A Different View John Tropea The New York–born, Berklee-trained guitarist is part of a small circle of musicians who basically owned the Manhattan studio scene in the ’70s, and whose influence is still being felt today. Drum gods? Yeah, he’s known a few. by Billy Amendola John Tropea has collaborated with such legendary figures as bassists Will Lee and Anthony Jackson, guitarist David Spinozza, horn players David Sanborn and Randy and Michael Brecker, and keyboardists Don Grolnick and Richard Tee. He appears on recordings featuring a truly heavy list of drummers, including a pair of bona fide classics with Billy Cobham—the fusion star’s debut album, Spectrum, and Deodato’s Prelude, which features a hit arrangement of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Other career highlights include work with the Three Degrees, Ashford & Simpson, Bo Diddley, Peter Allen, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, […]

October 2015 Issue