joao gilberto, erin corday, john the kayaker, all my friends and family, stina nordenstam, rosa passos, consummate accompanists like greg leisz, jeri jones, timothy young, paulo braga, et.al., non-conventional percussionists like airto moreira and lucas hicks, everyone I hear, everyone I play with, and everyone who equates the value of silence with that of sound.
I'm a percussionist / drummer and I've been very lucky to play and record with some incredible musicians over the years. People sometimes describe me as a "sensitive percussionist" (talk about oxymorons...). i just try to fit in the spaces of the music and lift it up a bit. i think music, even hard music, is a fragile thing, and the "less is more" approach is often the best way. Sometimes playing nothing at all is the best accompaniment.
I've occasionally been known to use "unconventional" instruments, like briefcases, milk bottles and small shell pasta, but I never saw them as unconventional, they just sounded good. And, in some cases, tasted good. I tend to think that everything is a percussion instrument; some just sound better than others.
I'm always striving for the elusive and beautiful qualities of groove, ensemble and harmony in my accompaniment, and I've been privileged to play with some great musicians and groups, including Erin Corday, Incendio, Grace Hearn & Michael Savage, Kym Tuvim, Bossa 31, Dickey Meyers and many others.
Alright. Nice to see that you are still out there working and having fun and I think also playing with Erin. Very nice. Thank you for the request, my friend.