Yep, below is the cover for Santana's first album!  The first album I owned at the young age of 13!

You see, in 1969 I was riding in my mom's car with her.  The radio was on, of course - my mom loves music and always had it playing in the house.  Anyway, this song comes on which amazed me - electric guitar with conga drums!  A bluesy sound mixed with Cuban rhythms!  I was hooked!  I bought the 45 RPM single the next day, saved up my allowance, and bought my first album!

I was so inspired by what I heard, I asked my mom to buy me a conga drum - my first instrument!  And that was the beginning of my musical life!

Now on to 2012!  I had the great joy of playing timbales with the Wide Open/Supernatural band a few years ago - they played a tribute to Santana!  And now, once again, I'm playing with another Santana tribute band, "Soul Sacrifice"!  Once again, the circle comes a round!

Their excellent percussionist, Scott Parker Mast, is taking a short leave to study African drumming and dance in Gana.  I have the great fortune to sub 4 gigs for him!  It took some serious woodshedding however, because I have not played congas on most of the tunes!  It has been great getting back in touch with my LP Accents series Quinto & Conga, complete with Evans congas heads!  I've had two rehearsals with the band and it is going to be awesome!  

If you live in the Denver area, please come and check the band out!  If you love the music of Santana, you will not be disappointed!

Thursday June 21, Boardwalk Park in Windsor, CO, 6:30 - 8:30 PM;

Tuesday June 26, Roosevelt Park in Longmont, CO, 6:30-8 PM;

Wednesday, July 4, Miners Park in Firestone, CO, 11 AM - 12:30 PM;

Sunday, July 8, Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver, 12:30 - 2 PM!

Christmas Greetings!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy and Joyous Holiday!  May the Creator of the Universe give you His peace and blessings!

The Tower of Power groove!

This past Friday I was privileged to witness for the 5th time the greatness of the Tower of Power band! Formed in Oakland, California in 1968, they continue to this day to play their own style of Urban Soul and Funk.  Their 5 piece horn section has played with an amazing array of artists such as Aerosmith, Elton John, Little Feat, Phish, Santana, Heart, and many others.  Just an incredibly tight and killer horn section!


This band has class and power!  I could go on and on about the amazing lead vocals of Larry Bragg, the dynamic and monstrous keybords of Roger Smith, the outstanding and funky guitar work of Jerry Cortez, but I need to tell you about drummer David Garibaldi and bass player Rocco Prestia!


Those pro players in the know will agree with me that David and Rocco are innovators, amazing technicians, and extremely talented musicians;  they always appear on the "best of" lists of music magazines.


I have always been entertained and blown away by this band - I have always tried to see them when they come to town.  This past Friday however, was a little different!  Sitting in the balcony, I was able to see much more interaction within the band - the smiles, the eye contact with each other, the perfect joy of playing like a true unit, not as 10 individuals but ONE driving force!  Such a beautiful thing!  And then they played a medley of James Brown tunes...


Now, even though I am a percussionist and I do love rhythm, it's almost always the melody and harmony of a song that touches me deeply.  There are a number of songs in my lifetime that bring tears to my eyes because of how they make me feel...


When the band played the James Brown tunes, tears came to my eyes!  I was witnessing and hearing a groove so perfect, so powerful, that it was almost too much for me to take!  Something about Tower of Power's love of their hero James Brown pushed them to new funky heights!  I will never forget that!


Quote from David: "One of the great things for me about Tower of Power is that we share a common approach to making music. We’ve always had players who understand what it means to be a team. It’s a very “old school” philosophy. We're the sum of our parts -- that’s our strength. We take the stage as ten individuals, but there comes a time in the set when everyone locks into the moment, we’re all in the same place and we become…one person, one entity."

Quote from Rocco: "The reality is, we are who we are. If we change the way we play, if we change our approach to the music, it won’t be us. A lot of that has to do with the way David (Garibaldi) plays, and the horn section plays, and the way I play, of course. Whether I’m ghosting, muting, going for that 16th note – our individual styles are so distinct. I love those moments on stage when we get into that “zone.” Your hands are right, you’re alone, the time is yours. That’s still the biggest nut for me, and when those times happen it’s always special. That’s the beauty of being in this band -- we’re a group, and yet we’re individuals."


Two great lessons for us all from two of the greats!


If you ever get a chance, please see this band!  You will not regret it!  Please go to www.towerofpower.com for more info!

In the shadow of great drummers!

Chadzilla, Rob Chamberlin and Christian Teele are all well known drummer/percussionists in the Front Range of Colorado.  All three have worked with Perpetual Motion, the band I was asked to play with last night at Swallow Hill in Denver.  The music is instrumental and based on the Fingerstyle guitar playing of Tom Carleno and the violin of Josie Quick.  I love music that mixes styles, so their tunes were right up my alley!
The aforementioned drummers all came up with great parts to the songs, including drum kit and lots of percussion, so I had a lot to cover.  One thing I did was incorporate the Flameco Cajon, a great instrument invented by African people along the coast of Peru.  I also played a hybrid rig, consisting of my small Gretsch jazz kit (18" kick, 12" rack tom), my Tama 5" by 13" snare, LP Accents quinto & conga drums, and a rack with various rattles.  Can't forget my trusty Paiste Signature 20" Dry Crisp Ride and 15" Paiste Signature Fast Crash cymbals.  Also used a Luis Conte shaker & Remo Spring drum.  It was a joyous night of music making!