A
PASSION FOR PERCUSSION
A very new arrival in Portland, with over twenty five years of percussion behind me, I am humbled and excited to be playing drums for the Brothers of the Baladi, a Middle Eastern and World Music band, firmly rooted in the west coast the over the last thirty years. I get to work with a percussion legend, Michael Beach and absorb as much as I possibly can from these great musicians.
I have been collecting and playing percussion since the age of 14 during many years of travelling throughout Southeast Africa, Europe and Latin America. Since then I have played in professional and semi professional bands from Afro Cuban to Zydeco, blues to swing, rock and fusion.
Although I learned to read music at an early age, playing a variety of instruments and singing in choirs, but it has been over two decades since I have read music, relying instead on a wealth of experience and a fundamental intuition for all things percussive. I love drum to any music and I get along very well with others, listening carefully to the whole sound with the knowledge that less is often more.
I have been fortunate enough to play and record with one of the greatest bassists on the planet, Oteil Burbridge (Aquarium Rescue Unit and Allman Brothers), while living in Atlanta for 16 years. Also while in Atlanta I played in a variety of bands that opened for national acts such as The Tower of Power horn section, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones among others. Turbid Blue was by far my most productive and musically stretchable experience. A six piece, that some of our fans likened to Phish, without a vocalist. We managed a few recordings and played a lot of gigs, but ultimately it was the best musical fun I ever had in Atlanta.
My wife, kids and I just left five years
in the Ozarks of Missouri where I performed in two bands, a jazz
quintet and the After Hours Big Band, in an up to 15 piece all
reading, swing band, playing the Ozark dance circuit.
Musical endeavors over the last three decades:
- In England:
- Tubal Cain
- Bearwood Jazz Band
- Dancing Fool
- College Variety shows and Cabarets
- In the US, Atlanta:
- The Brown Paper Bag
- Turbid Blue
- The Veils
- Eva Sotus
- In the US, Ozarks:
- The Uncivil Servants Blues Band
- Renee Wood's After Hours Big Band
- The After Hours Quintet
- Studio session work in the following Studios:
- Rock City, Shepperton Studios, UK
- Blue Wall, Atlanta
- Railroad Earth, Atlanta
- Flying Slug Studios, Atlanta
- Major percussion influences are:
- Graham Lear (Santana)
- Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit)
- Joe Morello (Brubeck)
- Raoul Rekow (Santana)
- Stewart Copeland (Police)
- Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson)
- Tito Puente
- Pierre Moerlen (Mike Oldfield)
- Future Man (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones)
- Neil Pert (Rush)
- Omar Hakim (everyone)
- Simon Phillips (everyone)
- Pete Erskine (Weather Report)
- Steve Gadd (everyone)
- (I'm sure I have missed someone. There are so many.)
- Tubal Cain
The following are some examples of my percussion and drumming abilities. Click on a link to hear an MP3 file.
Gear:
I am currently playing a 5 piece Gretch
with a Sabian ride, crash and splash, and Zyldjian hi hat and
gong. With the Brothers of the Baladi, I also include a 4 foot
set of chimes!
I previously traded in my "club" V drums for more acoustic
percussion. I was very, very happy with the recording capabilities
of the V drums, but found them to be too much hassle in live
situations and not nearly intuitive enough in a live setting.
Or maybe I just didn?t spend enough money on them.
Currently I am seeking professional studio
and live performance opportunities in the Portland, Oregon
area.