| My family and the people I grew up with.
Everything I've ever heard and loved.
Everything I've ever heard and didn't like.
Classical music. My grandmother playing Beethoven and Chopin on her grand piano.
Swedish folk music.
Irish music.
Flamenco guitar.
Beats from everywhere.
Melody.
The Beatles. Wrote the manual on pop songs.
Frank Zappa. I know, you either get him or you don't...
Drummers.
Anything that's progressive, experimental and too interesting to be played on commercial radio.
Punk rock. Empowered everyone who wanted to play an instrument, something that our public school system has failed to do to this day.
Bands like The Clash took me to reggae and beyond.
Mike Oldfield, way ahead of his time and always distinctive to this day.
Bass players! Motown. James Jamerson. Funk bass. Bootsy. Fretless. Jaco.
Slapping. Stanley and Louis. Mark King, Will Lee, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Steve Lawson, Michael Manring (gifted bastard!). Tony Levin. Anyone who ever played with James Brown, Prince or Miles Davis. Sly and Robbie. Did I mention Tony Levin? Anyone who can make an upright bass sound good, unlike me.
Drum machines.
Folk and world music festivals.
Anybody who plays a guitar with an individual voice. Or any other instrument.
Film music. Ambient soundtracks.
John Coltrane. Jazz pretty much begins and ends with him for me.
Singers, songwriters and instrumentalists who can make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, or bring tears to my eyes.
The Chapman Stick.
New music! Contrary to popular belief, not everything worth listening to was created "back in my day".
Good cooking and good coffee.
My kids Alicia and Marcus.
Lord Monkeybottom Jones III.
Sorry, made that last one up to see if you were paying attention.
Arnold Knickerbocker.
You still with me..?
Everyone I've ever played with - thanks!
Send me email.
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