performing with college-mate and friend, bassist Stanley Clarke

hangin' and talkin' with an equally incredible guitarist and person - Pat Martino

just prior to a performance with the Philly Orchestra...check out where they put the drum set - right in the front!

what a thrill...playing a drum duet in concert with one of my drumming idols, the great Chester Thompson!

after sound check in a VERY cool little town with some of the friendliest people anywhere - Corsicana, Texas... talking with my drum tech - a VERY cool dude with a VERY cool Texas name - Reece

following a sound check at the PNC Center near New York. Great set-up - thanks to all the support from Yamaha, Sabian, Remo, Regal Tip, LP, and MONO!!

some of the drum faculty at KoSA 2008 International Drum/Percussion Festival: Chester Thompson, Memo Acevedo, Jonathan Mover, MD, and Bobby Sanabria. KoSA is a great annual event for drummers, and the faculty hang together like a big family!

with J.R. Robinson at Yamaha in Burbank...JR and I used to play basketball together at Balboa Park in Encino years ago just after he moved there from Iowa, and I from Philly

I invited superstar singer/songwriter P!nk to the University to speak to our students. She is a very sincere, honest, and hard-working performer, who is true to herself and her beliefs. I admire her alot, and I like to look at her, too!

a truly gifted pianist and condctor Dave Loeb and I outside of the Kennedy Center in D.C. after we played a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra

I took this picture of the actual tombstone of Eleanor Rigby in a cemetary next to a church outside of Liverpool. Behind the church was a small meeting room where Paul and John first met. Eleanor Rigby was long thought to be a 'fictional' character...this tombstone and a document recently released by Paul prove otherwise.

I was a guest at a terrific jazz festival in Oneida, NY and got the chance to play with a great band of local musicians and an amazing trombinst and funny guy, Steve Turre

conducting a brush clinic for these terrific students at ProJazz in Santiago, Chile

with incredible bassist Tom Kennedy before a concert at a summer music fest in Oklahoma...Tom's got equally ridiculous chops on electric and upright.

Ignacio Berroa is an exceptional drummer, latin percussionist, and teacher, and I'm proud that we've been good friends for many years...here we are after a joint clinic

while on tour with Death Cab for Cutie, Jason McGerr stopped in to say hi... he had actually come to UArts a couple years before this, but he'd forgotten to email me a printout of what he was demonstrating during a clinic, so he made a special trip and brought it to me in person...that's intergrity - and a good memory!

My Dad, who recently passed away, is the greatest man I've ever known. He was a P-51 fighter pilot during World War II, and the smartest and most honorable man, and the best father I can imagine. You can't choose your parents...I lucked out...BIG time.

two of my favorite jazz drummers...Jimmy Paxson - for his sensitive brush work and ferocious stick work, and Carl Allen - for his remarkable musicality and use of space in his soloing

over the past decade there have been so many great drummers come onto the scene having developed sensational feel and technique while playing in churches and with gospel groups...here's one of the best - Marvin McQuitty

on a recent trip to Santaigo, Chile, a few musicians and I visited this band of young jazz musicians, known as the Conchali Big Band, rehearsing in a ghetto outside of the city. Against all odds these amazing young kids were playing some of the best big band jazz I've ever heard anywhere for students that age...it was an emotional experience - they were inspiring!!!

each summer I teach a beginning, and now an intermediate, graduate course for K-12 music educators in playing the drums...here's a shot from my expanded kit overlooking a sea of 18 (!!!) drum kits...each student gets to sit and work on their own drum set...thanks to Yamaha, Sabian, Remo, Regal Tip, LP, and MONO for their continuing support of music education

in Vermont, I had the privilege to meet and hear this 16-yr old female tabla sensation from India, Rajna Swaminathan. An even bigger rush for me was playing an unrehearsed duet with her in front of a thousand people...the piece included lots of time and meter changes and improvisation...I tried to keep up with her...you gotta check her out!

fellow Yamaha drum artist, author, educator, and writer John Riley. His articles in Modern Drummer are always well-written, researched, and informative...a world-class player and true educator

with friend Tony Verderosa after our clinics at Yamaha's DTXplosion. TV's not only an extraordinarily innovative acoustic and electronic drummer, but a GREAT guy!

