John Shea - John holds a special place in my heart because it was with him I cut my teeth on Jazz Drumming. John took a chance on me and I played with him for many years on drums. We had a lot of fun and a lot of swing was  had. 

Eric Reed - One of my favorite pianists! Dear Brother. 

Andrew Dixon - My dear Brother I met through Take 6. We have some fun and not so fun stories together! A very good man! 

Pops - See today's Blog

Keith Hall - As you can see Keith and I have done a lot of life together. He has been so encouraging to me both as a brother and a musician. I am so blessed to call him friend and brother. 

Mike Hyde - Great guitarist from GR. Honored to have shared the stage with him many times and to have him on my CD "My Father's World"

Jeff Dunn - Jazz enthusiast and great photographer

Alicia Olatuja - Amazing singer

Greg Hutchinson - Great Jazz Drummer

​Tom Harrell - Great Jazz Trumpeter

Scott Gwinnell - Great pianist and composer from the Detroit area

Carlos Henriquez - Great bassist for Wynton Marsalis and J@LC

Doc Cheatham - Great jazz player. Was still playing strong into his 90's

Ronald Westray - Dynamic trombonist!

Madison George - Great young and upcoming drummer

Endea Owens - Endea is an inspiring bass player who despite overcoming hard times is always so joyful and full of life. She was at MSU my first year here, and is now the bassist on the Late Show. I was honored to have her on my cd "Jubilee" 

Chick Corea - I saw and met Chick on multiple occasions and he was very kind. He made sure to introduce himself to me. Master of creativity. 

Geri Allen - From Pontiac, MI Jazz piano great. Picture from the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Marcus Belgrave - I had the pleasure of taking a lesson with Marcus while I was in HS. There are things he taught me in that one lesson that I still use to this day. I also had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him a few times on both trumpet and drums. Very grateful for all the experiences I was blessed to have with this jazz master! 

Dan Nimmer - Dan is Wynton Marsalis' fabulous pianist. I have known Dan for many years now. Dan is always so kind and welcoming and always takes time. I've met his parents and his wife and he has very cute kids that even played a gig with him once with J@LC. I had the distinct honor to have Dan on one track on my "My Father's World" CD. 

Ari Teitel - Ari is another fabulous student of Professor Napoleon. Very soulful and fun. Ari is doing great things in New Orleans now!