Karizma
Michael Landau
David Garfield
Neil Stubenhaus
Los Lobotomys
Frank Zappa
Robben Ford
Bill Evans
Will Lee
Mark Egan
Tim Lefebvre
Jim Beard
Chuck Loeb
Dean Brown
Lee Ritenour
Jeff Porcaro
Carlos Vega
Jeff Richmann
Sting
Herbie Hancock
David Goldblatt
Steve Taglione
David Sancious
John Patitucci
Tim Landers
Mike Miller
Domenic Miller
....and many more
..
Discography
2009 Souza, Luciana Tide
2009 Ramazzotti, Eros Ali e Radici
2009 Various Artists '80s Metal: A Double Dose
2009 Gardot, Melody My One & Only Thrill
2009 Five Peace Band Five Peace Band (Live)
2009 Soup From 8 To Infinite
2009 Beck, Jeff Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's (Blu-ray DVD)
2009 Howard, James Newton Duplicity (Soundtrack)
2009 Mariano, Torcuato So Far from Home
2009 Peyroux, Madeleine Bare Bones
2008 Asia Progressive Rock Friends
2008 Beck, Jeff Performing This Week...Live At Ronnie Scott's
2008 Rios, Luz Aire
2008 Culbertson, Brian Christmas & Hits Duos
2008 Megadeth Anthology: Set the World AFire
2008 Various Artists Les Paul and Friends: Tribute to a Legend
2008 Borghi, Simone On Line
2008 Hancock, Herbie Then & Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock
2008 Koz, Dave Greatest Hits
2008 Duke, George Dukey Treats
2008 L.A. Chillharmonic The L.A. Chillharmonic
2008 Campbell, Glen Meet Glen Campbell
2008 Vibes Alive After Hours
2008 Los Temerarios Si Tu Te Vas
2008 Cohen, Leonard The Collection
2008 Moore, Chanté Love The Woman
2008 Various Artists The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin
2008 Rimes, LeAnn Leann Rimes Collector's Edition Tin
2008 Francis, Julia Lucky Penny
2008 Boyz II Men Motown Hitsville Usa (Tour Edition) (W/DVD)
2008 Bocelli, Andrea Vivere: Best Of Andrea Bocelli (Bonus Track)
2008 Backstreet Boys Unbreakable: Tour Edition (Bonus Dvd)
2008 Jackson, Randy Randy Jackson's Music Club
2008 McDonald, Michael Soul Peak
2008 Dion, Celine X2
2008 Ilona Alla en el Sur
2007 Megadeth Warchest
2007 Hill, Faith Hits
2007 Medley, Bill Damn Near Righteous
2007 Sabler, Les Sweet Drive
2007 Botti, Chris Italia
2007 Hancock, Herbie River: The Joni Letters
2007 Monahan, Pat The Last of Seven
2007 Noy, Oz Fuzzy
2007 Kovac, Kristina U nebranom grožđu
2007 Tritt, Travis The Storm
2007 Martin, Dean Forever Cool
2007 Cyrus, Billy Ray Home At Last
2007 Various Artists Freeway Jam: To Beck and Back
2007 Isaacs, Mark Resurgence
2007 Bublé, Michael Call Me Irresponsible
2007 Buckley, Brian For Her
2007 Babko, Jeff Mondo Trio
2007 Lorber, Jeff He Had a Hat
2007 Martin, Daniel Lee On My Way to You
2007 Zappa, Frank Buffalo
2007 Various Artists We All Love Ennio Morricone
2007 Bromberg, Brian Downright Upright
2007 Scott, Jill Jill Scott Collaborations
2007 Bergeron, Wayne Plays Well With Others
2006 Various Artists Legends Of Jazz With Ramsey Lewis Box Set
2006 Pausini, Laura Yo Canto
2006 Tumes, Michelle Michelle Tumes
2006 Groban, Josh Awake
2006 Culbertson, Brian Soulful Christmas
2006 Zappa, Frank Trance-Fusion
2006 Benson, George Givin' It Up
2006 Kinsey, Scott Kinesthetics
2006 Midler, Bette Cool Yule
2006 Taylor, James James Taylor At Christmas
2006 The Kazu Matsui Project Pioneer
2006 Berlin, Jeff Aneurythms
2006 The Ten Tenors Here's to the Heroes
2006 Moore, Sam Overnight Sensational
2006 Bona, Richard Tiki
2006 Ritenour, Lee Smoke 'n' Mirrors
2006 Joanna This Crazy Life
2006 Adams, Greg Cool To The Touch
2006 Various Artists Summer Jam Session
2006 Siegel, Dan Departure
2006 Various Artists '80s Metal Tribute to Van Halen
2006 Rimes, LeAnn Whatever We Wanna
2006 Franks, Michael Rendezvous in Rio
2006 Dusk, Matt Back in Town
2006 McPhee, Katharine My Destiny / Somewhere Over the Rainbow CD-SINGLE
2006 Rolie, Gregg Gringo
2006 McLaughlin, John Industrial Zen
2006 Scott, Marilyn Innocent of Nothing
2006 Various Artists Return to the Dark Side of the Moon: A Tribute to Pink Floyd
2006 Various Artists The Royal Dan: A Tribute
2006 Sky, Amy Life Lessons: The Best of Amy Sky
2006 Beck, Jeff Official Bootleg USA '06
2006 Various Artists Legends of Jazz Showcase
2006 Whitlock, Rob Sketchin' 2
2006 Boheme, Erin What Love Is
2006 Scott, Tom The Very Best of Tom Scott
2006 Various Artists Pink Floyd's The Wall Revisited
2006 Bromberg, Brian Wood II
2006 Various Artists Flying High Again: The World's Greatest Tribute to Ozzy
Osbourne
2006 Various Artists Funk Academy
