In no particular order: 

  • Bizmarkie: I was working with De la Soul at Calliope Studios in NYC. They introduced me to the big man and I wound up recording all the tracks on his first album. One night in the studio he pulled out an old gem from the milk crate he kept his records in. The song intro he was interested in sounded like an old upright but it was played completely out of time. We tried to sample, cut it up and put it back together, but it wasn't working and he was ready to call it quits. I convinced him to give me a few minutes to try something. Despite his misgivings about having any "live performances" on his record, I played it, added some record noise and that became "Just a Friend". The rest is musical history as they say. Footnote: He asked me to work on his next record, but his manager, Benny Medina wouldn't give me any points so I passed. Biz went ahead and made it using samples. The label released it and un-released it practically in the same day! 
  • Digable Planets: Their record label approached me about this project. They had a small budget and wanted to avoid having to pay for using any samples. My reputation for being able to recreate the sound of old recordings landed me this gig and I did a lot of that on this album! It won a Grammy in 1992 for Butterfly and the crew. They did use some record samples and they paid for those, but the rest of it was me and my "sonic re-creations".

  • Mick Jagger: After the success of the Digable Planets debut album, my partner Mike Mangini and I were approached about a remix for a track from Jagger's upcoming solo album. I happened to answer the phone when he called. Between the crappy connection and his english accent, I thought it was a crank call and almost hung up on him. We did discuss the project but ultimately we didn't get the gig. A few months later, I did hear it on the radio though. Rick Rubin had looped the funky drummer breakbeat under the entire track and that was about the extent of the remix!

  • University of Miami (FL) School of Music: There was quite a roster of players when I was there in the mid 70's. The short list includes Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorious, Hiram Bullock, Patty Scialfa, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Egan, Chris Carter, Steve Morse and the Dixie Dregs. I was lucky enough to see and hear them all, up close many times while I was working towards my music degree. That's where I met Ward Camp. We later joined forces and formed Bad Sneakers. Hip hop had not been invented yet!

  • Queen Latifah and "Ladies First": I was one of the engineers working on her debut album in 1989. We worked really fast back in those days, everything recorded and mixed in two sessions. DJ Mark 'the 45' King was producing. The samples and the beat he put together were working pretty well but something was lacking in the low end. I came up with a bass part that he liked. That's how I wound up as a writer on the song. Nobody really knew if rap and hiphop was going to be around in the long run? The track sheet from that recording is now on exhibit in the African-American Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. I guess the answer is yes.

  • Calliope Studios, NYC:  I met Chris Irwin, the owner, at a Bad Sneakers gig on the Jersey Shore in the mid-80's. When I left the band, he offered me a job. Chris was actively going after the business from hiphop DJ's and rappers. His studio was completely different from any other studio in the city at that time. At Calliope, the mixing board and speakers were in a large open space with high ceilings. That's exactly the kind of space we used to make all the Bad Sneakers records. There was a kitchen area and couches spaced around the room. It was a very creative atmosphere with a talented crew: Bob Power, Bob Coulter, Ted Sabety, Dan Miller, Calvin Gaines, Philip Gaines, Lisle Leete, Fortunato Procopio and Joe Teig. Technology was enabling people with no formal music education to make music in a brand new way and I was right in the middle of it.

  • Bad Sneakers, Ward Camp, Bill Dube, Marc Moss, Neal Tillotson, Dale Dalabrida: My post-graduate musical education was spent working in clubs up and down the mid-Atlantic region from DC to New York and back. Based in Newark, Delaware, we carried our own sound, lights and crew, performed 220+ nights a year and produced three albums on our own label between 1979 and 1986.    

  • Howard Stern, Jackie Martling: In 1999 Jackie's wife at the time, Nancy Siriani, recorded an independent album. I produced three tracks for the record. One day Jackie and Howard were discussing the project and Howard started reading from the CD credits on the air. My best friend in high school is Steve Yagerman. His mom, Betty, loves Howard Stern. Steve told me she almost fell out of her chair when she heard him say my name on the radio!

  • Diana Ross, Brandi: I was hired to be the music supervisor for the made for TV film, "Double Platinum". Little did I know, it would also be my acting debut when I played piano in a scene where Ms. Ross and Brandi get a little testy with each other. On this gig I also got to work with the legendary Atlantic Records producer, Arif Mardin. That was the cherry on top!

  • Ted Nugent: A group of us at UM started a cover band, Ice Nine. After my junior year at UM, we got offered a chance to backup a couple of singers and go on the road, so I took off a semester. One night in Providence, RI after the club closed I was on stage trying out some new pedals. In walks this guy who starts asking me questions and introduces himself. I knew who he was but had not listened to much of his music. He just wanted to jam and talk shop. He played some really nice stuff and when I asked him what kind of pedals he used, he said he didn't use any, "I just crank up the amp and let it rip." Yeah, that's what he does!

  • Year of the Cat: After Vanilla Ice came out all the labels wanted a white rapper. Mike Mangini got a deal at Arista for a talented young rapper named Shaka and hired me to engineer. One of the songs was based on samples from Al Stewart's song, "Year of the Cat". It was an Arista album and the label actually sent us copies of the original 24 track masters to sample from. We put the 24 track tape up, set all the faders at zero and that was the record, effects and all. Absolute magic but no wonder, it was produced by Alan Parsons... awesome work by an awesome producer.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Pete Ganbarg, A&R at SBK Records, approached me about engineering and mixing the theme song from the first TMNT movie. I worked with the artist, Partners in Kryme, and wound up with a Gold record. Then I landed the producer job for their debut album, my first major label production credit. Go turtles!