What does an in-demand session drummer do in his time off? Gets together with his mates Steve Gadd, Steve Smith, JR Robinson et al to record a concept album about pulse in 19 movements, of course.

Russ Miller says:

“It took two years to write and it’s a discussion, musically, of pulse, and how pulse translates through different musicians and different styles. Nine of the movements are written for two drum sets; Steve Smith, Gadd, JR Robinson, Johnny Rabb, Zoro, we all did them together.”

“I’d been thinking about the concept for a while: what do we have to offer as musicians? It’s not the notes – the notes can be played by a machine perfectly in time and even programmed with pretty good dynamics. It’s the placement of those notes, the attitude, the interpretation, the sonic colours. It was a huge learning experience.”

“The Steve Smith duet involved multiple Indian rudiments, and the interplay is great. To be able to push each other, or for him to drag me along, that would be a better way to put it! That piece was very difficult to execute.”