2006 Macchia, Frank Mo' Animals
2006 Corea, Chick The Ultimate Adventure
2006 Brunel, Bunny Dedication
2006 Bocelli, Andrea Amore
2006 Various Artists More or Less Jazz Two
2006 Berlin, Jeff Ace of Bass
2005 Maher, Ashley Flying Over Bridges
2005 Arjona, Ricardo Adentro
2005 Anastacia Pieces of a Dream
2005 Ramazzotti, Eros Calma Apparente
2005 Bacharach, Burt At This Time
2005 Destiny's Child 1's
2005 Various Artists Revolution Of The Spirit
2005 Botti, Chris To Love Again
2005 Various Artists 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas
2005 Olsson, P.J. Beautifully Insane
2005 Garfield, David The State Of Things
2005 Eastwood, Kyle Paris Blue
2005 Cantarelli, Beppe Blues, Rock & Soul
2005 Pussycat Dolls PCD
2005 Evans, Bill Soulgrass
2005 Pack, David The Secret Of Movin' On
2005 Various Artists The Loner - A Tribute To Jeff Beck
2005 Scott, Marilyn Handpicked
2005 Hill, Faith Fireflies
2005 Various Guitarists Fusion For Miles
2005 Whitlock, Amber The Colours Of Life
2005 Various Artists Visions of an Inner Mounting Apocalypse
2005 Benet, Eric Hurricane
2005 Bennett, Bob Lord of the Past
2005 Backstreet Boys Never Gone
2005 Anka, Paul Rock Swings
2005 Holdsworth, Allan Against the Clock: The Best of Allan Holdsworth
2005 Magnusson, Jakob Time Zone
2005 Mitchell, Joni Songs of a Prairie Girl
2005 Various Artists Welcome to the Nightmare: An All-Star Salute to Alice Cooper
2005 Sanchez, Marta Lo Mejor de Marta Sanchez
2005 Bublé, Michael It's Time
2005 Whitlock, Rob Sketchin'
2005 Rimes, LeAnn This Woman
2005 Fordham, Julia That's Live
2004 Macchia, Frank Animals
2004 Lohan, Lindsay Speak
2004 Rezza, Vito Drums of Avila
2004 Aiken, Clay Merry Christmas with Love
2004 Solís, Marco Antonio Razon De Sobra
2004 Taylor, James A Christmas Album
2004 McDonald, Michael Motown Two
2004 Jaffe Something To Fall Back On
2004 Cocker, Joe Heart and Soul
2004 Various Artists Shall We Dance? (Soundtrack)
2004 Various Artists American Drummers Achievement Awards Honoring
Steve Gadd
2004 Botti, Chris When I Fall In Love
2004 Duff, Hilary Hilary Duff
2004 Queen Latifah Dana Owens Album
2004 Megadeth System Has Failed
2004 Scott, Marilyn Nightcap
2004 Mathieson, Greg West Coast Groove
2004 Original Score Bourne Supremacy
2004 Jing Chi 3D
2004 Benoit, David Benoit/Freeman Project 2
2004 Schuur, Dianne Rediscovery On GRP
2004 Various Artists Smooth Jazz: Cruisin
2004 Karizma Lost and Found
2004 Olstead, Renee Renee Olstead
2004 Brickman, Jim Greatest Hits
2004 Various Artists Tribute To Jimi Hendrix: Power Of Soul
2004 Various Artists Spin The Bottle: Tribute To Kiss
2004 Rossi, Vasco Buoni O Cattivi
2004 Rosa, Robi Draco Mad Love
2004 Williams, Kimo Kimotion Live 2002 - With My Friend Vinnie
2004 Harding, John Wesley Adam's Apple
2004 Various Artists Tribute To Aerosmith
2004 Laboriel, Abe Live in Switzerland
2004 Stern, Mike These Times
2003 Aiken, Clay Measure of a Man
2003 Delange, Ilse Clean Up
2003 Sting Sacred Love
2003 Bona, Richard Munia: The Tale
2003 Sanz, Alejandro No Es Lo Mismo
2003 Witt, Marcos Vivencias
2003 Sallie, Nate Inside Out
2003 Waldman, Randy Timing Is Everything
2003 Jing Chi Jing Chi Live at Yoshi's
2003 Cave Men Cave Men
2003 Garfield, David Giving Back
2003 Various Artists (Sting) The Very Best of MTV Unplugged 2
2003 Bublé, Michael Michael Bublé
2003 Evans, Bill Big Fun
2003 Richman, Jeff One Two
2003 Clarke, Stanley 1 2 to the Bass
2003 Summers, Andy Earth + Sky
2003 Zappa, Frank Halloween
2002 Pausini, Laura From The Inside
2002 Hill, Faith Cry
2002 Glover, Dana Testimony
2002 Rimes, LeAnn Twisted Angel
2002 James, Bob Morning Noon & Night
2002 Russell, Jack For You
2002 Various Artists - Pop (Sting) The Very Best of MTV Unplugged
2002 Various Artists Let's Roll: Together in Unity, Faith and Hope
2002 Ford, Robben Blue Moon
2002 Original Soundtrack Queen of the Damned
2002 Take 6 Beautiful World
2002 Various Artists An All Star Lineup Performing The Songs Of Pink Floyd
2002 Jing Chi Jing Chi
2002 Ritenour, Lee Rit's House
2001 Sanz, Alejandro MTV Unplugged
2001 Arden, Jann Greatest Hurts: The Best of Jann Arden
2001 Streisand, Barbra Christmas Memories
2001 The Martins Glorify Edify Testify
2001 Williams, Kimo Tracking
2001 SHeDAISY Whole SHeBANG: All Mixed Up
2001 Bona, Richard Reverence
2001 Dyno Four Live at the Baked Potato 2000
2001 Stern, Mike Voices
