Zoro is an Americandrummer, mainly in the styles of rock, R&B, and hip hop. Zoro is known as 'The Minister of Groove'. His outstanding feel, drive, syncopation and deep philosophies towards drumming have made him one of the most well-known and respected drummers in the world today. An interesting part of Zoro's playing is his foot technique. Unusually, he plays mostly heel-down. His reason is that he has always played heel-down and he claims to get a "fatter sound" by quickly striking and releasing the beater from the bass drum head, rather than 'planting', as so many contemporary drummers do. Zoro has toured and recorded with Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, New Edition, Jody Watley, Sean Lennon, Philip Bailey, Lisa Marie Presley, Throttle Body Motorcycle Club, and many others. He has been consistently voted number one R&B drummer and number one clinician in Modern Drummer magazine, as well as receiving awards from other magazines, including 'Drum!'''.
Author
Zoro is the author of four books. "The Commandments of R&B Drumming" earned him a Modern Drummer Reader's Poll #1 Educational text vote. The book was expanded and re-released by Alfred Publishing in a 10th anniversary edition. The follow up, "The Commandments of Early R&B Drumming" was written with Daniel Glass. In 2011, he published "The Big Gig", a book centered on achievement in the music industry. In September 2016 he released "SOAR!: 9 Proven Keys For Unlocking Your Limitless Potential"
Christian Faith
In addition to his work in music, Zoro is an increasingly well-known Christian Motivational speaker who appears at festivals and churches around the world, sharing his faith in Christ through his life story. He has been featured extensively on Christian television, including the 700 Club, Daystar Celebration, Jc-TV, The Joni Show, MorningStar Ministries, and other broadcasts.
Now working out of Nashville, TN, Zoro is increasingly focused on his Ministry and motivational speaking work for groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Compassion International. Zoro is currently a percussion instructor at Belmont University in Nashville.
Gear and Equipment
Zoro is endorsed by DW Drums, Evans, Latin Percussion and other manufacturers. His most recent set of note was played during his 2004 engagement with Lenny Kravitz, as drummer on that artist's "Baptism" tour. The set comprised the following: DW Drums Collector's Series Maple drums in Red Sparkle FinishPly with Gold hardware 16x20 Bass Drum 9x12, 10x13, 11x14, 16x16 Toms 6.5x14 Collector's Brass Snare Drum Pedals and Hardware 9000 Single Bass Drum Pedal 9500 Hi-Hat Stand 9300 Snare Stand 9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand 9999 Single Tom/Cymbal Stand 9100 Throne
Vic Firth Sticks Zoro Signature Stick An enlarged SD4 with a barrel tip for great tone while grooving on the cymbals and hi-hat. Light and fast for R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Fusion. L = 16 3/8", Dia. =.555" AUDIX Microphones Zoro uses i5 for snare, D2 for toms, D4 for floor tom, D6 for kick, ADX51 for high hat and overheads. CANOPUS Snare Wire only Latin percussion
