Here is a nice story guys.
When i was a kid my dream was to go to PIT hahaha, Well after 4 years of procrastination ( I was 19 when i finally signed up)...i got there and one of the first things I saw, was the big band ensemble.( At the time they had a big band yes! It was sooooo cool to be able to learn and play that) As i walked the hallway towards the room where the band was, i heard this incredible drumming, burning up an uptempo chart with precision and power! Whhaaa , i thought to myself i gotta meet the guy who is playing that! So as I entered the room...i saw lots of other students peering towards the band. We all stood there kind of in disbeleif. That big ol band that sounded like a powerhouse (all top LA cats back in those days) was being pumped by this "kid" who was burning up that chart!! He looked even younger then he was back then hahaha! I asked another guy standing there "who the hell is that" and he said "oh thats cliff"
Son of a gun i never forget that day! The next day I saw him practing in his little room at the school and i right away started banging on the door! hahah! I asked him if he could help me with big band since my hands were shaking at the thought of having to play in front of Houghton and the freaking cats back then haha! To my surprise he said "oh sure man" and then proceeded to show me all the things he knew, reading interpretation of charts etc etc. Damn...I can still picture that day over 20 years ago. I learned so much in those first weeks alone and watching that "kid" reading his buttoks off, burning through chart after chart, was an inspiration that stays with you forever.
That my friends here at drummer world, is Cliff Almond. Super generous cat whom i hope you guys will draw from and pick his brain. A great addition to the forum.
Peace.
PM