King of the Groove Returns -- Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, His New Book, Drum Machines, and the Entrepreneurial Side of a Legendary Career
John JR Robinson is one of the most recorded musicians in the history of recorded music. His drumming has appeared on more than 2,000 recordings -- from Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" sessions to Quincy Jones productions to Herbie Hancock to a catalog of pop, R&B, and soul recordings that spans five decades. He first appeared on Go With Elmo in Episode 12, and the conversation was so rich that a return was not just welcome but necessary. In Part 2, JR goes deeper: into the stories that didn't fit the first time, the entrepreneurial side of a career most musicians only dream about, and the thinking behind his new book, "King of the Groove."
This conversation covers new territory: what JR has learned about running a business and protecting a legacy in an industry that doesn't always make it easy, his nuanced and sometimes surprising perspective on drum machines and technology in music, and more stories from the Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson sessions that reveal what it was actually like to be at the creative center of some of the most important recordings ever made. For anyone who heard Part 1 and wanted more, this is the conversation that delivers it.
"Quincy didn't tell you what he wanted. He created the environment where you discovered what you wanted -- and it turned out to be what he wanted all along."
JR's new book "King of the Groove" and what compelled him to write it: the stories he felt needed to be told in full, the lessons about the music business that he wanted to pass on to the next generation, and what the process of writing the book revealed about his own career that decades of performing hadn't made fully visible.
The Quincy sessions that didn't make it into Part 1: the specific creative dynamics, the way Quincy shaped the music and the musicians around him without ever appearing to exert control, and the stories from those recording rooms that reveal what made Quincy's productions feel different from everything else being made at the same moment in time.
Deeper into the Michael Jackson sessions: what it was like to record with him, what Michael communicated about rhythm and feel in ways that few people have described publicly, and how those recordings -- still among the best-selling albums in history -- were actually constructed in the room where JR was behind the kit.
The Herbie Hancock work and what those sessions demanded: the specific musical intelligence required to play with someone whose harmonic and rhythmic conception operates at that level, what JR brought to those recordings, and what the experience of being in Herbie's musical world taught him about the relationship between groove and sophistication.
JR's perspective on drum machines: a nuanced and perhaps unexpected view from the most recorded live drummer in history on how drum machines changed music, what they offer that live drumming cannot, and why he believes musicians who resist technology miss something important about the relationship between tools and creative possibility.
The business side of a legendary session career: what JR has learned about protecting creative work, building income streams beyond the session, and why he believes that every serious musician needs to think about entrepreneurship from the beginning of their career rather than waiting until the calls slow down to start building something of their own.
JR on what it was actually like in the room during the "Thriller" sessions: the specific musical environment Quincy created, what Michael was like to work with as a collaborator rather than just a performer, and the details of those recordings that have never been fully public until now.
His candid perspective on drum machines and why a legendary live drummer doesn't fear them: the honest assessment of what machines do well, what they changed about popular music permanently, and why he believes the drummers who understand technology will outlast the ones who only know how to play.
The story behind "King of the Groove" and what writing the book revealed: the moments he had never fully processed until putting them on the page, the advice he most wanted to pass forward, and the specific things about his own career that the writing process clarified for him after all these years.
On entrepreneurship: the specific moves he made to build income beyond session work, the business decisions he got right and the ones he would do differently, and why he is emphatic that every musician who relies only on their playing is leaving themselves dangerously exposed.
More Herbie Hancock stories: the specific musical demands of playing in Herbie's world, what those sessions required beyond technical ability, and what the experience of being part of a Herbie recording taught JR about the kind of listening and responsiveness that separates a great groove player from a truly great musician.
His advice to drummers who want to build careers like his: the things that mattered most, the relationships that opened the biggest doors, and the honest assessment of what the session world looks like today compared to the era when he was building the resume that made him the most recorded drummer in history.