2001 Various Artists Live at the Baked Potato - Vol. Two
2001 Branch, Michelle Spirit Room
2001 Waldman, Randy UnReel
2001 Matsutoya, Yumi Acacia
2001 Asia Aura
2001 Various Modern Drummer Festival 2000
2001 Miller, Marcus M2 (M Squared)
2001 Various Artists Live at the Baked Potato - Vol. One
2001 Nicks, Stevie Trouble In Shangri-La
2001 Ruttenberg, Rich Angora Station
2001 Karizma Document
2001 Esen, Aydin Living
2001 Rossi, Vasco Stupido Hotel
2001 Sky, Amy Phenomenal Woman
2001 Beasley, John Surfacing
2000 Aguilera, Christina My Kind of Christmas
2000 T-Square Friendship
2000 Khan, Chaka The Jazz Channel Presents Chaka Khan
2000 Quincy Jones & Sammy Nestico Basie and Beyond
2000 Lins, Ivan A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins
2000 Morandi, Gianni Come Fa Bene l'Amore
2000 Davis, Melvin Lee Tomorrow's Yesterday
2000 Various Artists Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy
2000 Russell, Brenda Paris Rain
2000 Lewis, Crystal Fearless
2000 Los Lobotomys Los Lobotomys
2000 Figgis, Mike Time Code Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2000 Ferrick, Melissa Freedom
2000 Kosse, Lothar Rainmaker
2000 Carlton, Larry Fingerprints
2000 Jason Miles / Various Artists Celebrating the Music of Weather Report
2000 Steely Dan Two Against Nature
1999 Kenoly, Ron We Offer Praises
1999 Iglesias, Enrique Enrique Iglesias
1999 Pore, Kenny Sessions, Vol. 2
1999 Pore, Kenny Sessions, Vol. 1
1999 Miguel, Luis Amarte Es Un Placer
1999 Various Artists Not the Same Old Song & Dance: Aerosmith Tribute
1999 Ford, Robben Supernatural
1999 BAL Sometime Soon
1999 Evans, Bill Touch
1999 Scott, Tom Smokin' Section
1999 Quintero, Frank Bien
1999 Sting Brand New Day
1999 Zappa, Frank Son of Cheap Thrills
1998 Morandi, Gianni Celeste Azzurro E Blue
1998 Jewel Spirit
1998 Haenning, Gitte My Favorite Songs
1998 Rossi, Vasco Canzoni Per Me
1998 Various Artists Outlandos D'Americas: A Rock En Espanol Tribute To
The Police
1998 Hernandez, Myriam Todo el Amor
1998 Finnerty, Barry Space Age Blues
1998 Darren, Tony Sun Song
1998 Waldman, Randy Wigged Out
1997 Lee, Rita Santa Rita De Sampa
1997 Dion, Celine Let's Talk About Love
1997 Feldman, Victor Fiesta & More
1997 Garfield, David Tribute to Jeff
1997 Joel, Billy Greatest Hits Vol. 3
1997 Horner, James Cocoon Soundtrack
1997 Cohen, Leonard More Best of Leonard Cohen
1997 Evans, Bill Starfish And The Moon
1997 Zappa, Frank Have I Offended Someone?
1997 Corea, Chick Live From Blue Note Tokyo
1997 Various Artists Carnival: Rainforest Foundation Concert
1997 Tavaglione, Steve Blue Tav
1997 New Spirits in Jazz New Spirits in Jazz - Vol. 3
1996 Landau, Michael Tales From the Bulge
1996 Rossi, Vasco Nessun Pericolo...Per Te
1996 Mendes, Sergio Oceano
1996 Shepard, Vonda It's Good Eve
1996 Various Artists Sanctuary: 20 Years of Windham Hill
1996 Sting Mercury Falling
1996 Cuccurullo, Warren Thanks to Frank
1996 Zappa, Frank Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa
1996 Ramazzotti, Eros Donde Hay Musica
1996 Elio E Le Storie Tese Eat The Phikis
1996 Zappa, Frank Lost Episodes
1996 Mitchell, Joni Misses
1996 Ramazzotti, Eros Dove C' E Musica
1996 Clannad Lore
1996 Mitchell, Joni Hits
1995 SMAP 007 Gold Singer
1995 Zappa, Frank You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 6
1995 Zappa, Frank You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 4
1995 Umberto, Fiorentino Ulisse
1995 Zappa, Frank You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 1
1995 Simple Minds Good News from the Next World
1995 Henley, Don Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits
1995 Sanborn, David Love Songs
1995 Manchester, Melissa If My Heart Had Wings
1995 Stigers, Curtis Time Was
1995 Fogelberg, Dan No Resemblance Whatsoever
1995 Caldwell, Bobby Soul Survivor
1995 McLaughlin, John The Promise
1995 Drupi Voglio Una Donna
1995 Zappa, Frank Strictly Commercial: The Best of Frank Zappa
1994 Schuur, Diane Heart to Heart
1994 Cristian El Camino del Alma
1994 Martinez, Rosco Aqui Estoy
1994 4Him Ride
1994 Colaiuta, Vinnie Vinnie Colaiuta
1994 Temptations Emperors of Soul
1994 Third Matinee Meanwhile
1994 Carlos, Roberto Voce E Minha
1994 Fields, Brandon Brandon Fields
1993 Jason, Sonya Tigress
1993 Steele, Jevetta Here It Is
1993 Buell Neidlinger Quartet Big Drum
Jeff Beck- Cause we've Ended As Lovers - Straus 2009-02-21 Saitama Super Arena
