WEBVTT - The Spirited Actor - Ralph Rolle 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.280 Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:06.440 Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:10.600 TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.200 a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:19.400 Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:24.439 I auditioned every rapper from biggiees Balls to Tupac, and 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.200 I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.600 transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:37.400 Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.120 Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:45.080 also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.720 I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director, 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.320 I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.800 acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.080 that room. Now I know, I know actors want to 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.200 get the job. I get that, But being remembered by 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.240 a casting director that is powerful. 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.640 And now it's time for meditation of the day. 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:12.440 There is power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:19.440 in owning your unique story, and in using your authentic voice, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:28.000 Michelle Obama, Don't waste unnecessary time trying. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:33.080 To figure out if people like you, if they don't 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.360 like you, if they're talking about you, what they're saying 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.800 on the dms, and talk all of this stuff. 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:45.319 It's such a waste of time, especially because you don't 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:49.760 know these people. Why invest the energy on trying to 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:54.960 please or negotiate or compromise with people. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:59.040 That have no influence in your life. And even if 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.240 they do have an influence in your life, you have. 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:04.560 The ability to choose. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:09.120 You can listen to the noise, listen to the distractions, 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.320 be a part of the distractions in drama, or you 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:18.959 can disconnect and stop wasting time. Because time is precious 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.480 and time is something that you can never get back. 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:30.160 Today, I will respect and enjoy my time. 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.040 Before we get started, I like to remind everyone to 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.520 go to Krackical Network to view seasons one and two 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.120 of my show Inside the Black Box that I co 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:48.000 host with the great Emmy Award winning Joe Morton. Look 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.920 out for news on season three soon. Welcome to the 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:56.720 Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.880 I am honored to have. 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.760 Our guest here today, especially since we're celebrating and supporting 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:06.680 June as Black Music Month. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.279 I want you guys. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:14.440 To put your hands together for Ralph roll who is 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:19.959 a legendary, acclaimed drummer, and also he's an entrepreneur, which 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.560 I'm excited to talk about his company. He is the 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:26.040 founder of the Soul Snack Cookie Company. 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.519 Ladies and gentlemen, mister Ralph. 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:33.560 Rollo, thank you, dank you, Ralph, Hey Trace, how you doing. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:35.760 I'm excellent. How are you? 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.080 I'm doing great. I'm in London right now on tour 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.880 with nol Rogers, so we'll we're having fun. He's a 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:44.400 great guy. 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:50.000 I am so happy that I can share this story 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.960 with you, which you probably don't remember, so I'm cool 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.560 with that. But I landed in New York City in 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:01.480 nineteen eighty three and there was a YEP August fifteenth, 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:05.560 nineteen eighty three, and my roommate was being managed by 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.680 Russell Simmons. And when I got off the plane, we 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.240 went to Green Street Studio run DMC was there, Curtis 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.720 Blow Full Force and they're recording. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.000 That was my first experience getting off right that. 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:23.839 Evening, I went with who later became my husband, Steve Salem. 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:28.279 He was friends with Nile Rodgers and took me to 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:32.000 a club in the seventies, which I want to say 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.159 was like Sugar Bar, but I don't know if that 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.960 were Sugar something. I don't know if it was there 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.680 back then, but we were in the seventies. I remember that, 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:46.160 and Nile Rogers I was I lost my mind, lost 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:51.760 my mind. So I kind of met you indirectly, maybe 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.240 in nineteen eighty three because ladies and gentlemen. 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.200 He's been playing since fourteen. 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.479 Sixteen, and no I started. I started professionally when I 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:02.520 was nineteen. 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:05.239 But prior to that, you were playing. 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.720 I've been playing since I was nine years old. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.240 Look at that and then a professional. 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.280 I don't know if you guys heard professionally at eighteen. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.880 So I want to start off with your life, like where, 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:19.520 what was your. 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:23.240 Inspiration to be a drummer? How did that start? 