Introduction I’ve always believed that the ultimate achievement for any musician is to have their own voice or sound on their instrument. For many ambitious musicians, that notion represents the Holy Grail of musicianship. Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, and Keith Carlock are just a few of the drummers who have reached that apex. […]

In the article I wrote a while back about encouragement, “The Thinking Drummer: On Encouragement” I described the power of positive reinforcement from important or influential people in one’s life. But what I didn’t touch upon, which is also a powerful force, is the negative influences, or “naysayers.” The “naysayers” are the people who tell […]

One weekday in the middle of the summer, my father, Michael, took me on a little expedition from our apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, where I grew up, to midtown. I was nine or ten years old. I was off from school for summer vacation, and so was my father, because he was […]

Time To Get Inspired Remember when you first heard a drummer play clave with their left foot while soloing or grooving? Did it inspire you? When is the last time you heard something truly inspirational since then? Last year, at a George Coleman Concert at The Jazz Standard in NYC, I heard Daniel Sadownick, a […]