Drum Session with Bill Ray
Fri, 05/16/2008 - 03:37 — SecretMission

We had a fantastic drum session with Bill Ray yesterday, recording 5 new songs for the upcoming Secret Mission album.

It was a treat to have Bill in and watch and listen to him work his magic. This is a guy who was drummer for 7 years with the rock and roll legend Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm, won a Grammy as part of Ike's Risin' With the Blues album (Best Traditional Blues Album), has played Montreux, North Sea and Burghausen jazz festivals, and has worked with tons of talented people around the world and a lot of styles of music. He works with a lot of the best, both locally here in San Diego and eleswhere. Go to his website billraydrums.com to see some of his video clips, and you'll see the kind of mad skills this guy has. (he can also be contacted there for sessions). No he doesn't play like that only for TV, he was that good in the session

Besides the standout skills and a wealth of experience, there were other qualities that I noticed and appreciated too, the "intangibles" which are at a different level of musicianship. The session starts off comfortably...He's totally relaxed, down-to-earth and easy to work with. He was very intuitive about each song in the session...seemingly effortless in getting the vibe quickly. Also, I felt like there was a good tradeoff of me giving feedback to him about the tone/spirit of the songs I wrote and him adding his interpretation, built on years of playing. In other words, a musical rapport, which is really important when you bring in a musician fresh into a new project.

We did 5 songs in about 3 hours, and he was able to do it mostly with just one or two takes. Sometimes we did an extra take just to try a different feel, but really all the takes were terrific. In summary, I couldn't ask for a more solid session. He shared some interesting anecdotes about some of his gigs and playing with Ike Turner, and we saw video clips of some shows. Later, after the session, I listened to a disc he burned for me of some of his recent recordings and it was a smorgasbord of great songs spanning a variety of genres and talents.

Undoubtedly he added a sparkle and touch which is going help make this Secret Mission album a special project. I'd highly recommend him to anybody needing a drummer for a session. I know he can be contacted at billraydrums.com and is doing drum sessions!