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.000 I started? I grew up in the Bronx and I 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:30.080 grew up in bronxhiver houses, which is kind of iconic 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:37.919 because the true backstory from hip hop is hip hop 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:45.080 and it's promotion started in Bronx ripper. Although cool Herk 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.680 does get the accolades for being the first person to 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:54.039 actually do this art form. The real branding of hip 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:59.560 hop started with Africa Bambata because he was a very young, 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.599 just business minded guy at a very young age. So 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.240 he was the one that was doing the flyers and 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:09.919 the promotion and all those things that no one was 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.479 ever doing. So he kind of put hip hop on 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.080 the map in a way where cool Heurt was coming 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.719 to him, hang out with him, to go to these shows. Wow, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.400 and that's that's that's the you know, that's. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:27.080 The the Bronx. The Fever right. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:32.600 Yeah, Yeah, disco Fever was over on Jerome right off 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:37.880 of Jerome Avenue when University Avenue. Yeah, the Bronx was 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.120 kind of hot back in the seventies when it came 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.919 to uh, when it came to music. But I started 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:47.200 playing drums in my apartment because my brother, who's seven 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.760 years older than me, he was the male role model. 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:54.080 I grew up in a single parent household, and he 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.960 was the one that was always getting into something. My 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:02.880 mother raised four kids by herself, and she always you know, 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.880 if you're a parent, you know that there's a strategy 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:07.520 every day that your kids don't even know that you're 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:12.680 strategizing about. Yeah, So he was the one that she 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.360 had to keep the closest eye on. So what she 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.680 did was she allowed him to have a drum set 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.240 in the room because she knew if the drones is playing, 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.080 his behind was in the house. But the fact that 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:24.760 I looked up to my brother so much and I 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.160 did everything, I did everything my brother did. I mean, 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.240 I tried to copy the way he used to walk, 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.800 you know, when he when he was in the bathroom 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:37.200 combing his head back. When I had hair, I would 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.400 comb it the way he'd combed it, And you know, 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.080 just tried to have my brother's swag. So playing drums 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.760 because he played, I was like, I want to play drums. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.640 So he said, you can play, there's no problem, but 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:53.720 don't switch the drums around because I'm left handed, and 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.240 I would I would have had to change the drums 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.880 completely to the opposite side. So I learned how the 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.440 I played drums open handed, which I still played to 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:02.960 this day. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:04.120 Wow. 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.560 Yeah. So the drums were around for about a year 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:11.280 or so, and then they disappeared out the house and 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.440 I asked my mother what happened to the drums. She said, 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.720 don't ask me, go go find your brother and asked him. Right. 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.040 During that time, he started dating a young lady named 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.000 Michelle who lived in the next building, and they were 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.560 to get all the time. It was like all the time. 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:29.280 So I went over to her house and I knocked 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.200 on the door, and Michelle came to the door. How 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.040 he came to the door and I said, hey, man, 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:35.720 how you doing. He says, I'm doing okay. I said, 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.439 what happened to the drums? He said, well, first of all, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.280 Mommy put me out. That's that's the first thing. And 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.200 second of all, Michelle is pregnant, so I had to 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:50.200 sell the drums. And you know, you're going to be 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.760 an uncle, and you know, and we're gonna get get 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.280 married and all of this stuff. And I just looked 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.959 at him. I said, but where's the drums? That's all 0:08:59.920 --> 0:09:07.400 I cared about it. I care about all that, you know. 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.560 The good story is that they've been together over sixty years. 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.559 They have four kids and a bunch of grandkids. 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.080 Yeahs a blessing. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.120 He left and moved to Virginia first, and he was 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.240 an engineer and started his own company, did very well, 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.959 retired and moved to Florida. We brought him a drum 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.560 set for his fiftieth birthday, and he gave it away 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.080 because he knew he could. He wasn't going to play, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:30.960 so he gave it to some young kid who could play. 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:33.680 But that's how that's how it started for me. I 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.080 started as just watching him and I just I just 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.760 stuck with it. And it's been good. You know, it's 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:41.720 just been a good run. 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.960 You're a great storyteller, so visual, so visual. I saw 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.720 your mother yelling at your brother, kicked him out. 