What are some of your favorite recordings?

In no particular order...
Led Zeppelin - ALL
The Beatles - ALL
Me'Shell NdegeOcello - Plantation Lullabies
Ten Hands - The Big One Is Coming
Nick Drake - ALL
Donny Hathaway - Live
Wynton Marsalas - Black Codes
Jeff Buckley - Grace
James Brown - Star Time Box Set
Keith Jarrett - Belonging
Ahmad Jamal - At the Pershing
Miles Davis - Four and More, Kind of Blue, We Want Miles
Doudou N'Dyae Rose - Djobte
Bill Withers - Greatest Hits
Soul Coughing - Irrisistable Bliss
New Orleans Funk '60 - '75 - Various Artists
Herbie Hancock - Thrust
KISS - Alive II
Dave Holland - Extentions
Zakir Hussian - Making Music
Los Lobos - Colossal Head
Jacky Terresson - Lover Man
Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century
Al Green - Gets Next to You
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
The Sundays - Reading, Writing & Arithmetic
Bjork - Debut
Van Halen - Fair Warning


What are you checking out right now?

MUSIC
Bobo Stenson - War Orphans
Sigur Ros - Taak
The Concretes
Wilco - New record
David Bowie
Howard Tate
Flaming Lips
We Three
Raging Honkies - We are the Best Band

What kind of drums are those?

The newest kit is an early 80's Gretsch kit that is PINK laquer! 24, 13, 14, 18 - Rock!

I also have a few Ludwig kits from the 60's that sound great.

I also use a set of Joe Montineri drums that I had custom made in 1998. Joe is a master craftsman in Connecticut and makes truly amazing drums for some of the best drummers in the world. The kit has 2 bass drums (18" and 22"), 10", 12', 14" toms and a 6 1/2" x 13" snare.

The other kit that is sometimes pulled out of the garage is a yellow stain, 60's round-badge Gretch kit that has 12", 14", and 20" drums.

"Birtha" is the 28" Ludwig marching bass drum that I use for certain rock gigs. It sounds huge and feels great to play (it must be something about all that air moving!)

For Brass Monkey, I use a Ludwig Acrolite snare (that was my first drum.)

For cymbals, live I use all Sabian, but for recording it's a total variety of everything from the first set of Zildjians my mom bought me in the late 70's to new Sabian crashes to Paiste to funky 40's, 50's and 60's Zildjia hats to UFIP to Istanbul.

The gear is never complete....