‘I’ve used hairbrushes, spatulas, car keys, apples …’ Sheila E on drumming with Prince, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and more | Music
When did you first know you were a drummer? axolotlyI still don’t know if I’m a “drummer”! Sometimes people mean percussion – like congas and timbales – and sometimes they mean drum set, which wasn’t a thing for me until I played with George Duke in the mid-70s. My dad [Pete Escovedo, a well-known Mexican American jazz percussionist] played and practised at the house every day. I’d have heard him while I was in my mother’s womb. I couldn’t reach his percussion instruments so my mum would put the pots and pans on the floor and I’d bang along on those. I played with a local band when I was 15 and I learned a lot from Billy Cobham, and would play his drums for a minute, but sitting in with George Duke for one song was enough to start me playing drums. Was there anything that stopped you progressing as a female musical artist and have these problems lessened today? Whovian79Growing up in Oakland, California there were a lot of jam sessions in the …
