Blowing the doors off of Spinal Tap, the Chris Duarte Group has easily gone through more drummers than any other band I can think of! Since 1990, Chris has gone through no less than 16 different drummers! Some have had the life expectancy of a moth, others have left their mark on the music in a big way. The band has had a wide variety of talented, powerful drummers, many adding their own style and texture to the music. Different ages, different backgrounds, different levels of experience, even different physical builds, all have contributed to the diverse range of styles and intensity of the music and the shows. Some sat quietly in the background, others were a blast of percussion that demanded your attention. Some came back a few times later for tours or to sit in for one-gig shows. Here's a quick intro summary of the Chris Duarte Group drummers:

Eddie DeCapua (5/90-9/91)
Jeff Hodges (pre-CDG: 1986-90, CDG: 10/91-8/92)
Paul Mills (8/92-2/93)
Wally Doggett (3/93-5/93)
Johnny Benoit (3/93)
Paul Mills (5/93-7/93)
Wally Doggett (8/93-12/93)
Brannen Temple (12/93-4/94)
J.J. Johnson (4/94-7/94)
Paul Mills (7/94-2/95)
Barry "Frosty" Smith (2/95-8/96) (photo above by Jeff Schmatt)
Erick Tatuaka (8/96-1/98)
Jimmy Way (3/98-7/99)
Jason Patterson (9/99-4/02) (photo below by Jennifer Van Nuffelen)
Jeremy Russell (4/02-4/02)
Jason Patterson (4/02-5/02)
Ed Miles (5/02-8/04)
Javier Garagarza (8/04-12/04)
Nico Leophonte (1/05-4/05)
Jimmy Way (4/05....)

There's even more drummers if you count ones who sat in for a few gigs here and there, as well as session drummers on CDG studio recordings, such as:
Chris Layton (live shows)
Tommy Taylor (live shows)
Greg Morrow (12/96, Tailspin Headwhack)
Gordie Johnson (2/97, Tailspin Headwhack)
James Fenner (5/00, Love>Me)
Doyle Bramhall (5/00, Love>Me)
and probably others, too!

Chris Duarte's own musical history extends back to the early 1980's, where he was lucky to have been exposed to several great drummers during his young, formative years (an experience, unfortunately, that most of today's young players never get exposed to anymore). He played with many great drummers in many bands, guys like Jimmy Pate who taught Chris the shuffle, the immortal John "Mambo" Treanor, jazzy Chris Massey, and others, but this history will cover only the various drummers Chris has had since forming the Chris Duarte Group back in 1990 in New Hampshire. So, if you've been confused by who's who, when, how long, and how many, here's your guide to the Chris Duarte Group drummers...

Chris left Austin, Texas, in the summer of 1990 and went to New Hampshire to live with his brother Bart. Chris worked at a summer camp and musically practiced a lot, participating in some open stage night jams. He soon formed a band to do gigs at places like Thums and the Down Under in Concord. He joined up with Don Saviano on bass and Eddie deCapua on drums as the Chris Duarte Band, and also did some gigs as Rebop. Eddie deCapua was a good, straight-ahead drummer. He was one of only two drummers who hadn't lived in Texas prior to joining the band (Jason Patterson being the other one). All of the other drummers Chris has had lived in Texas for awhile or were native sons. I say this only because I think it is something in the water, and I mean out of the tap, not in a bottle, plus the lazy Texas heat, which has something to do with nailing down that Texas shuffle which is a big, basic part of many Chris Duarte Group songs. For the next year, Chris was focusing on narrowing his music to a tighter range of styles and working on his singing. They quickly gained a solid local following in many towns in New Hampshire. In May of 1991, Chris, Don and Eddie flew back to Texas to do a 5-city mini-tour to test the waters and got a great response. This helped convince Chris to move back to Texas, form a band and take it on the road. Eddie and Don played with him through September of 1991. By November, Chris was back in Austin and hooked up with his next drummer and bassist, both old bandmates and dear friends, forming the Chris Duarte Group...

