NOLA 2025

I returned last week from the annual Brass Queens trip to New Orleans. This is the third time I’ve gone to NOLA with this band, and it has become one of the trips I most look forward to every year. We did two recording sessions, played two concerts, ate well, and saw a ton of great live music.

I knew the trip was off to an auspicious start when I was randomly assigned the Baby Dodds room in our hotel. Dodds was an early 20th century New Orleans drummer who pushed the boundaries of what a drummer could do in a band. He laid the foundation for big band swing and brought New Orleans drumming to the spotlight.

In his autobiography he writes, "It was my job to study each musician and give a different background for each instrument. When a man is playing it's up to the drummer to give him something to make him feel the music and make him work. That's the drummer's job."

at music box studios. thanks ricky from caesar brothers band for lending me a kit for the week.

The next day, we recorded at the Music Box Recording Studio with Keanon Battiste. It was a small studio, and for the first time ever we recorded in small groups instead of as a full ensemble. Nora (Sousaphone) and I went first and the rest of the band played over what we tracked.

typical night on frenchmen

That night, we popped over to Frenchmen Street to hear one of our favorite NOLA Brass Bands, New Breed, at Blue Nile. Here’s a picture of Nora playing with some of our New Orleans brethren on the corner of Frenchmen and Chartres.

The next day, we played a set at Howlin’ Wolf. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures whilst there, but it was a vibe. Shouts to NY homies Bryan and Collin for coming to the show with 15 or so guys who were in town for a bachelor party. And congrats to Dan on his upcoming wedding!

yamaha oak custom and one hundred mics at esplanade studios

On Friday, we recorded at Esplanade Studios, one of the best rooms I have ever recorded in. The engineers, staff, equipment, and vibe were all top notch. There was even a pool table in the basement! I really I hope I get to return to this space for more recording in the future.

the stage at preservation hall

The highlight of the entire week was on Saturday, when Nora and I got to sit on the stage for a set at Preservation Hall. The band was full of musical assassins, with my new friend Shawn King on drums. This is it. This is hot jazz. It does not get better than this. The pinnacle. It was so good I had to go back for another set the next day.

The stage at favela chic

Our last band obligation was Sunday night, where we played our yearly late night set at Favela Chic. This one is a mental challenge, as we play from 10pm-2am, but it is always a blast. There is no cover at the door, so patrons walk in and out throughout the night and hopefully leave a tip in the bucket or buy a drink at the bar. The band crushed it again this year, and we left that show exhausted but fulfilled.

my wife and i outside of tips with a free venue-provided banana

I saw so much great music that I can’t even mention it all here. The highlights were the Headhunters at the Civic Theatre, NY’s own Red Baraat at Blue Nile, Cha Wa at the Gallatain Street Festival, and of course Galactic at Tipitinia’s.

tiki drinks at Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29

I would be remiss to not mention some of the great food and drink we had.

Top 3 Food
Pork Belly at Mister Mao
Avocado Chaat at Mister Mao
Red Snapper Ceviche at Pêche

Top 3 Drinks
The above Pandan Painkiller from Lattitude 29
Mid-afternoon draft Abita Amber at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
Obviously a Hurricane from Pat O’Briens.

I’m already daydreaming about going back next year. Perhaps we will get to play an official slot at Jazzfest :-)

Out Now: Black & Gold by Brass Queens

The first full length album from Brass Queens is officially here! We recorded Black & Gold back in May at the Bunker in Brooklyn with engineers Alex Conroy and Megan Mishkin. The album contains 5 BQ originals, 10 covers, and features the following personnel:

Trumpet: Alex Joseph, Stephanie King, Minerva Johnson
Alto Sax: Ally Chapel
Tenor Sax: Jenna Murdoch
Trombone: Elizabeth Arce, Stephanie Young
Sousaphone: Nora Nalepka, Heather Ewer
Percussion: Caitlin Cawley
Drum set: Yours Truly

The Bunker has a lot of great vintage kits but I wanted the drums on this to sound as modern as BQ does so I brought in my Yamaha Tour Custom. To say I’m thrilled about the way the drums sound would be an understatement. I mean, listen to that 14” tom. It sounds MASSIVE! My Ludwig Supraphonic really cuts through the band and my Zildjian As blend nicely.

Here’s a short video of three drum clips: The first is an excerpt of Titi’s Kawa where I try to sneak in some licks inspired by two of my favorite drummers - John Bonham and Stanton Moore. Next is the halftime breakdown of Lady Marmalade. And finally, here’s some uninterrupted drum footage of Vision Quest. I don’t have video of the take that we used for the album, but I’m really happy with the drums throughout this song so I wanted to feature it anyway:

As always, Brass Queens has a jam packed schedule coming up, but I invite you to join us for an official release show for the album on November 18th at Littlefield. I hope to see you there!

Experimental Drum + Cello Jam

New year, new energy. My Hound Dog castmaste Mel Hsu was in town yesterday so we thought we’d get together and JAM! We played for a little over an hour and it was so cathartic that I felt like I had just received a 60-minute massage. Enjoy a minute of our weirdness!

Out Today: Her Sound, Vol. 3

The final installment of Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound project is out today! These 3 albums (more about the first two here) were a great professional achievement for me, as I tracked every single percussion instrument—and there were many—by myself.

When I was asked to record Vol. 1, I had one single USB microphone and could only use my weekly allotted slots at a studio space that I shared with others. I made it work. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was downright frustrating. So frustrating that it was the impetus I needed to invest many, many dollars into recording equipment and my own studio space that I can use around the clock. These two improvements were game-changers. It was still incredibly difficult to perform and engineer at the same time, but I could now record at my own pace with much higher quality gear.

I’m really proud of this project, and of Ethan, and of producer Ryan Scott Oliver who I’ve known for quite some time. Give a listen below!

