the love of music. All the hard work, passion, determination, sweat and tears, is for the love of music. If you have a dream, a vision, a goal…follow it. For it is within your reach.
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