Steve Houghton

Steve is probably the best teacher I ever had. I studied with him for about a year. He has played with Woody Herman's band, the Akiyoshi Tabockin Big Band, Paul Anka, Jeff Berlin, Scott Henderson, Doc Severinson, Gary Burton, Joe Henderson, and Bobby Hutcherson among others. He has also played on numerous TV jingles and major motion pictures.

Chuck Morris

Chuck is most remembered as the drummer for the Arsenio Hall Show. He has also performed with Derek & the Diamonds, Chaka Khan and Cameo. Chuck got me in to see the Arsenio Hall Show once while posing as his nephew (go figure). Those pages are not very bright. It was cool, I got to check out his cans and talk to him about the gig. He also has his own band called Super Slam.

Clayton Cameron

Clayton is truly a brush god. Check out his video "The living Art of Brushes". He has performed with the late Sammy Davis, Jr. for over 7 years. Recently, he moved from LA to New York and has taken the gig with Tony Bennett.

Elvin Jones

What can I say, legendary. I saw do this gig at the Catalina Bar and Grill in LA and his wife, Keiko, set up and tuned his drums. It was the strangest thing. His drums looked like they were set for display in a music store. They were all spread out. How he played them was beyond me. He has played with every jazz legend from a-z. Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis, as well as his own band The Elvin Jazz Machine. He is on the cover of the May '92 issue of MD.

Frank Gambale

Ok, Frank is not a drummer! But it's worth including a picture. He was the guitar player for Chick Corea in the Elecktra Band. I'm sure if you do a web search you can find tons of stuff on him. He is currently playing with Steve Smith in Vital Information. His is one of the best guitar players in the world. On a side note...who knew that 4 years after that picture was taken that I would be taking a class with his exbrother-inlaw 3,000 miles away in any unrelated field!

Joe Porcaro

The father of the late Jeff Porcaro, Joe has a track record that is incredible (as found in the Nov. '95 issue of MD). He is a first-call percussionist for film and TV. I had the chance to study with Joe for a year. He once took me to MGM Studios for the music scoring of the film "Another 48hrs" starring Eddie Murphy. Steve Shaffer, Emil Richards, Andy Narell, and Brandon Fields were some of the musicians on the date. Later we all went out to lunch. Very cool.

Joey Heredia

Joey is a killer player from the LA area. I have seen him play numerous times with Scott Henderson and Tribal Tech. He has also played with Frank Gambale, Billy Childs, Stevie Wonder, Tania Maria and Carole King. I met him at a clinic in LA. An article on Joey can be found in the July '90 issue of Modern Drummer.