Jeff Beck - Led Boots (Jeff Beck: Performing This Week...Live at Ronnie Scott's)
Jeff Beck - Big Block (Performing this week...Live at Ronnie Scott's)
Modern Drummer, November 1982
by Robyn Flans
A producer once told Vinnie Colaiuta that if you threw Tony Williams and Steve Gadd into a blender, Vinnie would be the tasteful concoction. He laughs modestly while he shrugs off the compliment, but it is probably an accurate description. Justifiably, he is the talk of the town and drummers pack into the L.A. club where plays three nights a week. One drummer comments that Vinnie is the best drummer he's ever seen and another puts it simply, repeatedly exclaiming, "Monster!"
Innovative, colorful and tasteful, Vince Colaiuta began, as did many, playing pots and pans while growing up in Pennsylvania. After graduating to toy sets with paper heads, his parents finally bought him a semi-professional Japanese set which he’d play with the neighborhood kids.
There was never any doubt that his instrument was the drums, even though he also had an electric guitar and took organ lessons. In fact, when he expressed the desire to play drums in the junior-high school band, the band director informed Vinnie that there were too many drummers and he should take up another instrument. He played flute for a year until the drummer vacated the seat into which Vinnie slipped. Once the lessons began, Vinnie recalls, "I couldn't get enough of it. I was real interested in music notation and rudiments and technique whereas a lot of guys didn't dig that stuff. I learned real fast because I was always practicing. I would go into English class and sit in the back of the room with a Remo practice pad and practice double-stroke rolls and get kicked out of class."
When he finally got a good drumset at age fourteen, he was extremely grateful. "I was overjoyed when my parents bought me the set, because up to that point, I had only been studying on the snare drum. When I sat down at the set though, for some reason I didn't have any problem. I just sat down and played, probably because of all those toy sets. Coordination didn't pose much of a problem until I started getting into the stage band and had to read drum parts with the foot and everything. When I first saw that, it was a trip reading drumset stuff - the hand, the hi-hat, the bass drum, independence and all of that - but I just went and practiced." Drum corps, summer camps and a succession of lessons followed, and after finishing high school, he worked in local bands for a year before enrolling in Berklee, a decision inspired by many of his classmates and a chance meeting with Berklee student Steve Smith, who came through town playing with a big band.
Photo by Lisa Wales"I wanted to gather as much information as possible. I thought it would give me the chance to polish everything before I went to step out. I knew it would be tough and I wanted to be ready for it. When I got out there, it was really good that I did that. I also wanted to learn more about music theory in a practical sense and anything that would help me in the most remote way, whether I was going to learn writing to use it to write or just to give me a different perspective to music. It really did make me listen to things differently and it gave me a different awareness."
"When I got there, all I knew was the reputation that Berklee had and I didn't really know what to expect. My first day, orientation at 7:00 in the morning, there were 800 drummers and like 1500 guitar players; totally different from what I expected. I was expecting big bands and seeing Buddy Rich walking around picking like, 'I like this trombone player-wanna be in my band?' I just took my tests and placed in a bunch of classes, like beginning arranging, because I didn't know anything about that, and an ear training class. The writing department there was really great, except they have their own way of doing it which is unlike any other place. Like the way they teach you to arrange. They teach it to you with terminology that you don't use once you get out of that place. It's only a means to learn it, but it's an efficient means to cram it into you fast. In the two semesters that I went there, I learned how to arrange for six horns. I used it a couple of times until I said, I'm not going to do this. There are cats who do this for a living. I'm a player."