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:51.720 I thought it one time. 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.240 One time she went to work and came home in 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.720 the back of her you know, you never touched your 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.120 mother's console stereo and you know it had the TV 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.960 and the record player and the radio had stations from 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.160 other countries. You know, it was the big one, okay. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.320 And he took the back off. He found some speakers 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.000 outside and wide speakers from the living room all the 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.120 way back to our bedroom. I'm surprised he was alive 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.920 after that one. Yeah. But he was a tinker. He 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.120 had always been a tinker, very smart a young man. 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:32.559 He's one of the first black supervisors for DuPont's engineering department. Wow, 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.520 he was a Brillian guy. 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.760 You know, it's funny when you said that about your mom. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.400 My mother used to come in and blow us away 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.679 because she was like, who moved the couch? Like little stuff? 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.880 And we're like, what are you talking about? Who moved 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:49.920 the couch? And then she would walk over and like 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:54.080 push it back, like somebody really was crazy. Because I 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.920 grew up with two brothers, I wanted to ask you 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:02.640 because for me growing up, Prince, well, let me start 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.439 with Parliament and Funk of Dellen. They were the most 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:11.439 outrageous group. George Clinton, like that was outrageous and I 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.680 was all for it growing up in San Francisco when 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:20.440 Nile Rogers, Nile Rogers was like Prince to me, Like 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:25.920 I had never seen heard of Nile Rogers. Ever, how 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.800 did you meet him? How did you guys form? Because 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:29.600 how long have. 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:30.400 You been with him? 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.360 Right now you say you're in London with him. 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.600 I've been after Tony passed away. The drummer that came 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:42.240 after was a gentleman named Omahaikim, very famous drummer. And 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:49.480 then me, so I've been here now almost twenty years. Wow, yeah, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:53.440 almost almost twenty years. Yeah. Yeah, I actually left the 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:58.319 Apollo to work with now because I knew that what 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.560 he brought to music, sad to say, is an anomaly 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:07.520 when it comes to black producers. Sad to say, because 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.560 there aren't many. There aren't many groups like ours that 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:15.200 are tory tour and has done the kind of things 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.320 that now has done. He's you know, there's I know, 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.440 amazing producers. I grew up with them, but there was 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.120 only they only make enough slots for just a couple 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.440 of people. And he got into that to that space 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.640 and he killed it. I mean, he's in his seventies 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:33.520 and he's worked with Beyonce and and he just works 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:34.199 with everybody. 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.840 Everybody. Yeah, like I was, I was going to say. 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.600 He has to be close to the seventies, but that's 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:41.800 it's amazing. 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:47.320 Like I just finished working with Buster. 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:51.440 We were working on Naked Gun with Liam Nelson and Nilsen, 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.839 and Liam said to me after we were working, he 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:57.760 was like, you know, Chase, I'm seventy two. And I 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.000 was like, I didn't know that. I also worked with 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.720 Joe Morton on a show that Scruce and I work 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.439 with Inside the Black Box, and Joe is in his seventies. 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.959 So I'm saying that to say that, you know, I 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.360 often talk to young people and say, you know, the 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.520 beauty is in the aging process to me right now, 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:22.080 and saying that you have had such a plethora of experiences, 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:27.360 You've worked with the best in the industry. Y do 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.280 you feel like at this point like because this is 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.040 what I feel because I'm at a certain age. 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.280 Howsoever, I still feel sixteen. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.720 I still feel like almost like inside the black box 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.960 gave me this other chapter and I'm running with it 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.000 because I'm looking at you and I am you know, 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.360 as a casting director, we don't deal in age. We 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:57.840 deal with rage. But your experience and your range are 0:13:57.880 --> 0:13:58.280 not in. 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.240 Sync with each other. You look very like, really great. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.600 So how do you maintain stamina? How to maintain all 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:06.080 of that? 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.520 Because traveling is it's heckic. 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.680 Well, the stamina is because it's a lot of good 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:19.040 drugs in my neighborhood. And and I'm kidding. Truth, the 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:23.000 truth of the matter is I grew up at a 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.120 time where where I came out of the heroine age 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:30.240 into the cocaine age. Me too, and I was smart 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:35.359 enough two uh see what it had done to my community. 