I met Dom at a NAMM show in Chicago in 1987. He was performing at the Tama drums booth with an electric guitar and drums duo. They sounded like a full band. Quite impressive. He was a great player and was cool enough to give me some of his time. I introduced myself and […]
Author Archives: TheDrumSchool
My Billy Porter Story
I met Billy Porter in 2004, before he was a Grammy, Emmy, and 2x Tony Award winner. I only knew him as a singer who was booked on some of the event and award shows I was doing at the time. The first project we worked on was the launch for Lunesta, a sleeping […]
My Jeff Porcaro Story
On August 5, 1992 I was working on the half time shuffle section of my Complete Modern Drum Set book at my home in Burbank, CA. A friend called to tell me the news. I had spent the previous day listening and transcribing Jeff and Bernard Purdie performances featuring their signature groove. I was thinking […]
Rhythm Magazine Review – 1988
I sent a demo tape to Rhythm Magazine (Drum!) before I moved from Syracuse, NY in 1988. I recorded a 4 song demo of ideas I created with an old Ensoniq SQ80 synthesizer/workstation. I just found all the pieces for this post, even the photo. I thought the recordings were long gone, and just found […]
Toyota Session
In 2001 I was hired to compose 45 minutes of music for a Toyota event at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. The music was choreographed by Christopher Harrison, and performed by his acrobatic troupe ‘AntiGravity‘. The producers requested a Cirque Du Soleil vibe. I played all the instruments, except guitar, which was masterfully handled by […]
Minako Honda Session
This was my very first pro recording session when I moved to Los Angeles. Many thanks to my friend Scott Sheets (Pat Benatar) who believed I could pull this session off. Minako Honda (RIP) was Japan’s equivalent to Britney Spears, I recorded these 2 songs, which appeared on her 1989 EMI/Sony Japan release. These […]
Swamp Thang Sessions
I recorded 2 albums with Frank Macchia’s ‘Swamp Thang’ in 2011-12. Almost all of the tracks were recorded at my studio in North Hollywood. Frank’s previous albums featured Vinnie Colaiuta, and Peter Erskine on drums.. so yeah, I was slightly nervous. The musical concept was Dr. John meets Frank Zappa. So, there are second […]
Western Vacation Sessions
Recorded at Steve Vai’s studio, Hollywood California in 1995. I played Dean Castronovo’s huge set that he left there, as they were mic’ed and ready to go. Features a bunch of guys you’ve probably never heard of. I wasn’t happy with the way these tunes came out, or that band for various reasons.
St. Clair Sessions
There was at least a 7-8 year period (maybe more) between my recordings on this album. The first 3 were recorded at Wayne Cook’s studio (Steppenwolf/Player) in Glendale, CA, and were originally John Ondrasik/Five For Fighting sessions. John’s vocal was replaced by Ron Corbett. The last two were recorded at the now defunct Master […]
Chris Poland’s “Ohm” Sessions
I toured with this band for a few months in 2008. Chris Poland is the lead guitarist on a few of Megadeth’s biggest albums. This was recorded at Downtown Rehearsal Studios in one day. I used my Noble & Cooley CD Maple set for these tracks. There are some moments. No click, played live […]
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