Moving back to Austin in November of 1991, Chris was fired up to form a new band, get a manager to book gigs, and take it out on the road! He wanted John Jordan on bass and Jeff Hodges on drums, longtime bandmates and dear friends. They had both played together with Chris from 1986 to 1990, in bands like Junior Medlow & The Bad Boys and Arson, as well as doing the very first trio gigs together in The Bad Boys. It was Jeff Hodges who first introduced John Jordan to Chris Duarte. The three young musicians were learning at the same time from diverse influences such as jazz, blues, and r&b, playing this music in various bands. This helped develop a keen intuition and ear and feel for each other's playing and it showed in the live shows they played together in the Chris Duarte Group. Chris got Cleve Hattersley as his manager and within a week of being back in Austin had booked gigs, created a band and started playing! The band, now called the Chris Duarte Group, hit the road! Cleve Hattersley relentlessly booked the band throughout the midwest, Colorado, and Texas, even up into Canada. Pulling from their backgrounds together, a Chris Duarte Group show would include a raucous mix of blues, rock, shuffles, Hendrix, and sometimes even jazz. It was with Jeff Hodges that the legendary series of Zoo Bar jazz shows began, the tradition being that if the Chris Duarte Group was ever booked at the Zoo Bar on a Sunday night, they would do an all-jazz show. It started when the band had been booked over several nights at the Zoo Bar, so they had their equipment already set up. This was back in the drinkin' days, and our three heroes put a buzz on after a Saturday night show and wanted to jam together. They tracked down the owner, Larry Boehmer, and got him to let them into the Zoo. They proceeded to play an incredible set of jazz! Floored, Larry talked them into staying and doing an all-jazz show that Sunday night and a tradition was born. The tradition was kept up through various drummers up to Barry "Frosty" Smith. Amazing stuff! In 1992, word spread about the CDG and they were booked on "Much Music", a famous Canadian TV show. The band recorded some demos to shop around in April of 1992. Sadly, Jeff had a growing problem with alcohol at the time and in August Chris made a painful decision and let him go. They remained great friends afterward, though, and kept in touch over the years. Jeff Hodges later underwent medical treatment for depression. He had put alcohol behind him and was playing steadily in various bands such as the Tracy Conover Band and Appa's Blues Power, but one gray April day in 1999 he stunned everyone and took his own life. Jeff was one of the truly great CDG drummers. Even though his time with CDG was short, his history with Chris and John before that was long, making Jeff Hodges the drummer with the longest history of playing with Chris Duarte. Jeff's deep understanding of the music, and his wonderful timing, I think affected Chris's playing style and phrasing. When Chris was in a dark period of his life and had moved to New Hampshire in 1990, it was Jeff Hodges that drove up on his motorcycle from Austin and played some gigs with his old friend. Jeff's warm heart, relentless Cajun energy and endless sense of humor were infamous, and he is sorely missed by all of those who were lucky enough to have seen him play. He was one of the greats...Jeff lives!

Replacing Jeff Hodges was mighty, mighty Paul Mills, a big, lovable, strong-as-an ox, drummer. If I had to pick just one favorite drummer it would be Paul Mills during his first period with the band (before the serious auto accident in the band's van). Paul's muscular arms were as thick as my legs and he hit those drums so hard that it created a pressure wave hitting your chest all night long! His power amped Chris and John up to a higher level of playing, many songs had Paul leading the way like a rocket! He was awesome to watch play. Like Barry "Frosty" Smith later on, Paul was just physically built to play the drums. The spittin' image of his father, John Mills, also a drummer, Paul played his Pearl kit like a jackhammer! I remember one show where Paul was showing me these new drumsticks he wanted to try. They were as thin as a pencil, with a big cotton ball on the end. I knew they were doomed from the get-go and, sure enough, Paul hit them just once and they snapped like toothpicks, somersaulting into the air. The look on his face was priceless, he was one of those big gentle giants who really had no idea just how strong he was! Some of the flat-out most intense live Chris Duarte Group shows I have ever seen, in hundreds of live shows, occurred with Paul Mills from August of 1992 to February of 1993. He was a force of nature! But it was on February 17th of 1993 that a horrible accident changed everything. Driving north of Denver, Colorado, to a gig at the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, in an ice storm and in -14 below zero temperatures, the band's van skidded on some black ice and was hit broadside by a Freightliner truck on a highway. The van was rolled twice and Paul Mills was asleep in the back seat. He was the most seriously injured, the impact hitting him directly, putting him in a coma. Chris Duarte and John Jordan were also injured, but they were back playing, with Wally Doggett on drums, by March of 1993. Paul came out of the coma, but had to learn to walk again, and drum. This was the first period with Paul Mills, he came back two times later, but it was this first period that was, in my opinion, the most powerful phase of the band with this incredible powerhouse on drums. Believe me, if this line-up had been on the Texas Sugar/Strat Magik album, it would've been something else entirely (and I think the album rocks already)!! During Paul's recovery, the band forged ahead, promising him he had the chair whenever he was ready. Paul Mills worked hard to do just that.