"After I completed a year there, I wanted to go back only for the writing, because I was really getting into it, but I didn't have the money. I passed out of the percussion department in one semester. I studied with this guy named Gary Chaffee for two semesters, but the first semester I pretty much whizzed through everything that he had. He was a wonderful teacher and the greatest guy and he had a really great method. The whole school adopted his method. He was doing things like applying polyrhythms to the drumset. He had a certain manner of teaching independence by getting into funk drumming, Tower of Power stuff, and weird groupings that were really cool. He would show you how it was broken down and rhythmically what it's based on. It was real interesting and he had it planned out real intelligently. There were all these Chaffee clones running around because he really had it together and everybody was using his method. So I went through that the first semester. By the time the second semester rolled around, the drum lessons turned into a scene where I would go in there and Gary and I would put on a Tony Williams record and listen to it and sit down and play things together and just rap. Then Smitty (Steve Smith) and I took group lessons for the second half of the semester. We'd just go in and play and have a good time and it was a gas. Then Chaffee said to me, 'Man, why don't you just move to New York when the school year is over?' He felt I was at the point where I should just get out there but I told him I wanted to come back and do more writing and stuff. Finally I realized that I was going to be a player. I couldn't get the money to go back to school anyway, so I just hung around Boston for a couple of years. There were a lot of good players there. I was playing these top-40 gigs to survive. I wanted to do the jazz gigs, but there was no money in the jazz gigs."
During those two years he also worked with a band which hooked up with Al Kooper. After going on the road with Kooper, he offered to produce the rhythm section. Recalling his first major recording experience, Vinnie laughs, "I didn't know anything about getting a drum sound or anything. I was just into playing. Getting a good track was something I had no concept of. I wanted to play for the tune and just play. Kooper would say, 'Well, save that for your first solo album, okay?' My drums sounded like shit, but I was having a good time. I learned a lot from doing that, though. There were probably a lot of people who had never been in a studio before and didn't know how to get a drum sound, but when they went in, people hipped them to it real fast. What happened with me was that I didn't know anything about it when I got in there. But they didn't say, 'Well, change your head. We're not going to get a good sound with these heads.' It wasn't anything like that. They just took the drums that I had and I think they might have said something like, 'Could you tune this a little different?' The producer came out and hipped me to some things like taping the snare drum up. Eventually I ended up getting a livable drum sound, but now when I listen back to it in perspective, it was horrible. On the other hand, you can go into a studio even if you have had studio experience and still get a lousy drum sound, so you never know. I've been in studios in New York where they've had the worst set of drums in there. The engineer messes around with it a little on the board, puts some tape on it and bingo, ten minutes later you can't believe he got that sound out of those drums. Sometimes you'll go into a studio out here with a great set of drums, and the guy starts giving you a hard time about it, so you still never know."
After returning to Boston, Vinnie finally made the decision to move to Los Angeles permanently in January, 1978. A few months of rough times followed until April, 1978, while doing a gig with Tom Fowler. Fowler mentioned that Frank Zappa was looking for a rhythm section.
Photo by Rick Mattingly VC: I had always been a big fan of Zappa's and had every record. In fact, I had just bought Live in New York and loved it. It was funny and it was musically great. The irony is that I called the office and bugged the hell out of them, asking if I could bring a tape by. They said, "No tapes", but I dropped one by anyway. I'd go there every day until one day they called and said "Alright, Mr. Zappa will listen to you Wednesday night." My heart dropped and I literally sank to the floor. I was so happy, not just at the prospect of a gig, but because it was him!
RF: What was the audition like?
VC: I just went in there with the attitude that I was going to shoot my shot and not going to get real uptight because it Zappa. I would just go for it. This was it and I was going to put it all forward. I went there and was watching these people audition. The average time they lasted was like fifteen seconds.
RF: Why do you think they weren't cutting it? What was lacking?
VC: It seemed as though they just couldn't go through with what Frank wanted out of a musician. Frank would put this music in front of you that was ridiculously difficult, like equally on par with 20th-century compositional kind of stuff, and rhythmically it was incredible. These guys would sit there and they could play grooves but they couldn't read or vice versa. He looks for a special combination of elements in a person and I guess they weren’t there. I auditioned on Bozzio's drums. I had never played on two bass drums, but I said, "Screw it-I'm going for it!" He put this thing in front of me, "Pedro's Dowry," and it was the melodic part that I had to sight read in unison with the marimba. So I sight read a little bit of that. I just had to concentrate on it completely, and to my surprise, I didn't make any mistakes. He was about to give me "The Black Page." I had tried my hand at transcribing it, so I had it memorized and before he gave me the music, I started playing it. I got about two-thirds through it and I guess he had heard enough because he said, "Okay, yes, you can read." Then he started playing this thing in 21/16 and he wanted me to play along. I grasped it; it was all subdivided in threes and twos. Then he told me to take a solo, so I played on it. Then he came back in and played and said, "Okay, that's enough of that." He started throwing tune after tune and we went through about four tunes. The whole thing lasted about fifteen minutes, which was like a record. Then he pulled me aside and asked me when I could start. I turned white and said, "Anytime." And that was it. That bailed me out of my whole living and financial si tuation.
RF: Terry Bozzio said he almost felt at times that Zappa would write these ridiculously difficult things to taunt his players to see if they could actually do what he'd written. Although I'm sure some of what Bozzio said was tongue-in-cheek, how do you feel about that?
Photo by Rick MattinglyVC: I've seen situations like that where I've pondered the same thing. But I don't doubt the sheer musicality of it for one second. I think it's brilliant and as far as I'm concerned, Frank is one of the most gifted composers of all time. I don't think he's been duly recognized as such.
