The way I ended up on this show was kind of a fluke. I pulled up to Port Authority, late, thinking I was about to head back home to Detroit and when I got to the Greyhound terminal, my bus back to Detroit was... GONE!!! I spoke with the ticket agent and the next bus didn't leave for 4 hours. I was a bit irritated, but what could I do? Nothing. So I pressed forward with the evening. I went back upstairs and chilled out for a bit. While I was resting, I decided to check my Twitter and the first tweet I was was from Zo! saying that him and Sy had a show coming up in NY. I immediately text him and told him I would be in town that week for !LLMIND's B.L.A.P. Producer Showcase and I'd definitely come see them. His response was, "Maaannnnn, we still don't have a drummer for that show. You down to do it?" Of course I was down!! One of my best shows to date was with him and Sy in Detroit back in February. He said he would get the ok from Sy and he would hit me back. He got the green light and I added it to the schedule. I was ready!!! I also got the ok to bring my good friend LaDarrel Johnson (Saxappeal) who had also done the show with us in Detroit. It was ON!!!
When I got to NYC, everything was smooth sailing and lining up perfectly until Zo! called me the day before the show saying that I needed to bring my own cymbals and my own snare. Now normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but since I wasn't told this ahead of time, my cymbals and snare were where? IN DETROIT!! I was a bit frustrated because I like to be fully prepared for any shows that I'm doing. I remembered that the studio I work out of in Jersey had plenty of cymbals and a few snares. So... I headed to Jersey. I was able to get everything I needed except for a "ride" cymbal. I couldn't worry about it too much that night. So, the next day, finding a ride cymbal was my mission.
I woke up to a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Things were great until I remembered that I still didn't have a ride cymbal. I quickly hopped on the computer and put out an APB on Twitter and Facebook. No luck. So, I starting making calls. Each one lead to a dead end. I even called my partner Eric Seats who plays with Lalah Hathaway. I just knew that he would know someone in the area with a cymbal. Another dead end. By this time, I was just about late for the sound check, so I had to jump on the train and get going.
When I arrived at DROM, late, Sy, Zo!, Zach Cutler (guitar), and Monet (flute) were already hard at work. I got there with only 15 minutes left so I had to set up the drums and get as many songs in as I could. We used up those 15 minutes and a few extra and at the very last note of sound check, Saxappeal walks in. He hopped on the wrong train and ended up in some far away land. Lol!!! Directly after sound check, me and Sax grabbed some "street meat", jumped on the train and headed back to the apartment to get ready for the show.
When we walked into the venue, there was a pretty nice crowd there. We were able to catch the last of Morris Alan's set. After him, it was showtime for us. We met in the green room (which was actually green), shared a few laughs and the band headed out on stage. When we got on stage, there was this cat up there telling the worst jokes I'd ever heard in my life. I wanted to say, in the illustrious words of "Angry Man" from Martin, "Man... sitcho a** down." After he had finished going down in flames, he introduced Sy Smith. Wait... isn't this a duo performance with Zo! AND Sy Smith? I guess he didn't get the memo. Anyways... it was showtime!!!
We started the set off with "Nights Over Egypt". It was definitely a crowd pleaser. There were heads bobbing, fingers snapping, and people dancing all over the room. The chemistry on stage was crazy!!! Sy was murdering the key bass, Zo! was finessing the keys, Zach was laying the rhythm down tough, Sax was killing and Monet was playing some beautiful lines on flute. The energy stayed on 10 the entire show. Well, it may have went just above 10 when Gordon Chambers came and ripped the stage up. After that, we did a house music medley and we even did a Whitney Houston tribute. It was very heavy for me because I worked with her during the making of Sparkle briefly and Sy used to sing background for her. It was a great moment in time though. After that, we closed the set out with Zo!'s "Flight Of the Blackbyrd" which featured.... well... me!!! It's an uptempo African/Latin groove in 6/8. I was excited to play the song again because I love playing and soloing over odd meters. If I had to say so myself, I smashed the song. The crowd was in awe of what I was doing and the drummers in the house showed me love. I was grateful. It was great!!!