After the accident in February of '93, Chris and John were back playing gigs in March, their first gig occurring at Antone's on 3/19 with Wally Doggett on drums. During this time the band underwent a series of replacement drummers as Paul recuperated from his injuries. Wally Doggett was unable to hit the road at this time so the band hooked up with Johnny Benoit. I really don't know how this came about, it reeks of being thrown together at the last minute without auditions or rehearsals, perhaps by Cleve Hattersley, Chris's manager at the time. They hit the road in March and from the get-go it became painfully apparent that this was a bad fit! Johnny Benoit had previously been the drummer for the new wave band Havana 3 A.M. and it even said so on his drum kit (which looked ridiculous facing the audience at a Chris Duarte show!). He didn't really seem to have much of a r&b background, and seemed to not give it his all when playing. Chris expects 110% out of everyone on his stage and sparks will fly if this does not happen naturally. Johnny was also very much into himself and even walked around handing out pretty-boy promo photos like the one shown here (only not ripped up!) I was showing John Jordan the photo above that Johnny Benoit had just given me, and in a split-second, with a rapid-fire series of blurry kung-fu hand moves, had disdainfully ripped up the photo and flung it into the air! He sniffed and walked away and I picked up the pieces and later taped them together (for the archives you see) and noticeably missing is the big chunk where his brain should be! Chris and John played a brief series of ever-frustrating, angry, disjointed shows which culminated in the only gig where Chris called a show early. While in Colorado, at the Double Diamond in Aspen, everything boiled over and Chris smashed his guitar into the stage and kicked over the drums, cancelling the show after only 20 minutes. The signature crack on the headstock of Chris's stolen 1963 Fender Strat came from this show. They cancelled some dates and headed back to Texas to get another drummer! John Jordan said that the van ride was the longest one he has ever experienced! Johnny Benoit's time with the Chris Duarte Group lasted just a few weeks (but felt like an eternity to Chris and John)!

Wally Doggett played drums with the Chris Duarte Group in Austin for some dates back in March, shortly after the accident which severely injured drummer Paul Mills. While Paul was recuperating from his injuries, Chris asked Wally to go on the road with them but he was unable to do so at the time. The band ended up with Johnny Benoit, which ended going up in flames in short order. After the fiasco with Johnny Benoit, Chris and John had to get someone fast as many more dates loomed ahead. The Chris Duarte Group was playing several hundred shows a year and word was getting around. Record companies began to sniff around as well. In April, they contacted Wally again and he joined the band for most of April and May on the road. Wally was a good, solid, steady drummer and fit in well with the band. Paul Mills worked hard and rejoined Chris and John for the first time on April 30th in Austin for a benefit show (it was also at this show that Stevie Ray Vaughan's band, Double Trouble, with Chris Layton on drums, backed up Chris Duarte for a killer set, including Hendrix cuts!). It was obvious that Paul wasn't quite ready to go on the road so Wally Doggett did a bunch of Midwest gigs in May. By the end of May, Paul Mills wanted to try again and rejoined the band, playing through July. Paul still needed more time to heal and Wally came onboard again in August, playing fulltime for the Chris Duarte Group into December of 1993. During this time Chris got signed by Silvertone Records and recording of the first album was slated for early 1994. Chris wanted to really make an impact with his first album and wanted a drummer with more experience than Wally had. Wally knew that the drum position was a temporary gig until Paul Mills wanted it back and understood what Chris wanted to do with the album, too. Studio pro Brannen Temple became available and Chris jumped at the chance to have him in the band. Wally was a good drummer, not flashy or powerful, but reliably there, and proved his versatility by holding his own on some of the legendary all-jazz shows at the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as being right in the thick of it as Chris performed new material in preparation for the new album and performing covers such as "Wild Thing" and lengthy Hendrix encores.