RF: You played double bass with Zappa?
VC: Here's what happened. When I started with Frank, for the first two tours, I had this little Gretsch set with one 20" bass drum and he loved it. But after a while, I wanted to go out and get a bigger bass drum, a 22" or something. He said, "No, I'll make it sound good." So he went out and got a lot of outboard gear and made it sound good. He just loved the idea of this little set I was playing. I sat like two inches off the ground and he kind of liked the concept of where I was coming from. I guess he wanted to get into a different approach, drumwise. Finally, on the last tour I told him I wanted to play two bass drums. He said, "No, because we'd have to leave one mic open all the time and there would be problems acoustically." But finally I convinced him and just took them on the gig. I didn't really practice on them, but when you rehearse a tour with Frank, you rehearse for like two months, eight hours a day, before you go out. So I got a chance to get used to them in rehearsals. But it took a while. We went on the road for three months or something, and by the middle of the tour, they started feeling good.
RF: With two bass drums, the question invariably comes up as to the utilization of the second bass at the expense of the hi-hat. Can you describe your approach?
Photo by Lisa WalesVC: My approach differed as time went on. I wanted to play two bass drums, but I just wanted to play them as a supplement, to add some bottom heavy color, and it did do that. Sometimes I'd play them in unison and it was an effective thing to use in solos, just independence-wise. It developed that kind of strength and technique in my left foot and that was good and it makes it sound real big. It's funny, because my whole equipment scene evolved to a point with Frank where at the end of the time I was with him, I had two bass drums, I had a Synare electronic bass drum in the middle of those two drums, a real snare, a Synare snare, timbales, four Syndrums, five Synare tympani, tom-toms, Roto-toms, the two cymbals on top of one another, and one of those splash cymbals that is cut out of a hi-hat so it sounded real thick. I was starting to think of it more like all these sound varieties to the point where I'd come up with grooves that you wouldn't normally do on a hi-hat and one bass drum. Nowadays, I'm playing one bass drum, two tom-toms, two floor toms, a ride cymbal, two crash cymbals and a hi-hat. You just have to think about it if you want to play things that are different because there are sounds that aren't there maybe. On a big set-up like the one with Zappa, if you have radically different sound sources available, I think that's the most musical way to approach it.
RF: Your version of "Peaches en Regalia" is very different from Aynsley Dunbar's version. I wonder whether that was your doing or how much Zappa dictated what you did.
VC: He totally rearranged it. We had done "Peaches" and he said he wanted to do a completely different arrangement: We just took the whole thing apart and rebuilt it like an erector set.
RF: Was it a "we" or a "him"?
VC: In terms of arranging, it was pretty much him, like, "You play this and you play that." I pretty much played the groove that was on the record except when it went into another section that wasn't there before. He said, "Okay, we're going to go into reggae now," and for four bars I'd play reggae. Then it went into some kind of Devoesque kind of thing at the end and I played a weird Devo kind of drum part. He just told me what to do in that sense. The tune opens with this drum fill and sometimes I'd play it like the record and sometimes I wouldn't and he'd say, "No, play what's on the record." Other times he wouldn't say anything. Other than that, he would say, "Play it like this or play it like that," and on that particular tune, that's what happened. Other times we'd be playing a tune and I would just come up with my own part. Then there would be another tune where he would hand me a written drum part or he would say, "Play this against that, or play five against four." I don't know if it was to challenge me or not, but if it was, man, you gotta meet the challenge.
RF: So you found it challenging?
VC: Oh yeah, it was great. I learned so much from that. It was a great challenge for me. I had a pretty fair knowledge of polyrhythms and stuff like that before I got in the band, but nowhere near what it became. I mean, I knew what they were theoretically, but in terms of approaching them the same way he did and using them on the drumset, no way. I got all that from him. In the two and a half years I was with him, it was incredible what I learned. If he sees you have it to begin with, you have to keep up with him. There's so much information and knowledge coming out of him so fast that you have to be on your toes every second. It's incredible. I didn't want to think of it like, "Oh God, I have to keep up." I just kind of went along with it and knew that I had to meet the challenge. I enjoyed it, got off on it and learned from it. I noticed that it changed my way of thinking to the point where it started coming out of me. I would play behind his guitar solos. He said, "I want you to listen to what I'm playing because I'm playing all those rhythms. When you accompany me, I don't want you to just try to guess what they are and play some standard rhythmic fill. I want you to understand exactly where I'm at and communicate with me on that level." That forced me to try to improvise these polyrhythms and think in that way, which is not the norm by any stretch of the imagination. People just don't do that. I don't care how stretched out you get when you jam, people just don't do it that way. It forced me to do that and I think he saw that I had a talent for doing that.
RF: I'm tempted to say that you seem just as at home playing odd time as you are playing regular time.
VC: Pretty much I am, yeah. I spent a lot of time practicing it when I lived at home. I'd go up in the attic and play in seven for half an hour.
RF: You mean as a kid?