Layoff!

Due to union regulations, the entire Grinch orchestra minus the Music Director and Associate Music Director had a two-week layoff at the end of November. The rest of the company traveled to DC for two weeks at the National Theater where they picked up local musicians, including Danny Villanueva, my friend and mentor from my University of Maryland days, who took over the drum book.

I didn’t mind at all as it meant I could travel to California to spend Thanksgiving with my wife and her family. I had a nice time in the warmer weather, but I did need to practice a lot as I am starting to sub on the new Broadway show, Six (more on that when the time comes). Special thanks to my in-laws, Alex & Alicia, for letting me set up shop in Alex’s studio so I could practice on a rental kit. Here I am with some of Alex’s record collection. There’s some good stuff in there!

After a week out west, I got back to New York and had just enough time to fit in a recording session at Power Station before hopping back on Grinch tour. It was a mini Lightning Thief reunion with Wiley Deweese (keys and MD), Yuka Tadano (bass), and Kevin Wunderlich (guitar). We recorded a new anthology for The Michael Friedman Collection with a group of fantastic singers. Here I am set up in “the Motown Room.”

Of course my favorite part of the project was that my lifelong friend Ian Kagey, Director of Operations at Power Station, was behind the board. We’ve been working together for over 20 years!

Now I am in Atlanta and about to open the last week of Grinch at the Fabulous Fox. Stay tuned for a little Grinch write-up once I’m back from tour next week.

Now Playing: Her Sound, Vol. 2

Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound, Vol. 2 was released on September 17. This follow up to Vol. 1 (here ICYMI) features many amazing singers including Alysha Umphress (On the Town, Bring It On, American Idiot), Jewelle Blackman (Hadestown), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls) , and the homie Jo Lampert (Joan of Arc), with orchestrations by Solomon Hoffman.

I tracked this in April and it’s such a joy listening now and returning to the space these gorgeous songs take me to. Congrats to Ethan and all involved in this project and stay tuned for Vol. 3!

Opening: Twelfth Night

This weekend, Pace University opens a virtual production of Shaina Taub’s Twelfth Night. Back in January, I was invited to record the drum book by Music Director Alexander Tom, who played keyboard 1 on Grinch in 2019. I’ve done a few things at Pace in the past, including Drowsy Chaperone in 2018. Last year, I was hired to play Head Over Heels there, but unfortunately it was one of the first gigs to go at the start of COVID.

It was really exciting to be in a studio for the first time in nearly a year due to the pandemic. There were only three of us in the main room, plus an engineer and assistant in the control room. COVID protocols were in place, everyone was always masked, and safety was prioritized. We only had a few hours to record the entire score, so we moved quickly and efficiently. I’m excited to hear how everything turned out! If you’d like to watch the show, grab tickets here.

Here is a video of an excerpt from the opening number that I took in my studio in preparation for the session. If music be the food of love play on!

Out Today: Brass Queens - Royal St.

Congratulations to Brass Queens on the release of their new EP, Royal St! I’ve been playing with the Queens since the summer and it’s always fun. The ladies and the music they make are simply infectious! They play with a few different drummers and I am honored to play on “Mad” and “Liza” for this release. Above is a picture from the recording session we did a few weeks ago. They took my lunch “dietary restriction” seriously, which I always appreciate!

Have a listen and enjoy!

Now Playing: Her Sound, Vol. 1

Today is release day for Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound, Vol. 1, and it. sounds. amazing! I’m extremely proud of this one, as I tracked all of the percussion on my own. It was HARD TO DO and it nearly drove me to the edge, but the payoff has been extremely rewarding.

The album is produced by Thousand Faced Theatre in association with the incomparable Ryan Scott Oliver and features many fantastic musicians (with orchestrations by Solomon Hoffman) and an array of talented singers. I first played this wonderful music at Don’t Tell Mama in June 2017.

Here’s some info on the recording. Give a listen below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Her Sound is a new song cycle that reimagines the ancient stories of women in the Bible. Instead of the tired tropes of “wife”, “mistress”, and “whore”, discover the untold accounts of a rebel contemplating the cost of knowledge for a bite of an apple, a disobedient wife celebrating her community of women, a groundbreaker escaping the walls that trap her, and many more.

That's a Wrap: 2020 (Thank God)

My wife and I, March 22, 2020

In just a few hours, the most unusual year of my lifetime will come to an end and we will all collectively breathe a sigh of relief. Personally, the year started off strongly: I was playing the 11 o’Clock Numbers series at West End Lounge (both series and venue a casualty of the pandemic), made a trip to the Bahamas for the Broadway Across America conference (which was when the threat of COVID became a reality), started Gold Dust Women with a bunch of bad ass ladies, and was looking forward to a few musicals coming down the line. Those musicals weren’t to be, of course, as the entire theater industry was forced to shut down.

While there was no end in sight for the longest time, we now see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel thanks to two promising vaccines. When we will be fully vaccinated and back to some semblance of normalcy is pure speculation at this point, but I’m going to try my darnedest to be hopefully optimistic going forward.

Tomorrow I’m moving into a rehearsal space of my very own for the first time since high school. I can’t wait to be fully set up to record at all times and I’m looking forward to taking on some more private students in a virtual setting. And having all of my drums outside of my Brooklyn apartment is going to open up so many opportunities for feng shui improvements which I know my wife is looking forward to! (Have I mentioned that I got married in 2020? See, it wasn’t all so bad!)

My last project for the year is this beautiful tribute to Olivia Harris’s mother, who lost her battle with cancer in December. Today I reflect on Olivia’s words and I’m hoping we all see some growth in 2021.

Everybody’s a garden

Sowing joy and pain.

Everybody’s a garden.

Why can’t we let it rain?