Part Three: In the UK

Tuesday, February 18
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club London, England

Today we settled into the club and played one of the best sets we've ever played. If feels good to take up residence in the same club for a few nights in a row, and when we can play in one place for a week, its very special. We worked on adjusting our volume levels down so we play with a wider range of dynamics. By bringing down our peak levels and adding more low volume playing we're able to play more interesting and intimate improvisations and I don't have to fight to be heard above the rest of the band.

During the day I did some more research in preparation for interviews for the "History of Rock Drumming" DVD I am working of with the Rob and Paul at Hudson Music. This is an ongoing project that we have been working on for over a year. We are collecting interview footage from some of the pioneers of rock drumming. On Thursday I will be interviewing Clem Cattini, Bobby Graham and Brian Bennett, three of the top UK session drummers in the late 50s and throughout the 60s and 70s.

Wednesday, February 19
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club London, England

I spent the day sightseeing with the family. We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and went in the London Eye, which is like a giant Ferris wheel with fantastic views of London. We took in a dinner of fish and chips and then I relaxed for a few minutes before the gig. The club was sold out and Pete King, the owner of Ronnie Scott's, let us know we are sold out for the rest of the week!

I knew a lot of the folks in the audience, Zildjian's Rab Zildjian, Louise King from Rhythm magazine, Jon Newey from Jazzwise magazine, Geoff Nicholls (who co-wrote the new book on John Bonham), drummers Gary Husband and Mark Mondeseur. I'm honored and thrilled that so many people are coming to the club to see and hear us play. The band is playing at a very high level and we are reaching deep into our creativity and playing our music with a very fresh approach.

Thursday, February 20
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club London, England

I started the day early, leaving the hotel at 9:30 am to travel to Brian Bennett's studio to conduct the interviews for the upcoming "History of Rock Drumming" DVD on Hudson Music. Brian played drums in The Shadows, the most successful of the early English rock bands from the late 50s and early 60s. He is now very in-demand as a film and TV composer and has a beautiful studio that he has graciously offered to Hudson Music as the location of the interviews with him, Clem Cattini and Bobby Graham.

The film crew picked me up at the hotel and we drive 40 minutes to Brian's studio and setup for the days work. We're ready to start filming at 1 pm and have been joined by Ed Bicknell and Hudson Music's UK kingpin, Ron Fry. There is a very festive atmosphere as Clem, Bobby, and Brian gather in the studio and catch up since they all have know each other since the late 50s/early 60s. By the time we start the first interview with Bobby Graham dozen of hilarious stories have been told off-camera in the studio's kitchen. Bobby tells some fantastic stories about recording hits with the Kinks, Dave Clark, Petula Clark, Van Morrison and many others.

Clem Cattini is up next and he also has some great stories about The Tornadoes, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Los Bravos and fellow session players Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. For a US reference these drummers were truly the "Hal Blaines" of London. Brian Bennett talked about the history of early English rock music going back to the popular "Skiffle" music of the fifties and describing the important Club 2i's scene were he was the house drummer -- the birthplace of English rock.

His years with Cliff Richards and the Shadows were very important in laying the foundation that the later English groups like the Beatles and the Stones built on. Once the interviews were finished at 6 pm I traveled back to the club to tune and adjust my drums for the nights performance. I like to go to the club a few hours before we play and make sure the drums sound good and get everything set for the gig. Our performance was very high-energy as I was inspired by all the interesting stories I heard during the day and Tom, Baron and Frank were well rested and ready to burn.

My guests included Ian Croft, the Sonor A&R man who takes care of arranging Sonor drums for me when I'm touring around the world or performing clinics, drummer Thomas Lang -- a fellow Sonor endorser and an amazing drummer -- and Bob Wizcling the head of Zildjian UK and the man who put together a great set of cymbals for me that I keep in the UK for when I'm on tour in Europe or the UK.

Friday, February 21
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

London, England Today I did another day of sightseeing with the family. Diane, Kasia, Liz and I went to the Tower of London and spent hours walking around this ancient structure. We rented the CD players/headphones for the "guided tour" and I recommend it, the experience was very interesting. We finished off the day by walking across Tower Bridge and then going to Ronnie Scott's for dinner.

At this point in the week playing with Vital Information is effortless. We routinely play on a very high level and the increased range of dynamics that we were working on at the beginning of the week are now feeling very much a part of our concept. Playing for sold-out houses every night feels very rewarding because we have been working so hard for years and we are finally getting some consistently good attendance on our tours. Perseverance is such an important part of developing a career in music. Brian Bennett and Ed Bicknell attended the performance and we had a great time talking with them after the first set.

Saturday, February 22
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club London, England

I started the day by spending two hours at the local laundry washing my clothes. Clean laundry is such a problem when on tour and this will be the only time I can get my clothes washed until the tour is over in two weeks.

Today was the last day in London with the family and we wanted to do something special so we went to a matinee of the musical "Les Miserables." The production was grand and the performance inspiring. I enjoy the theatre and Les Mis was very good.

For dinner we were invited to my friend Dr. Dan Reinstein's house for a home cooked meal. I've known Dan for about 15 years, he is a very good sax player who I have played many gigs with, but he makes his living as one of the most prominent doctors in the world performing laser eye surgery. We enjoyed great food (a Thai dish) and stimulating conversation with Dan and his lovely wife Ursula. They had a baby sitter come in to watch their two young children and came to Ronnie Scott's for the band's final show of the week. After the show we had to break down and pack up our gear. We were out of the club by about 4 am and the band had a 7:30 lobby call for our flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

Sunday, February 23
Travel Day

I left the hotel at 7 am with my family. They are traveling home today, Diane and Liz to the San Francisco Bay Area and Kasia is going back to college in Ashland, Oregon. We've had a wonderful week together in London and we'd love to stay another week. I said a sad goodbye to them at the United ticket counter in terminal 3 Heathrow Airport and then made my way to terminal 1 where I met the rest of the band plus Saan Arthur, the soundman from Ronnie Scott's, who is traveling with us to Istanbul, Turkey. We got everything checked through on British Airways -- with NO overweight charge -- and had smooth flight to Turkey.

Istanbul had just been hit by a major snowstorm so we arrived to very cold weather and deep snow. At this point we are all just happy to have a night off to rest and relax.

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