Joining the Chris Duarte Group in late December of 1993, Brannen Temple was well known as a great studio drummer. He had an extensive resume of session work and had done big tours with the likes of Janet Jackson and Sheila E. A crisp, professional player, Brannen Temple, of all the Chris Duarte Group drummers, was second only to Barry "Frosty" Smith in experience and technique. Just watching him you could tell he was BAD, and he had a killer shuffle, perfect for the roadhouse feel Chris wanted for his debut album. With a new old guitar to get a feel for, a new drummer, and a debut album to be recorded in just a couple of months, Chris had a lot to think about. Brannen took a lot of pressure off by hitting the ground running, picking right up on Chris's original material and even adding to it. Brannen was so good that, I think, he was the only drummer Chris has had who gotten to do a drum solo at the shows! During the solos he created some unique, otherworldly sounds by grinding his drumsticks against the cymbals. Brannen was a lot of fun to watch, his hair usually braided and pulled up at the top of his head like a Dr. Seuss character! He was the tallest of the drummers and, like a lanky baseball pitcher, had arms like whips. Many of his fills and drum rolls were blurs of motion and sound. Brannen added a lot to the sound of Texas Sugar/Strat Magik, Chris's debut album recorded in Seattle, Washington in March and April of 1994. Brannen's studio expertise helped things a lot, both in playing and recording. Chris, not quite being a thousandaire yet, couldn't match a great offer Brannen received and Brannen left the group in April for greener pastures. His time was brief, but his effect was profound. Chris was fortunate to have him in the band and on the album. Always in demand, last time I saw Brannen he was drumming on Austin City Limits TV show with Eric Johnson. He also later sat in with Chris Duarte at some gigs years later.

J.J. Johnson started playing in the group at the end of April, 1994. He was an energetic, young drummer with a surprising amount of power in his playing. Like Wally Doggett, he kind of stayed in the shadows and was not a flashy player. J.J. got to sit in on some unusual Chris Duarte Group gigs including some dates with Ted Nugent, where he also did duty as Ted's drummer, and a reunion show that featured the late, great Junior Medlow. J.J. was another solid drummer that Chris has been fortunate to find and he played up until July when Paul Mills indicated he was ready to rejoin the Chris Duarte Group fulltime. J.J. later ended up playing drums with Ian Moore for awhile.

Paul had worked very hard to overcome his injuries from the terrible accident back in February of 1993 and was ready to join the band fulltime at the end of July, 1994. Oddly enough, the only lingering damage he still had was a loss in his sense of taste! Paul had been working hard and he came back for some great shows. He picked up the new material off of Texas Sugar quickly (most of it he had performed before with Chris) and the debut album was released that October. It did very well, getting good reviews, quite a bit of airplay, and generating lots of attention and new fans. Paul's playing was much better than his second time in the band, but still didn't match the fury of his days before the accident. Additionally, Chris and John had both been playing together every night while Paul was gone for a year, bouncing ideas off of each other, working on new material and songs, and had sort of evolved into a different style and direction musically from where he was. By December, Texas Sugar was doing well, the band did several radio appearances, and there was a feeling of momentum and excitement. Chris was already looking towards the second album, thinking about new rhythmic ideas when an opportunity arose to land the legendary drummer Barry "Frosty" Smith. Chris made the painful decision to let Paul Mills go, not only a wonderful drummer but a good friend, too. Paul had worked hard to come back and thought he was doing good. I have to agree to some extent, Paul on a bad night kicked total ass over many drummers on their best night, but things had changed in the band. It was a difficult thing to see him go, but the "chemistry", for lack of a better word, had changed, as well as the music. The upshot was the dawning of the magnificent era of the next Chris Duarte Group drummer, Barry "Frosty" Smith, a true drummer's drummer. Paul Mills continues to play in several bands around Austin and has dabbled in producing and is a great singer as well. In fact, he even formed a band with Barry "Frosty" Smith on drums and himself on vocals! It would not surprise me, given the history of drummer turnovers and the persistence of this particular drummer, if Paul Mills wasn't back on the throne some day!

