House of Drumming.com

Rodge wrote:Oh, my, GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GoAndPractice wrote:Is he related to Wallace Roney?

MR: All uses of the word "legacy," beautiful. Your new band is pretty young. What's nice is that, maybe not in any kind of intentional or conscious way, it seems like you've taken on the role of a mentor.

CC: Well, it's hard not to be. These young guys come up. When I first met Marcus, he was twelve years old. I gave him a hug. "When's your birthday, man?" I think a year later, Laurie brought him by The Blue Note when he was thirteen or so when I was playing with Roy. Roy said, "Man, have Marcus come and play with you. I want you to hear my grandson." He got up and he played and he knocked me out. He had such a deep feel. That was when he was thirteen. It's hard not to be a mentor. There's a little young drummer named Kojo who's now, I think, eight years old, who is the son of Antoine Roney. Antoine is Wallace Roney's brother. I met Kojo about a year ago and he came down to The Blue Note with his dad and there he is. Kojo and I talked to each other on email. He sends me the stuff that he does and it knocks me out, absolutely inspires me. It goes both ways. There's the mentoring idea of I'm the old guy, I've been around; but these young guys come with a fresh viewpoint. They may not have studied or know the history of this or that, but they come at it, they have a way in, and I get inspired by that.