After the show, I took pictures and kicked it with some of my friends who were in town. It was an honor to have my homie !LLMIND in the building. We're both huge fans of Dilla so I made sure I gave him that authentic Detroit, Dilla "bounce" on "Greater Than The Sun". I can't forget that Gordon Chambers literally took his belt off and tried to beat me on stage. Lol!!! He commented on how tight my pocket was and that he needed me and Sax to perform with him for his upcoming show in Detroit. I'll take it!!! All in all, it was an incredible night of music. You'll be seeing me with Sy & Zo! again somewhere in the world. Stay tuned!!!
Check out a couple videos of the show here. Enjoy!!!!!
~B.
When I got to NYC, everything was smooth sailing and lining up perfectly until Zo! called me the day before the show saying that I needed to bring my own cymbals and my own snare. Now normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but since I wasn't told this ahead of time, my cymbals and snare were where? IN DETROIT!! I was a bit frustrated because I like to be fully prepared for any shows that I'm doing. I remembered that the studio I work out of in Jersey had plenty of cymbals and a few snares. So... I headed to Jersey. I was able to get everything I needed except for a "ride" cymbal. I couldn't worry about it too much that night. So, the next day, finding a ride cymbal was my mission.
I woke up to a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Things were great until I remembered that I still didn't have a ride cymbal. I quickly hopped on the computer and put out an APB on Twitter and Facebook. No luck. So, I starting making calls. Each one lead to a dead end. I even called my partner Eric Seats who plays with Lalah Hathaway. I just knew that he would know someone in the area with a cymbal. Another dead end. By this time, I was just about late for the sound check, so I had to jump on the train and get going.
When I arrived at DROM, late, Sy, Zo!, Zach Cutler (guitar), and Monet (flute) were already hard at work. I got there with only 15 minutes left so I had to set up the drums and get as many songs in as I could. We used up those 15 minutes and a few extra and at the very last note of sound check, Saxappeal walks in. He hopped on the wrong train and ended up in some far away land. Lol!!! Directly after sound check, me and Sax grabbed some "street meat", jumped on the train and headed back to the apartment to get ready for the show.
When we walked into the venue, there was a pretty nice crowd there. We were able to catch the last of Morris Alan's set. After him, it was showtime for us. We met in the green room (which was actually green), shared a few laughs and the band headed out on stage. When we got on stage, there was this cat up there telling the worst jokes I'd ever heard in my life. I wanted to say, in the illustrious words of "Angry Man" from Martin, "Man... sitcho a** down." After he had finished going down in flames, he introduced Sy Smith. Wait... isn't this a duo performance with Zo! AND Sy Smith? I guess he didn't get the memo. Anyways... it was showtime!!!
We started the set off with "Nights Over Egypt". It was definitely a crowd pleaser. There were heads bobbing, fingers snapping, and people dancing all over the room. The chemistry on stage was crazy!!! Sy was murdering the key bass, Zo! was finessing the keys, Zach was laying the rhythm down tough, Sax was killing and Monet was playing some beautiful lines on flute. The energy stayed on 10 the entire show. Well, it may have went just above 10 when Gordon Chambers came and ripped the stage up. After that, we did a house music medley and we even did a Whitney Houston tribute. It was very heavy for me because I worked with her during the making of Sparkle briefly and Sy used to sing background for her. It was a great moment in time though. After that, we closed the set out with Zo!'s "Flight Of the Blackbyrd" which featured.... well... me!!! It's an uptempo African/Latin groove in 6/8. I was excited to play the song again because I love playing and soloing over odd meters. If I had to say so myself, I smashed the song. The crowd was in awe of what I was doing and the drummers in the house showed me love. I was grateful. It was great!!!
After the show, I took pictures and kicked it with some of my friends who were in town. It was an honor to have my homie !LLMIND in the building. We're both huge fans of Dilla so I made sure I gave him that authentic Detroit, Dilla "bounce" on "Greater Than The Sun". I can't forget that Gordon Chambers literally took his belt off and tried to beat me on stage. Lol!!! He commented on how tight my pocket was and that he needed me and Sax to perform with him for his upcoming show in Detroit. I'll take it!!! All in all, it was an incredible night of music. You'll be seeing me with Sy & Zo! again somewhere in the world. Stay tuned!!!
Check out a couple videos of the show here. Enjoy!!!!!
~B.