"Frosty" as Barry Smith is known, is a master drummer and it created quite a stir when Chris had the honor of him joining the band in February of 1995. Frosty is a drummer that other drummers go see perform. He can do anything on the drums, his extensive experience going back to the 1960s and 70s in such bands as Rare Earth, Lee Michaels, and Sly & The Family Stone. He had been playing in Soulhat prior to joining up with Chris. Frosty's impact was immediate, his playing just as intense as Chris and John's, and the three of them often jelled into this incredible musical force onstage. Sitting low behind the drums, Frosty was hard to see. Like Paul Mills, he was born to drum and was physically built for the job. He, too, had massive arms and played with a potent force that drove the music up in intensity. He had a keen sense of timing and phrasing, his chops totally unique and inventive, with power to burn. Even at his most intense, you always got the feeling that he had more in reserve. This was a very exciting period, with high hopes for the band. The 1st album was still doing very well, CDG was on some nice tours, getting good exposure opening for Buddy Guy and touring in Europe, and the expectation of doing a second album soon, with Frosty, was eagerly anticipated by fans everywhere. Chris had won "Best New Guitarist" in Guitar Player magazine's readers poll in October and it would just seem natural that Silvertone would want to put out a second album in '95. Chris certainly had the material, many songs that came out later on Tailspin Headwhack were already written, and most certainly the personnel, to put out a great second album. Plans were on for a December recording date and an April release date, but those got put on hold, beginning a series of delays that frustrated CDG fans everywhere! It is one of the greatest blunders I have ever seen why Silvertone did not strike while the iron was hot and put out a follow-up album to Texas Sugar/Strat Magik. The Chris Duarte Group played on with their grueling road schedule, performing some of the hottest live shows in the history of the band. But the road was taking its toll physically on Frosty. He left the group for awhile due to a knee injury and Tommy Taylor filled in for some dates in November of 1995. Frosty was back by December, but the physical pain only worsened during the spring and summer of 1996. It became apparent that Silvertone was dragging its feet for a second album and Frosty decided to leave to pursue other interests. Frosty, like Brannen Temple, is a drummer who is always in demand. It really was a lost golden opportunity that the second album was not recorded with Frosty on drums. However, later on, in May of 1999, bassist John Jordan did record the three of them on his own label, Tana Records. Releasing the incredible "Only One" album was a personal point of pride for John and Chris, having finally made a recording with this legendary drummer. This recording is a mind-blowing musical tour-de-force, and it should be in everybody's collection. (Go to the stuff section of this website and order a copy, it is a must!) Frosty is truly one of a kind, bringing magic wherever he goes.

Erick Tatuaka was a young drummer with a lot of energy who was recommended by Richard Belisle, Chris Duarte's road manager at the time. I would have to say that the most shirtless shows (ones where, about half-way in, Chris, John and the drummer are dripping with sweat and shirtless!) occurred with Erick Tatuaka. His first gigs with the band had John Jordan playing a rented bass keyboard, playing with a broken hand. Erick was the first drummer to introduce electronics into the sound and was also the first drummer to sing back-up vocals. He used an electronic intro beat and played on top of it to great effect on songs such as "People Say" and "Thrill Is Gone". One thing I enjoyed watching was Erick's ever-improving style and growth during his time in CDG. Each time I saw them, every 3-6 months, he was noticeably better and more confident, trying out new rhythmic approaches to songs such as "Walls" and "Cleopatra" and definitely "Azul Ezell", which is still the best version of the song I've heard, thanks a lot to Erick's swaying, driving, percussive display of drumming. He also threw in a lot of little extra surprise fills and flourishes that would cause Chris and John to laugh out loud and look back at him in surprise. Sometimes, being a young latin hot-head, his temper would flare. There was one show I was at where this guy kept taking flash pictures, big bright ones, all during the songs. Erick leaned into his vocal mike and asked the guy to please stop taking so many pictures. Chris looked surprised, but quietly agreed with his drummer. During the next song, again, the nimrod started taking flash pictures as before. This time, at song's end, Erick really told him in no uncertain terms to knock it off (and stood up as he said it!). It was the kind of warning John Wayne would give you before sending you through a wall! Luckily, the half-wit put his gear away and promptly left the show. Erick had a very aggressive, physical style of playing and gave many songs a big boost of juice! By the time he left the group in January of 1998, I thought he had become one of the best drummers the Chris Duarte Group has ever had. Erick rejoined the band for one outrageous show in the summer of 2000 at the Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado, leaving the place nothing but a burned-out shell! At the time he was doing shows where he played a variety of drums, percussion and electronics to a hip-hop scratch DJ, as well as doing some acting on the side.