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.040 And it was one of those note to sell things, 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:42.880 don't to self, don't do that, don't don't go on 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:47.480 that because the results are bad. So I stayed away. Honestly, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.000 I stayed away from it all. You know, you know 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.520 a glass of wine, you know, bottle of beer, and 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.480 that's it for me. The band here, you know, they 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:01.520 called me the lightweight because if I have a glass 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.640 of wine, I'm like all right time ago. Yeah, I 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.280 just I just chose to stay away from it because 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.720 I you know, I know and saw what it did to. 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.120 You know, even before my brother became a dad, he 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.760 was a mess. And I know that's why I didn't 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:20.520 know it. Dan. I didn't find out until I was 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:25.240 in my thirties that he was. Also he had his issues, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.520 so I had it around me all the time. You know, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.560 my father was all that, he was never he lived 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.680 across town. You know, my brother had his issues, and 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:37.600 I just said, I don't want to ever be that 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.920 I'm a good father because of what my father Wasn't 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.000 I told him. So I've learned to answer your question 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.680 to take the positivity away from the negativity, and I 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:51.120 teach it in my master classes to find the positive 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:55.560 lesson in everything negative. And that's how you grow, that's 0:15:55.600 --> 0:16:00.400 how you that's how you gain experiences, not allowing whatever 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.560 happened to you to compound into your mind that it 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.000 becomes an exercise that that backs you into a corner. 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:13.040 So so, and any of my achievements just came out 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:16.800 of constantly wanting to push forward, getting past the PTSD 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.600 of whatever happened to me, whatever I saw in my 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.760 neighborhood and all of those things. Yeah, you know, and 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:27.960 now I actively give it back as much as I 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.480 possibly can. So that's just amazing. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:36.080 I love the fact that you teach a masterclass. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:42.560 And because that's, you know, my only experience being around 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.200 a drummer kind of consistently. My cousin married Anita Baker, 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.720 and so I would go whenever they came to New York. 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:52.720 I was always at the shows. 0:16:53.480 --> 0:17:01.000 But always love live music, love drummers, you know, because. 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.119 It's an art all, you know. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:08.360 I never in school, I was never I never took 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.800 an elective for musical instruments because I didn't feel like. 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:15.840 I really didn't feel like I could play the piano. 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.480 I didn't feel like I could really grasp how to 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:19.360 play an instrument. 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:24.440 I gravitated more to acting, but drums like. 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:30.280 Amazing, it's a great instrument. To play, and I find 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.400 that drummers have this bond that is amazing. I don't 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.399 know what it's about. I don't know it's because you know, 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.399 it emulates the heartbeat. I don't know what it is, 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.840 but drummers I am most of most of the people 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.600 that I know in the entertainment well, the closest friends 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.479 I have with drummers, and sometimes we're competitives, but all 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.240 the times we're friends, you know, And that that's something 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.840 that I really love. And you know, one of me 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.679 is why I maintained being a musician is because I 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:07.960 just loved the sensitivity and the communication that music does. 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.080 And the reason why you're in the arts is for 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.960 probably a lot of the same reasons. This other part 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.080 of us that people that don't do it don't understand. 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.960 It's like we're freaking x men and aliens. They don't 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.640 they don't get the psyche and that the mentality that 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:30.200 we have that this is this is a very sensuous 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.879 part of our thinking. To do what we do, to 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:37.399 lay a whole life in front of people to get 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:42.640 their acceptance. It's some hardcore stuff if you think about it. 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.399 From the answers to actors to musicians on down the 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:50.920 line the arts. You know, we do it because it's 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.480 our passion. But it's you know, on the day to 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.520 day it's kind of crazy. You go to auditions, you 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.439 don't get the audition, but you go back to the 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.800 next audition and you yourself up and keep going. And 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.040 if you think about it's kind of crazy. But no, yeah, 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:10.399 but passion does that. And one of the things I 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.520 do say in my masterclass is that passion has no 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:19.240 expiration date, so you'll continue to do it until you 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.080 can't do it anymore. And that's what we do. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:23.040 Yeah. 