RIP Buddy Miles

Buddy Miles died yesterday at the age of 60. He was a child prodigy, starting his career as the drummer for his father's group. In 1967, he formed The Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield and left after the second album. He was also Jimi Hendrix's drummer in Band of Gypsies and gave my band it's opening number. Whenever we played "Them Changes" it always kicked the show off right. His recording with Carlos Santana remains a classic jazz/funk album. I always thought his version of "Down By The River" was the absolute best. Kids may know him as the voice of The California Raisins. He probably made more from that gig than he did anywhere else. I learned a lot about drumming with passion and emotion from Buddy. Details of the cause of death were not disclosed.