SKF NOTE: There was a time drummer-producer Paul T. Riddle and I decided to tape our phone conversations about drums and/or the music business. We both have in common love and great respect for the founding fathers of jazz drumming for what they played, and for their words of wisdom.
Exactly what we planned to do with the tapes? I don’t remember. Sometimes we’d just let the tape roll while we talked. Later on we’d figure out if we said anything worthwhile, worth publishing.
We’d talk loosely about writing a Paul T. Riddle/Marshall Tucker Band biography. But always we’d end up kicking that can up the road.
Last week I started re-listening to two 90-minutes drum/music business tapes Paul and I recorded on Tuesday, January 24, 1989. Paul was in South Carolina. I was in Maine.
This segment is Paul and me talking about Mel Lewis‘s lifelong dedication to the Art of Jazz Drumming. Years earlier, Paul and I caught Mel’s big band at the Village Vanguard. Modern Drummer Features Editor Rick Mattingly was there. So was drummer Danny Gottlieb, and Marshall Tucker Band band and road crew members.
Listening to Paul’s obvious love of Mel Lewis and other jazz legends, it’s easy to understand why Paul, for his current band, The Toy Factory Project, is surrounding himself with contemporary musical giants; musicians who also know and respect the work of their musical forefathers.
Scott K Fish 
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