hanging with good friend and amazing drummer Dave Weckl

with two awesome musicians...maybe my best drumming friend and ultimate Californian, Gregg Field (Sinatra, Basie, Ella), and one of the baddest lead trumpet players anywhere, Matt Gallagher... we're hanging on the Ave of the Arts in Philly before going to a party

doing a clinic for some very enthusiastic (and well-dressed) young students at Gateacre Middle School in Liverpool

I've always been a huge fan of Steve Smith's playing from his early days with Journey. Now I've come to equally respect his important work as a composer, author, and consummate student of the instrument. His DVDs are must-haves for all drummers.

with David Garibaldi at UArts before we went to eat at The Saloon - one of my favorite South Philly Italian restaurants

at a party with some...'friends'...

in concert with Jon Faddis, Charles Fambrough, and Elio Villafranca

rehearsing for concert with pianist and Philly Pops Conductor and Musical Director Peter Nero

in concert with Equity Records' country music singing sensation, the beautiful Laura Bryna

Yamaha Artists Marvin McQuitty, Akira Jimbo, Tony Verderosa, and I following our electronic drum clinics and performance for a Yamaha event called "DTXplosion". We had alot of fun playin', hangin', eatin', and drinkin' Limoncello!

in concert with a big band in West Palm Beach...it's a little hard to read with my eyes closed!

hangin' with guitarist Steve Vai after we played together for a Grammy Conference in Hawaii

at the International Trumpet Guild Conference during a concert with 'Trumpets East' - ELEVEN (!) trumpets and a rhythm section - pretty wild!

in L. A. for some product testing with the Japanese product development team. VERY cool guys who are also phenominal at what they do - that's 'Shin' Shinsuke Irisa on the far left, he's head of Artist Relations for Yamaha.

here's a shot from behind the drums druing a concert with Ben Vereen. That's guitarist Brian Nakagawa doing a duet with Ben (which is why, I guess, I'm able to take a picture during the show!).

after a jazz gig with Jimmy Bruno, Jennifer Leitham, me, and Robin Eubanks

during a clinic on Yamaha's DTXtreme II for students in England.

with a couple friends and Yamaha family members Dafnis Prieto and Ndugu Chancler

checkin' out Penny Lane in Liverpool...I'm a HUGE Beatles (and Ringo) fan

mugging after a performance with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist, and very smart and funny guy, Kurt Elling

my student ensemble at UArts - "Rumble", playing bucket drums during a
music and dance piece for 3,000 guests at the Arts and Business Council in Philly

I was honored and thrilled to spend some time talking heads and sound with a living legend - Remo Belli

with renowned jazz bassist and Philly friend Christian McBride

with friend and tremendous drummer Russ Miller at Yamaha in L.A. Russ has been touring with Andrea Bocelli and recording with Steve Perry...he's also a dedicated student of the instrument

Check out my bud and former Senior Editor of Modern Drummer Magazine,
Rick Van Horn, playing his REALLY LARGE clinic kit. It's hard to believe how comfortable he is
behind that kit and how musically he plays it!

playing at a very cool jazz club in Santiago, Chile with pianist/vocalist Justin Binek and saxophonist Ron Kerber, along with a young local bassist.

I had the honor to talk drums with the legendary Jimmy Cobb,
who has recorded with everyone including Miles and Coltrane.

some of my Yamaha family and friends: back row, from left - Jordan Barth (artist relations), Ralph Humphrey, MD,
Daryl Anderson (artist support), Russ Miller, JR Robinson, front row - Makoto Katsura (head of electronic drums),
Joe Testa (head of drum artist relations in US), Shinsuke "Shin" Irisa (head of drum artist relations world-wide).

I took this shot just before coming on stage to play drums with the Long Beach Symphony Pops at the Long Beach Arena
just south of Los Angeles for more than 8,000 people...that was a good rush!

here's one of my favorite shots - my amazing kids (Nick and Allie) with one of my real-life heroes, Ben Vereen, after we played a concert in Connecticut

Remo is a great company full of great people...here I am with my friend and the head of education at Remo, Bruce Jacoby,
on a recent visit to their headquarters in Valencia. Bruce is a tremendous advocate and supporter of music education.

during a rehearsal with the symphony orchestra in Los Angeles - incredible musicians

after a performance with a rock group in Seoul, South Korea...half originals and half Hendrix covers!