Photo by Lisa WalesYeah, because once I left home, or actually, once I left Berklee, I couldn't really practice. I still can't out here. I've been living in an apartment for three years and I can't play drums in my apartment. I practice when I work, which is a drag in a lot of ways, but it's like a language. If you don't do it for a couple of months and suddenly , you're at a gig and somebody throws a tune at you that has shifting time signatures, run through it a couple of times and then bingo. That's what it's like for me. If I'm doing it a lot, it's easier. It's like reading; if I don't read stuff that's that hard, sometimes I'll go home and just whip through some literature that I haven't seen in a long time to brush up on it. The thing about sight reading is that you have to read things you haven't seen before.
RF: With Zappa you really went out there at times.
VC: Yeah, in the beginning, when I first started doing it, I was pulling it off, but there were a lot of loose spots. But I had to make it come out in order to develop it, otherwise, how was I going to do it? The I got more accustomed to it. I'd sit there and think about it and listen to the road tapes and it started oozing out of my pores, which I think Frank really enjoyed. I had a good time doing it because it was the only time and place I could do that. Frank loved it because he said, "This cat has the capability to do it and I’m going to get it out of him one way or another." He would make me do it, so I started developing it. If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have gone for it. It did get loose every once in a while. We'd be out there, and when you've got four or five guys playing along and the drummer is going out on Mars, what are they going to think? They've got to get used to it too, if it's something they haven't encountered. It was kind of hard for me for a couple of tours, until the last tour. I had taken time off from the band. I came back, not having done that stuff for a while, but having done other things, like playing in a studio a lot, which matured my concept in other ways, which fed that. One hand feeds the other and it all helps and your time concept gets stronger. I had gotten a lot stronger doing that in being able to read Frank and gauge the other guys in the band. It wasn't like when we were doing that stuff, it was just me and Frank and the other guys were sitting back wondering what to do, because those guys were all real strong musicians. I had a rapport with the whole rhythm section and those guys were right with me. I got to the point where I was able to follow Frank and do that stuff much more confidently and accurately, plus monitor, with another part of my ear, exactly what was going on in the rest of the band too.
RF: What are you thinking of when you're out there? Are you keeping count or what? What do you think is the secret to playing odd time?
VC: I definitely think that the key to it is counting first. Then you become comfortable to the point where the count becomes ingrained in your subconscious. You learn how to do it from counting it and then it's feeling it. A guy who can't read, or who can read but isn't an ace reader, can feel it. There was one guy in the band, Ike, who hadn't really had any formal training in terms of polyrhythms and stuff. But this guy could feel that stuff. I used to go out there, to Uranus and back, and this cat was right there, always. We've had discussions about it and he told me he just feels it. It's like a pulse to him.
RF: Then you were really allowed total freedom when it came to stuff like that?
VC: Pretty much, but only to the point where I'd better know what I was doing. And I had to prove that I knew what I was doing, and I did.
RF: There was one song, "Keep it Greasy", where I wonder how you were thinking of the time signature.
VC: There's this one part where the actual time signature is 19/16. The feel is like it is 4/4 with three 16th notes tacked onto the end of it. Then there's another part in 21. It was all one live take; no splices or adds or anything. We just rehearsed it. We used to play it on the road and Frank said, "Okay, we're going to elongate that in the studio and that's going to be a solo. You're just going to vamp out until I give you a cue and then we'll go into something else." And bingo, he gave us a cue and zipp, we were in 19/16. We just cut that track with guitar, bass and drums. I don't recall if there was electric piano in that particular solo section or not. We went to Village Recorders one day and just churned out tune after tune, all live, no edits or anything.
RF: Zappa's studio tracks are a lot cleaner than his live recordings. How different was that process from a playing standpoint for you? Was it a lot more dictated?
VC: For example, on certain tunes on the Joe's Garage record, there were tunes that were pretty much groove tunes and I played them like that. I was really enjoying going in there and trying to play great tracks. On, I think it was, "Token of my Extreme," we just grooved out and tried to make it feel as good as possible and not get in the way of anything that was going to go on top of it. On the other tunes, like "Keep it Greasy," it was as if we were going to play it live, except the time really had to be cool. Frank told me once that he found it difficult to get people to peak in the studio, so you can never get too energetic for him. It really wasn't much different.
RF: Why did you leave Frank?
VC: I was going through stuff like, "Wow, I'm on the road all the time and when I get off the road I can't work." I wanted to get into the studio.
RF: Why?
VC: Because I like recording a lot. I love playing in the studio; I love the way it sounds and feels in the studio. When I was back east, there were three studios in town and it was something that always fascinated me and something I wanted to do as a musician. Even though I enjoy going out on the road, after a while I said, "I want to be at home and I'll never work in the studios if I'm not around long enough for people to call me." Just because I can go out live and play my ass off, doesn't mean I'm going to be able to go into the studio and play well, unless I go in there and do it and work for different people and be able to please all kinds of different people.
RF: Define what a good drummer is.
VC: A good time keeper, first of all, and a person who has a good musical sense.
RF: How does a good live drummer differ from a good studio drummer? You just said that sometimes you can't apply one to the other.