Following Erick Tatuaka's departure as drummer came the news that Silvertone had dropped the Chris Duarte Group. But the show must go on and dates were coming up fast. There was an urgent need for a replacement and there was no time for auditions, so manager Joe Priesnitz obtained the services of the next drummer, Jimmy Way. To be honest, it was a rough beginning, as Jimmy came from a completely different background and didn't have as much exposure to the shuffle and blues as Chris and John. There were some clunky moments where he'd be off-beat or doing a different rhythm, but he'd manage to keep it from going over the cliff! John Jordan and him clued in on each other on many songs in the beginning. He had a frenetic energy to his playing that was interesting to watch. Some songs would wobble along with an off-kilter Howlin' Wolf-like beat, which added tension to cuts like "Crimino" and ".32 Blues". Jimmy Way really brought electronics to the CDG sound, this time with a lot more buttons! Hooked up to his kit was a big, electronic Kurzweil machine that was programmed to play samples and effects. It worked good on a few songs, but had the effect of distracting him from the task at hand as he tried getting it to work (Jimmy hadn't had it that long). Always interested in recording gear as well, he experimented with recording drum snippets, filtered into outer space, for use as samples to load on the Kurzweil. There was one show in which Jimmy bravely let loose with a sample that made both Chris and John visibly rattled. During an extra-intense "Shiloh", as Chris was reaching the very absolute climax of the lengthy screaming guitar solo, an air-raid siren went off that drowned out Chris AND went on for probably twenty seconds or more! I don't think Mr. Way knew at the time that the song was a Civil War tribute and the airplane had not been invented yet, but, hey, an E for Effort! Actually, the look on Jimmy's face was worth the price of admission alone! But seriously, over time Jimmy got better and more focused, always listening intently to Chris and John and always playing hard. While Jimmy was in the band, Chris started getting interest from various record labels. He ended up entering into negotiations with Rounder Records and wanted to audition another drummer for the band and have time for him to learn the material in time for the next album. Jimmy Way was let go in July of 1999 and auditions began for the next CDG drummer. Now fast forward to the year 2001: bassist John Jordan has left the Chris Duarte Group and has formed a fantastic improv trio, the John Jordan Trio, with John on bass, Alex Coke on saxophones and flute, and Jimmy Way on drums - without any electronics! Now just Jimmy and the drumkit, he has developed into a very interesting drummer, with interesting new ideas, and is a wonderful fit for the wide-open John Jordan Trio. He also has assembled his own recording studio out in the beautiful Texas hill country near San Marcos and it is there that the John Jordan Trio began recording their first (still unreleased) album, and a rare 200-run CD (Mysterious Quartet from Helsinki) from the same sessions, both of which feature Chris Duarte. Jimmy Way joined the Chris Duarte Group onstage (two drummers at the same time, Jason Patterson and Jimmy) in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on 3/8-9/02. It was a most entertaining combo to watch, to say the least, if not less!!! Truth be told, I think Jimmy Way is from another planet or a parallel dimension or both! He has a unique drumming style all his own and is another drummer that is interesting to watch perform.

Jason Patterson was from South Carolina and played in the band Cry of Love. He had seen the Chris Duarte Group perform a few years prior and was very impressed. He contacted Chris's manager and told him he would like to audition if the drummer slot ever opened up. He got his chance and got the job. Jason brought more of a "rock" feel to the drums, and had a forceful grace, rapid-fire fills, and a big bass drum. He recorded the album "Love Is Greater Than Me" in May of 2000, having spent a little over half a year with the band. Jason already had previous studio experience with Cry of Love. In October of 2000, bassist John Jordan surprised the CDG community and left the Chris Duarte Group. He'd been playing solid with Chris for over 10 years and needed a break from the road and to spend time with his family, as well as get going on his own solo projects. In a pinch, dates looming, Jason called Robert Kearns, his former bass player in Cry of Love. This was a plus, giving Chris an experienced rhythm section to hit the ground running. There were some obligatory clunky moments at first, but what ended up happening was that the Chris Duarte Group evolved to more of a "rock" feel on many songs. Jason was a blur of motion on many songs when you saw them perform live, he really moved around his kit! Some drummers sort of maintain a certain position throughout the night, but Jason would sometimes jump up and play standing! Jason is the drummer on the third CDG album "Love Is Greater Than Me" and sent photos of the recording sessions (see stories on the Interviews page below). Jason played ferociously despite excruciating back pain which worsened over time, finally forcing his departure from the road and the band in December of 2001. But Jason played on through April of 2002, while the band tried out some new drummers, and he played a memorable series of shows, a real trooper (or a glutton for punishment)!

JAVIER GARAGARZA (8/2/04-12/04)

Who are your faves? I cannot think of a single instance, not even close, of a band that has gone through so many drummers! It truly is one of the more unusual aspects of the evolving, dynamic, organic sound of the Chris Duarte Group! The beat goes on....