Hey Jason. I was hoping you could talk about your time at the Berkelee College of Music. What was it like, in the classroom and outside of it? What did you learn during your time there?

Second, what are your 5 favorite albums?

Thanks for doing this!

Berklee…..........loved it my first semester, then hated it my second…........ONLY becuase I was burnt out by the educational aspect of everything by that point and I just wanted to get out and PLAY.  Berklee doesn’t teach you how to be on tour, or deal with clubowners, or how to get along with 4 other guys in a van, the only way you learn that is by getting out and doing it, and that’s what i did.

But I did love my time there, the environment was cool - however if you are a young male - there’s a very small female population at Berklee, so I guess that’s the only downside  
I did learn a lot, theory, arranging, counterpoint, some recording basics, all stuff that still stays with me to this day.
As far as playing, it pushed me farther than I’ve ever been pushed prior to that point - jazz/independence studies, fusion, latin and afro-cuban rhythms, sight reading, the Chaffee books - once again, stuff that I still work on to this day, and teach to my own students.

Top 5 albums

way to hard to list, but here’s 5 I couldn’t do without (in no order)

Rush - Exit Stage Left
Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Mahavishnu Orchestra - inner Mounting Flame
Slayer - Reign In Blood/Anthrax- Among The Living (tie)
Metallica- Master of Puppets

Mahavishnu Orchestra!?  Really!?  My respect for you has just gone up tenfold!  Saw you live for the first time at last year’s Mayhem Fest and hope it’s not the last!  Keep doing what you do best and stay metal

Nothing beats Mr. Cobham on that record, and my friend just sent me a bunch of old MO DVD’s from the 70’s

here’s some more non-metal stuff that I’d need too…...

Steve Smith Vital Info - C’mon on In, Show ‘Em wWere You Live
Chick Corea Electric Band-  first 3…............c’mon Weckl in the house (and any Michael Camilo stuff he’s on too)
Simon Phillips - Protocol ( i love that band he has),  Jeff Beck - There and Back
Billy Cobham’s Glass Menagerie - Observations and Relections

and

Rich vs. Roach - need I even explain that??

Inner mounting flame is awesome. I’m in the process of covering “vital transformation”, there’s some wicked 9/8 up in there. How about Tony Williams? That guy was an incredible drummer and made some great tracks, and some questionable ones… Billy Cobham is a beast of a drummer, the spectrum and total eclipse albums are mind blowing.

yeah I have the Tony Williams live at the Blue Note vid from the 80’s and he’s just off the hook,
he even plays this little blast beat figure - another great talent who left us to soon.