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I've seen people play live where the entire band sounds like a record and then I've seen other situations where it was totally creative. Take a live situation like the Doobies or Boz Scaggs or something. I'm not saying that those guys don't stretch, but it's very orchestrated, which is great for the music and everybody's playing parts that fit and make that music happen. But, now take the Art Ensemble of Chicago. How avant-garde can you get? Those are two live situations. Those guys aren't thinking like studio musicians so it just differs with the idiom of the music. Idiomatically it differs, the way you approach it. Live playing vs. studio playing depends on what your concept of music is; the big picture of how you conceive music and what kind of player you are. It also depends on if you have any concept at all of live playing vs. studio playing, if you're a sideman, and how whoever you're working for wants you to play. If you're in a big rock band, you might have to play with energy and be a showman. If you're part of an orchestra, you have to read and they don't care about you twirling your sticks. And if you're just playing in an avant-garde situation, it's how much liberty you can take and the idiom of the music. There's a million different factors in that, from what I've noticed.
RF: Now that you're immersed in the studio scene, what do you see that makes a good studio drummer? What are the producers in the studios wanting?
VC: Somebody who has real good time, is an excellent reader, whose drums sound good, someone other musicians are comfortable playing with, and who can assimilate a variety of styles. It's a real personal thing, trying to read their minds, depending on how tangible the producer or the artist is. It's great when somebody comes up with a tune and it's just a bunch of chords on paper. You're sitting there and nobody has any idea of what it's like except it's in 4/4 and has this amount of bars and you're able to make it work. Again, there's so many different factors. It's almost like you have to have a good knowledge of all the elements of music and be ready to draw on that mental rolodex at any time and really be able to efficiently pull it off, despite the amount of communication you have with who you're working with. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on how difficult the people are to work with, it depends on the other musicians and how competent you are. At least, that's what I've found.
RF: How did you break into the studio scene?
VC: Probably the one person most responsible was Neil Stubenhaus. The first date I can remember being hired on was a date that Neil said, "You have to get Vinnie." He's helping me so much in my career. I think the people mostly responsible for getting me work were Neil, Tom Scott, Pat Williams and Hank Cicalo. It does have a lot to do with people you know.
RF: What, to you, is a positive session?
VC: A positive session is when you go in and the producer and the engineer are so together that you don't spend the entire session trying to get a drum sound. Some dates go on for six, seven or eight hours, and constantly through the date, they're still getting your drum sounds together. It's like, "Wow, didn't you get it together yet?" Or a positive session is when the producer is not a jerk and when the guys on the date are the right guys. When the producer picked the right guys and you're not saying,"I've never worked with this bass player before, and wow, he's great, but for some reason it's not clicking." He might be sitting there thinking the drummer is a jerk.
It's the same thing with a band. When you play with a band who plays together all the time, it gets tight, like ESP. I work with Stube (Stubenhaus) in the studio a lot and I know when Stube is there it's going to happen because he knows every minute thing that I'm going to play and I know every minute thing he's going to play: That helps a lot right there. And if it's a new musician that I haven't played with, but he's happening, it's still going to click.
The challenge of the studio initially is that you have to go in and make music out of what is placed in front of you right away. You have to interpret what's in your mind and what's on the paper. But they can make it easier for you if you don't take it too out, like if they don't make you do it 99 times for no reason. For example, you're running a chart down and you immediately play the right stuff. But for some stupid unexplainable reason, they have to go by way of China only to arrive three hours later at what you initially played. What's the point? When you're playing the right stuff, they acknowledge it, it's happening, they're real easy going and they don't exert unnecessary pressure on the guys, it's positive.
Some musicians tell me that there are certain people who have philosophies that it's good to make guys do it over and over again, to the point where the emotion becomes totally detached and they're just playing it like a machine. To me, that's not happening. To me, you reach a point where you know the song and you burn out on it, you've peaked on it, you're bored and want to go home. If they want you to play it emotionless, why don't they just tell you to play it that way? So, I guess a positive session is where there is no ego bullshit or a producer who thinks he knows what he's talking about, but he doesn't know anything. He tells you to play something and you literally play it and it's totally stupid, where you play exactly what he sings to you. You can't do that. They have to know what you sound like and that they're going to hire a bunch of musicians who know what they're doing.
If they hire a bunch of guys who know what they're doing, they're going to go in there and do it right. After that, it's just a matter of the producer being a guidepost, kind of guiding you along in a real sensible manner without all that other crap.
RF: What are some of the sessions you've been doing recently?
VC: I did Gino Vannelli's Nightwalker album a while back. I did a few tracks on an album called Swing with Richard Perry that he's really behind, which is '40s music. I just did the title track and a couple of tunes for Joni Mitchell's new album and all of the Judy Collins' album, which was an interesting project. It was really a potpourri of musical tunes and musical styles and the musicians were great. I've done a few major jingles with Charlie Calello with such artists, as Janis Ian and Nancy Wilson. I also did
thanx for the add!! At the moment we're present in the Undergroundzine compilation vol.1 with the song Yes we tanned (It's just a raw mix)download it at the following address (copy this in your browser; access will be denied if you click on the link):
thanx for the add!! At the moment we're present in the Undergroundzine compilation vol.1 with the song Yes we tanned (It's just a raw mix)download it at the following address (copy this in your browser; access will be denied if you click on the link):
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Hello Mr. Colaiuta! You are an amazing drummer! Absolutely loved the DVD of you on Jeff Beck's Live @ Ronnie Scott's. You are an ispiration to musicians of all walks. Take care.
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