Geez, that guys never fails to completely blow me away. I saw him a few years ago with Mike Stern and he was amazing - as he always is.
The only thing I remember thinking was that during the times where he was keeping it straight and just laying it down, his groove was unbelievably comfortable and smooth. That aspect of his playing isn't as obvious when he's playing so busy, which is most of the time. Kind of made me wish he'd step out now and then and take a gig where he emphasized his considerable groove abilities and save the mind-bending stuff for other projects. If he did, he could, IMHO, easily join the ranks of the Brian Blades, Steve Jordans, and Chris Daves of the world.
Not that I'm complaining because I love what he does and how he sounds when he throws it all out there, and there are precious few drummers who can play like that and still hold my attention. He's definitely one of my favorite drummers and has been since I first heard him with the Elektric band back in '86.
Still, with his groove alone, I wouldn't be bashful about nominating him for the next Plant/Page/JPJ reunion. If he could get into the mindset for a project like that (and I have no doubt he could), I'm pretty sure he'd knock it outta the park!
Now that I think about it, I wonder why he never chased the Sting gig? He has a certain smoothness that Vinnie doesn't (not to take anything away from Vinnie) that I would think would be a better fit for Sting's silky smooth voice.
But enough of that! Block out 22 minutes and
check this out!