a brief history...

 

1971    march 23 in boston, ma. 

            aries

            bask in love, music & good food

1975    first kit in cleveland, oh. a gift from jamey haddad

1976    play drums in bedroom with the radio in santa monica, ca.

1978     november 22 woodland hills, ca. 

            welcome little brother mateo

            play drums in garage with cassette deck

1981    inform father & mother of intentions to play music professionally

            play drums in soundproofed garage with skipping cd player... return to cassette deck

            study with alex acuña

            fly on the wall with j.r. robinson, steve gadd, vinnie colaiuta, terry bozzio, steve jordan, jim keltner, 

            chester thompson, harvey mason, billy cobham, mike baird, & rick marotta.

            learn from jeff porcaro

1984    january 13 see genesis mama tour at the los angeles forum

1986    take night courses at dick grove college of music

1987    join the opening year of hamilton high school academy of music

            get driver’s license

            borrow dad’s bright orange vw rabbit

1989    exploit a full scholarship to berklee college of music

1991    get hired for 1st official recording session; justo almario ‘heritage’

1992    join letters to cleo

1993    meet girl dreams are made of

            bask in love, music & great food

            bachelor’s degree in music synthesis

            move back to los angeles

            gig with tribal tech

            crash an invite only audition for steve vai

            tour with vai for 4 months

1994    start a band with mike & teddy landau called the raging honkies

            record 1st number one single; big mountain ‘baby, i love your way’

            tour with seal

            play snl with seal; host john travolta

1995    first gig on bass with the ‘art ensemble of the bargain clown mart’... change name to ‘chocolate genius’

            record & tour with jonatha brooke

            record & tour with doyle bramhall ii

1996    first arena tour with mylene farmer

             record 'mmmbop' with some kids running 'round the studio

1997    record with duran duran

            record & tour with k.d. lang

            co-produce & co-write chocolate genius ‘black music’

            record with imogen heap

1998    first stadium tour with johnny hallyday

            record with scritti politti

            record with paul westerberg

1999    record with meshell ndegeocello

            tour with mylene farmer

            co-write & record with k.d.

2000    tour with k.d.

            record with ricky martin

            record with manhattan transfer

            co-produce & co-write chocolate genius ‘god music’

2001    record with paul mccartney

            first gig with paul - landmine benefit @ beverly wilshire hotel

            record with fishbone

            second gig with paul - concert for ny @ madison garden

            2 days later... tour with sting

            first gig with sting - window’s xp launch @ bryant park

2002    play ‘pepsi superbowl fan jam’ with sting february 1 in new orleans

            play superbowl pre-show with mccartney february 3 in new orleans

            paul, wix, rusty, brian, & abe become a band

            play ‘lady marmalade’ at the grammys with christina aguilera, pink, mya, lil’ kim, missy elliot & patti labelle

            tour with paul ‘driving u.s.’

            record with vanessa carlton

            record with lisa marie presley

            play backyard of buckingham palace for the queen’s gold jubilee

            continue tour with paul ‘back in the u.s.’, ‘driving mexico’, & ‘driving japan’

2003    record with b.b. king

            record with jewel

            record with liz phair

            ‘back in the world’ tour with paul

            play show inside of the coliseum, may 10, in rome for 500 people

            play show in front of the coliseum, may 11, in rome for 500,000 people

2004    record with kenny g

            ’04 summer’ tour with paul

            record with les paul

            record with sheryl crow

            record my last outing with chocolate genius ‘black yankee rock’

2005    superbowl halftime show with paul

            record with eric clapton

            record with fiona apple

            record with nikka costa

            play ‘live 8’ show with paul

            ‘us’ tour with paul

            record with pussy cat dolls

2006    13 night run at bercy arena in paris with mylene farmer... my duet singing debut

            play ‘fine line’ & ‘helter skelter’ at the grammys with paul

            join sting on the ‘broken music’ tour

            record with j.j. cale & eric clapton

            record with landon pigg

2007    record with alison kraus

            record with celine dion

            record with avril lavigne

            play secret gigs with paul‘amoeba records’, ‘electric ballroom’, ‘highline ballroom’, ‘l’olympia’, &

            'the roundhouse'

            record with hannah montana

            record with puddle of mudd

2008    record with edgar winter

            record with miley cyrus

            shows with paul in quebec, liverpool, tel aviv, & kiev

            record with michael mcdonald

            tour with eric clapton

            record with steve lukather

            record with randy jackson

2009    record with rob thomas

            record with eros ramazzotti

            tour with paul ‘summer live’, ‘good evening europe’, & coachella

            tour with clapton & winwood

            record with lady gaga

            record with adam lambert

2010    record with tim mcgraw

            south american tour with sting

            ‘up & coming’ tour with paul

            perform at the white house for president obama & the first family

            play snl with host paul rudd

            play the apollo in harlem

            play the apollo in london

            play the 100 club in london

2011    play ‘pepsi super bowl fan jam’/cmt crossroads with faith hill & chrissie hynde

            continue ‘up & coming’ tour with paul

            start recording sprinkle record

            record with faith hill

            ‘on the run’ tour with paul

            play ‘grand prix’ in abu dhabi

2012    finish sprinkle record

            play “golden slumber’s’ medley at the grammys with paul

            continue ‘on the run’ tour with paul

            play the zòcalo

            record with leon russell

            play in front of buckingham palace for the queen’s diamond jubilee

            play the olympic opening ceremonies

            record with michael bublè

            record with bryan adams

            jam with black sabbath & don’t have time to record

            record with josh groban

            play 12.12.12 concert for hurricane sandy relief; share drums with dave grohl

            play snl christmas show with host martin short

2013    record with dani martin

            start recording ‘new’ with paul

            ‘on the run’ becomes ‘out there’

            play colbert report

            play bonaroo

            play seattle with ‘sir-vana’

            record with juanes

            play outside lands in san francisco

            play regina

            release sprinkle record ‘naked’

            record with sarah maclachlan

            promote the release of ‘new’

            return to japan

            exhale

2014    inhale

            play grammy’s with ringo

            celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ed sullivan show with paul & ringo