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:28.240 Absolutely, a forty something years, I'm still out here strong, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:31.640 you know. Ye with these young. 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:36.479 Boys, Yeah, well they standing on your shoulders, so I 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.760 know that they are very grateful and on into being 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.320 your presence. I'm going to tell you my favorite part 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:45.720 of any concert, and especially jazz, is when they do 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:46.919 the drummers solo. 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:52.399 That's my favorite part because just to watch and. 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:58.119 Sometimes I've watched drummers and seen like four arms. You know, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:03.400 it's like, you know, my favorite part of the concert 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.919 because that's when you can truly hear the isolation of 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.160 just the drums and see work that you guys put 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.440 in Man's. 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:13.520 I got to get you out to his show. 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:15.879 Oh yeah, Oh my god, I'm a fan. 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.320 I gotta absolutely get you out to his show. 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:20.320 Oh my god. 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.240 And I wish I knew what that club was, Ralph, 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.520 I'm gonna find out. Unfortunately, I'm still friends with Full Force, 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:28.600 so I can ask them. 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:30.800 Uh huh. Where was it located? 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:35.560 It was like seventy second Street. And because like you know, 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.520 I was fresh in New York, so I didn't know anything. 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:42.120 I just knew it was the furthest that I've ever been. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:46.640 It wasn't Harlem, and maybe it was. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.840 Wasn't there a Birdland? Was Birdland? 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:55.320 Well, okay, Sugar Bar is on seventy second Street when 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:57.679 you walk in, Yeah, go to the left, there's a 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:01.240 bar right there on the stages to the back. Yes, 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:04.120 Sugar Bar has been around for about I would say 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:08.879 about thirty years now. And then across a little further 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.760 over there was a place called Chas and Wilson's. 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:13.520 Oh I remember that, Yes. 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:17.280 Yes, I remember that. It was one of those. And 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:17.960 then then. 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.199 It was very intimate the club that we went to. 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.280 It might have it might have been Sugar Bar. Yeah, 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:27.800 A lot of folks hang out over there. 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.120 Oh my the last time I was there before it closed, 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:35.320 Valerie and we used to have We used to call 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:39.919 him Black Jesus and Valerie Simpson and her husband. 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:43.040 Oh my god, his name just left me. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:46.439 Oh Nick Nick. 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:50.440 We used to call him Black Jesus and Valerie and 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:52.520 Nick were performing. 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:54.320 That's the last time I went to the Sugar Bar. 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:57.520 Yeah. I was in there band for a few years. 0:21:57.520 --> 0:21:59.240 And I got to tell you, Nick Asher is one 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:00.800 of the nicest people be able one to meet. 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:02.320 Oh my god, we loved him. 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:06.280 How do you we when he he Oh my god, 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:09.879 we were crazy over him there. You know, I'm seventies 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:16.280 so Earth Wind and Fire Chic all that music, And 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:17.879 this is the question I want to ask you before 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:23.800 we transition in terms of music today. Yeah, how do 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.639 you how do you feel about because I'm missing R 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:32.119 and B. I'm missing words that tell stories or say something. 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:34.320 Especially when I go to. 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:36.760 Atlanta, I'm like, whoh, you got to use your words. 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:38.840 You got to get at csarist you got to get 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:41.080 some life experiences to use your words. 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:44.439 How do you feel about the climate of music today? 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:50.359 Well, I'm old a lot of a lot of the 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:53.760 stuff that I hear. I can't it's nothing. I don't 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:59.200 like it, I can't relate to it. Okay, So by 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:03.640 judgment of it is music has its evolutions and it's 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:07.679 evolved to this. But the question is always in my 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:13.719 head is where where are the legends? Where where are 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:18.720 the gladys Knights? Where are the Teddies? Where are the luthers? 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:21.720 I'm not getting a lot of those because you know 0:23:21.760 --> 0:23:23.399 when we were coming up and that you know, this 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:26.400 sounds like when you know when I was coming up. 0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:31.639 You know, when we were coming up, we were fortunate 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:36.760 to have a smaller market that allowed major talent to 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:41.880 come through. So we had legends and a lot of them. 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:44.280 We don't have that many now because the market is 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:49.199 so saturated and although modern day communications social media is 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:53.040 so important, it's actually limited the market because so many 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:55.399 people are out there, so for someone to come to 0:23:55.440 --> 0:23:59.280 the top, it's very difficult for that to happen. You know, 0:23:59.440 --> 0:24:06.040