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I was thinking the other day when my love of drumming started. I remember finding a photo of me banging away on a drum pad with sticks, watching the Ed Sullivan Show the night the Beatles appeared in February of '64. The interest started that far back as a very young boy.
Throughout the '60s I pounded away on anything resembling a drum and digging deeply into classic soul and funk. Black gospel too because that was another constant feature in our home near Pittsburgh. Two main drumming influences at the time were Clyde Stubblefield with James Brown and the great Al Jackson with Booker T and Stax Records. The main drumming groove masters with Motown...Benny Benjamin, Pistol Allen and Uriel Jones…were also very significant. These were the first drummers I emulated and listened to the most during those years, but rock came into play too. Mainly Mitch Mitchell with Jimi Hendrix, Ginger Baker with Cream and a few others. By the early '70s it was mostly rock and psychedelic funk from groups like Sly and the Family Stone and The Funkadelic.
My first drumming experience working in a group context came in high school...playing in the stage concert band and paralleling, in a rock band with some of my school buddies. The school stage band was a mixed bag of styles and concepts. It was also my first dibble into playing something that resembled jazz. The legendary Bill Robson was the band director and very influential because he gave me opportunities to play styles I wouldn't have otherwise. After graduating high school, two weeks later I joined the Navy but didn't play drums. I did attempt an audition but it was thoroughly embarrassing. In hindsight it was one of the best things that could have happened for me because it revealed how much work I needed to put into anything if my objective was to be good and competitive.
After the Navy I didn’t play music right away. I worked odd jobs like for a record store. I was dating a woman at the time who was a lead singer in a popular dance group here in the Hampton Roads area, and I heard their drummer play night after night. His name was Mark Hopkins. I’m mentioning him because he was hugely responsible for inspiring me to play the drums again. I’ve shared this with him many times. He would help me and was always supportive. Eventually I started playing in local dance bands.
It was easy to find work with cover bands because there were dance venues everywhere during the '70s. The main band I was in was a very versatile group called Fat Chance. Loved playing with those guys. Then one day we got offered a gig to be the back-up band for the '50s doo wop group, The Flamingos…which were fronted by one of the original vocalists, Terry Johnson. It was my first time "touring" on a national level. We played some interesting venues. From strip clubs in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to classic rock venues like the Hurricane Club in Ocean, Maryland. The Hurricane gig was certainly memorable. Found out we were opening for Leslie West of the Mountain fame at the Hurricane. Keep in mind the Flamingos were a tuxedo show band. Hits like "I Only Have Eyes for You" and "Besame Mucho" were nightly features. Imagine that opening for Mississippi Queen. Ha!
Another memorable show was in Detroit. We used to play a Temptations medley and one night Terry said, "Before we start this I would like to invite a special guest up to join us." We were all baffled because we didn't have a clue who he was referencing. Never said anything to us in advance. He then said..."Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a warm welcome for the great David Ruffin!" I'm like DAVID RUFFIN? There he was coming up on stage. I couldn't believe it. I got to play drums with one of my all-time vocal heroes. The man who laid "My Girl" on us. That was an incredibly exciting moment in my career. After a while though that music and scene wore on me greatly. So, I quit. I jumped into a black hole of nothingness because I couldn't take it anymore. I eventually decided to use my GI bill and go to school but I started as an accounting major. I was clearly trying to get away from music performance, but one thing after another kept leading be back to music. Call it fate, I guess.
A big part of what I got tired of playing that music was the inability to play drums creatively. We were perpetual timekeepers. That’s pretty much it. I got bored to death and wanted something more artistically stimulating and fulfilling. Someone turned me on to jazz style known as bebop. It was complex and play way over my understanding, but I was deeply intrigued. In the '60s jazz was played in my home too but I didn't pay much attention to it. I got introduced to jazz fusion in high school but never played it then. When I was in college, I started playing jazz professionally. My first major mentor was saxophonist Abdu Salim. He was another hugely influential figure in my musical life. Abdu said to me one day - “Just because you’re a drummer that shouldn’t give you a pass on learning harmony, theory and composition.” He was an instructor at the Armed Forces School of Music for the Army. He would teach me theory and such, and soon I started writing my own music.
That was the beginning of a very long career playing, writing and teaching this great music. I've had the opportunity to play with some of the greatest musicians that have ever played this music across the globe. Freddie Hubbard, Mulgrew Miller, Chuck Mangione, Joe Henderson, Jon Hendricks, Arthur Blythe, Branford and Ellis Marsalis, Scott Hamilton, Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Marian McPartland, Charlie Byrd, Fred Hersch, and many, many more. It's been a wonderful up and down journey. I've played many styles of music over the years with many world renown artists. I simply love playing the drums and to play the instrument is physically, emotionally and spiritually gratifying.
Jae Sinnett hosts Sinnett in Session, The R&B Chronicles, and Students in Session on WHRV FM. He also shares his love of the culinary arts on Cooking with Jae on Facebook every Sunday at 6 p.m. Plus, catch up with past episodes.
