Cut From The Same Cloth!
I recently was asked “You have played with some pretty major artists – did any of them surprise you by being quite different than you might have imagined?”.
I have definitely had some surprises when playing with as many artists as I have. The first time I toured Europe was when I was 26 years old with Laco Deczi . Laco is very famous over in Europe and he was the first artist to tour Dave Weckl in Europe. So I took this gig very seriously but soon found out that Laco was so much more relaxed then many of the band leaders I was working with at the time! Laco said not to never worry at all and that I should just go out every night and have fun. His attitude was so relaxed that it surprised me, but it helped the whole band to be quite amazing. At the end of our 2 month tour the band was really on fire…
These days most of the players I work with take things very seriously. When I first started to work with Chieli Minucci, I was very impressed with his work ethic. He was also one of the most professional musicians I had ever worked with. Everything is done at the highest level and always on time! When I call him for a gig he checks in a week in advance to ask for the set list and any new charts for the upcoming gig. I cannot say enough good things about Chieli! I have been working as a pro player for many years and have been lucky enough to meet and become friends with a lot of the best players on the planet. One thing I have noticed is that most of us feel the same way about a lot things. It’s amazing how we are all cut from the same cloth. It seems to me that we are all working on the same goals and we all have the same feelings on what we do. When I talk with all the artists I work with as well as all my musician friends we are all going through the same stuff. We all want to improve no matter how high our level may be already. We all want to keep touring. We all want to spend time at home. We all want the next level in our career. If we did two tours this year we want three the next! We all want things to look forward to and we want to keep pushing the limits in everything we do. Oh, I almost forgot, Did I mention we all want to make more money! HA!!
So, Looking back on all the Artists I have played with and I must mention that I am lucky enough to have played with a lot of amazing artists. For a small list click here. I would say most of us are cut from the same cloth!!
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