by Robin Tolleson / Modern Drummer – Feb. 1996

Since completing a Ray Charles tour in 1991, David Rokeach has made a point to visit as many areas of the musical map as possible. The drummer can be heard on new CD releases by blues/rock singer Lady Bianca, Brazilian pop guitarist/vocalist Joyce Cooling, jazz diva Kitty Margolis, fusion guitarist Jeff Massanari, and hip-hop pointman Dreadformation. The West coast-based drummer has also recently backed singers Mark Murphy and Claudia Gomez, performed drum duets with Louie Bellson in Fred Berry’s All-Stars, and taught with Leon “Ndugu” Chancler at the 1995 Stanford Jazz Workshop.

“The key is having respect for each style you play,” says Rokeach. “In most idioms the masters play only that. And order to play an idiom well, you kind of have to live the music. I want it to sound like it’s the only music I play, that I’ve played it all my life.

“My role is usually to make the music feel good,” Rokeach continues. “Sometimes solos are required, and you have to understand the idiom to solo in it. It’s not the same chops or sounds. The sounds help define the idiom, and that’s not just equipment or tuning… it’s touch.”

The drummer’s level of commitment has paid off with calls from Los Angeles conductor (and former Ray Charles arranger and conductor) H.B. Barnum to play several television gigs, backing up artists including Patti LaBelle, Aaron Neville, Lou Rawls, and Mavis Staples. His flexibility paid off again in creating interesting rhythm tracks on Never Ending Game, the debut Island release by Dreadformation, which combines heavy hip-hop grooves with hot horns, cool acoustic piano, and heady rapping. “I’m really excited about this project,” Rokeach says. “The drums helped give the music form. [Composer/bandleader] David Allen, Jr. would play me his demos, and then ask me to find something that worked I’d usually play the first thing that came into my head, then write it down. And a lot of times the gut feeling was the best.”