His new, Grammy-nominated album represents a major return to his roots as a jazz artist. “That’s why we call it Boomerang,” says the drummer, whose first rock ’n’ roll recording was Paul McCartney’s hit 1971 album, Ram. “A boomerang comes back to you. I was a jazzer until I met Paul.” MD: On the first song on Boomerang, “Cheetahs & Gazelles,” you come out with a blistering display of chops. What’s going on there? Possibly shades of Joe Morello? Denny: No, it’s more like the father of Brazilian drummers, Milton Banana. Or even Airto Moreira. The song is kind of a modern-day samba, and I open with a street beat. The time signature? Believe it or not, it’s in four; the accents go over the barline. MD: You’ve stated that on this album you were going for a “big-little band” sound. Denny: Yes, when we first started playing together, we […]

February 2019 Issue