|
Michael developed his drumming chops by listening to records of all the great bands of the '60s and '70s ...
bands like Santana, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, and of course the The Beatles ...
often until the vinyl wore out. When he was eleven he graduated from thuds and crashes created by banging on pots and
pans, boxes, and anything else within reach, to his first set of drums. With the encouragement of a local music store
owner/drum instructor, he never looked back. Throughout his teenage years he honed his skills as a rock drummer
in the active Southern Dutchess County music scene.
In his early 20s, inspired by the music of Carlos Santana, Earth Wind and Fire and percussionist Ralph McDonald
and by his own curiosity, Michael began exploring the nuances and textures of Latin percussion.
Here was a totally new instrument, with timbres produced not with a set of sticks, but with the hands.
Alongside traditional rock drumming, Latin percussion heightened his sense of ensemble playing and dynamics.
He has the ability to compliment a single performer with the same finesse as with a full band.
He can go from a whisper to the shot of a cannon, within the space of a single measure ....
.... and he's able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
|
