Zachary Alford

Born in Manhattan, NYC, Zachary Alford began his musical journey being influenced by musician friends of his older siblings (his sister’s boyfriend’s band used to rehearse in their living room). “I used to look under my bed at the drums that were stashed there. Being so close to real instruments started my fascination with them.” “My brother’s friend Chandara lived on the 18th floor and he was a drummer too.” After demonstrating an understanding of the drum kit at age 10, Zack’s mom bought him a second hand drum set and he never looked back. “my neighborhood was full of drummers”. Peter “Phoenix” Rivera, Sterling Campbell, Ben Perowsky and Poogie Bell (Zack’s 1st instructor) all lived within a 10 block radius. At age 15 Zack met Charley Drayton at the 7th Avenue South night club and that would galvanize his commitment and direction as a drummer.

Primarily self taught, Zachary played in night clubs throughout his high school years, interacting with scores of New York musicians at the Peppermint Lounge, Danceteria, The Ritz, CBGB’s, A7, The Pyramid Club and the infamous Music Building on 38th st and 8th ave, rubbing shoulders with such future stars as Madonna, Vernon Ried and Jean Michel Basquiat. “It was all about playing music”. This provided him with a rich and diverse atmosphere for playing different styles, and gaining professional experience. He also managed to find the time to study with master drummer Kenwood Denard and Tommy Campbell.

In 1987 he went to Switzerland with Melvin Gibbs and Vernon Ried and again in 1988 with Kelvynator to play on jazz/funk festival tours. 1989 saw him matched up with the B52’s and in the ’90s such names as Bruce Springsteen(’92-’94) and David Bowie (’95-’98). Zachary ’s recording credits include other luminaries such as Billy Joel, Suzanna Hoffs, The Manic Street Preachers, Jeffery Gains, David Torn, Patti Scialfa and international superstars Zucchero Fornaciari, Khaled and Tomoyasu Hotei.

Willie Hall

Willie “Too Big” Hall was born August 8th, 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee. He began his career as a drummer in 1965, while still in high school. He played with the Bar-Kays band and Isaac Hayes’s band The Movement. In the seventies, as part of the Stax-Volt Recording Section Team from 1968-77, Hall backed dozens of major Stax artists on recordings, including such artists as The Emotions, Little Milton, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, The Staple Singers, Albert King and Isaac Hayes. Hall produced Hayes’ last Stax album, and did percussion on Hayes’ albums Hot Buttered Soul and The Isaac Hayes Movement, as well as his Theme from Shaft.

Hall also recorded the album Universal Language with Booker T. & the MGs, and later joined guitarist Steve “The Colonel” Cropper and bass player Donald “Duck” Dunn as a member of The Blues Brothers, which led to his appearance in the hit movie The Blues Brothers and its sequel. He appeared as himself in the 2008 movie Soul Men.

Hall has toured the world and recorded with a variety of artists, including Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, KC and the Sunshine Band, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs, Charlie Daniels Band, Todd Rundgren and Roger McGuinn, among others. He is currently a member of The Bo-Keys, a band of highly respected Memphis musicians, including Isaac Hayes’s wah-wah guitarist Charles “Skip” Pitts. He is the father of rapper Gangsta Pat.

Jimmy Chamberlin

Jimmy Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer, songwriter and producer. He may be best known as the former drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. After a drug-related incident with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in 1996, Chamberlin was fired from the band and joined The Last Hard Men, but rejoined the Pumpkins in late 1998. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the supergroup Zwan and also formed his own group, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. In 2005, Chamberlin joined Corgan in reforming The Smashing Pumpkins; he eventually left the group in March 2009. Chamberlin, who originally trained as a jazz drummer, cites jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, as well as rock drummers Keith Moon, Ian Paice and John Bonham as major influences on his technique. While he is known as “one of the most powerful drummers in rock,” he primarily strives for emotionally communicative playing. In 2008, Gigwise named Chamberlin the 5th best drummer of all time.