30 January 2003

A very late start on the news page. Always complaining about being too busy, but what can i say...

Let's see, since my last update, all sorts of fun and mischief have been had.

On the Skyline front... Myself (producing and guest drummer on one track) and Ron Allaire spent the better part of late october and november working with a great new band from Philly called Brothers From Another. Check them out at www.brothersfromanother.com and see why these guys are not your ordinary alternative band from the neighborhood. Donald Fagan was back in as well, finishing up by working on some vocals and horns for the new Steely Dan recording, due out this spring. Just after that, we had bassist/vocalist Clint Bahr (Flash) and his progressive solo outfit Tripod recording their new cd with producer Ray Bennett and Ron Allaire engineering. Then it was another production session with Ron Allaire by my side, for a new band from Allentown, PA. called System Failure.

Next in line was a great experience working for Sony Music, producing a song/demo for Celine Dion. It was a cover of the Waterboys single, "The Whole Of The Moon." I programmed and played all the instruments, with Ron at the board assisting and engineering. Arista/Dreamworks artist True Life was in mixing a few tracks for his debut CD with producer Just and engineer Johnny Wydrycs. Just after that producer C.T. was back in with his project Karma Cycle tracking a few new tunes for their debut CD.

That took us to mid December.

We then set aside the time for mixing the long awaited Alan Friedman CD that i played on some time ago. I did three different sessions, recording a total of nine songs for the CD, using three entirely different drum kits. The first three songs were done on my Tama Artstar II's, the next three songs on my Pearl pancake kit and the last three done on the new Pearl Solid Mahogany Masters with the 26" kick. Needless to say, that 26" kick is still kicking my ass and blowing my mind!!! The CD sounds fantastic and has quite an array of players on it including, Bobby Kimball (Toto) on vocals, Bernard Flowler (Rolling Stones) on vocals, Vince D'Cola and Mark Zampino on keys, Doug Wimbish (Living Color) on bass, Jen Lowe on percussion and Wil Calhoun (Living Color), Rob Gottfried (Rob The Drummer) and myself on drums. The infamous Fran Flannery (Creed/Fuel/July For Kings/B-52's, etc) engineered the mixes.

Since the new year, I've been busy with a variety of sessions in and out of Skyline, including a Bank of America jingle for Craig Snyder Music, new drum tracks for singer/songwriter Andre Fratto, live dates with JJ's Trash Band at American Trash, NYC featuring Justin Jordan, Paul Page, Kenny Aaronson, Matt O'Rea, Uncle Carl and anyone else who wants to sit in, as well as a hang up north to play with the band Boston.

3 May 2003

Boy am i slippping... Time's flying by and it's becoming more and more difficult to keep up the news page. A quick update and a hopeful promise to make an attempt to stay up on it.

Was in the studio, along with Ron Allaire, producing Poughkeepsie rockers Down For Low. Tracking is almost complete, with exception to some vocals and over dubs. DFL will be back in June to finish up and mix. Recorded 'Can't Get Next To You' and 'I Smell Troube' for R & B diva Denise Creswell. Tracking was done at Sirius Satelite, with mixing at Skyline. Andre Fratto was also back in the studio with me playing on two more songs. Also in the studio tracking and mixing is producer Ray Bennett (Flash) with progressive rockers Tripod. Lots of live gigs lately with Sean Fleming, still doing the odd sunday at American Trash with J.J.'s Trash Band and a few dates coming up with vocalist Jimmy Koons (Savoy Brown). And speaking of live gigs... I've finally accepted an offer to hit the road for a bit this summer. Couldn't resist the offer to jump on some live dates with Derek Sherinian (Planet X, Dream Theater, Kiss, Alice Cooper). U.S. dates are scheduled for early June, with South America to follow. Rumor has it that Japan and Europe might be hit later this summer. Specifics will be listed as confirmed.

2 June 2003

Out in Los Angeles rehearsing with Derek and the band (Tony McAlpine - gtr and Phil Bynoe - bs), ready to hit this week.

More to follow...

21 August 2003

Figured it was time to catch up once again... Well, as we all know, the music industry is still trying to find it's way out of this slump. But, for a fairly slow summer, i have fortunately been quite busy. Lots of live gigs around the city and area with Sean Flemming. Still doing the odd sunday night blues gig with Justin Jordan at American Trash, as well as some solo gigs with Justin, along with Lance Doss and Paul & Wendy Page.

In the studio recording at Skyline, it's been a great few months. Working on many sessions with a variety of artists and wearing a few different hats. Let's see... played on a NY Lottery jingle with They Might Be Giants, Pat Dillett producing/engineering. Then it was laying down some drum tracks for a new up and coming pop alternative band called Feck. They'll be back in to mix in a few weeks and the cd should be available by fall. The big session this summer was co-producing/mixing/playing, along with Brett Scallions and Ron Allaire on three extra tracks for the new Fuel release. We did a cover version of On The Road (again) by Canned Heat, as well as two acoustic versions of Falls On Me and Die Like This. Another drum tracking session for a great new project being developed from New Jersey called Sanjo. It's been a long time since i've heard and had the pleasure of playing on such well written melodic rock tunes. They'll be back in to mix soon and have a few labels courting them, so hopefully you'll be hearing these guys in the near future. Just after that, myself (drums and bass) and Ron Allaire (guitars), wrote, played and produced a music track for a new Stetson commercial.The last session i played on was this week for an AT&T jingle, along with the crem de la crem of NY's finest. On guitars were Ira Siegel and John Putnam, Frank Gravis on Bass, Leon Pendarvis on Hammond B3, the Uptown Horns and vocalist Tawatha Agee....... It was produced by Peter Greco, engineered by Kevin Halpern, written/arranged by Phil Ashley.

Next on the horizon is working on the music/soundtrack for a film entitled The Main Road, due out next spring. And Ron and myself will start mixing and editing for Songs and Stories, the DVD release of the live Rory Gallagher tribute show from the The Bottom Line last year.

29 September 03

Busy at Skyline on another production with Pennsylvania rockerrs Census. Ron Allaire and myself spent a week recording 5 songs and preparing to mix, which should be this coming weekend. Also in Skyline working was Andy Hilfiger and his band with Mauricio Cersosimo engineering as well as Revolution Theory with producer Camus. Another jingle date for Peter Greco and Kevin Halpern over at Right Track this week. We did three spots for Accenture featuring Tiger Woods. The band was an all star ensemble which included Neil Jason (bass) John McCurry and Jeff Golub (guitars) and Chris Palmero (piano/hammond). Last week in Tampa and Miami for a couple of dates with Matt Kramer, then the band hit NYC with an appearance at Don Hill's, and another tonight at The Village Pub in Port Jefferson.

8 November 03

Last month at Skyline, we were locked out with Blue Note artist Keri Noble, along with her band, producer Jeff Arundel and engineer Tim Hatfield to track her debut CD. Just back from Sony, on a session with Mark Wilder to master CDs for the Kent Strong Band and Census. Last week was a full week in the studio with Ron Allaire working on mixes for Travis Rocco, while i was laying down drum tracks for the new Everlast CD, with producer Dante Ross and engineer Bo Boddie. Busy with jingles as well in Skyline and over at Right Track Studios on many occasions with producer Paul Greco, engineers Johnny Wydrycs and Doug Epstein, and composer Phil Ashley. With Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Ganz on bass and myself on kit, cutting all the new Burger King spots. Off to Los Angeles and Phoenix later this week for a clinic and 2 master classes. While away, Skyline will be locked out with Jeff Arundel and Tim Hatfield back in to mix Keri Noble.