Now I never have considered myself a drum n bass fan. Well all that changed when I went to see Jojo Mayer at a drum clinic in sunny Newcastle upon Tyne.
JM was amazing, a truly incredible drummer whos first performance in a band was at the age of 3

What I witnessed was simply a tour de force of incredible musicality and musicianship allied to a unique technique. It certainly had all the fireworks of Bozzio or Lang but with something more interesting.......texture.
All these drum tricks are great, but its not really what drummers are there for. This is where Jojo was different, he demonstrated what he would normally play in his band 'Nerve'. This was a real ear opener for me, the sounds he created imitated everything that an electronic drum machine could create and more, it was totally hypnotic, really amazing the different tones he could get out of the same drum during multiple strikes with a single hand.
It lead me to seek out what Nerve gets up to and opened a whole burgeoning underground sound from Jojos live party gigs called Prohibited Beats. This is a weird fusion of jazz, Rap, Hip Hop and D n B and I cant get hold of an album anywhere because record companies dont seem to want such avant garde stuff. Now the last time that happened was when grunge broke through the ranks spear headed by a little known band called Nirvana.
Now this music might only represent the beginning of something new.......infact Jojo refers to it as reverse engineered music.......but there is something about the way all the musicians are so passionate about the creation of something without compromise that reminds me of a time when music transcended corporate sponsorship. Worth checking out. Listen with an open mind as some of it is different and some will be parts of music that you may have openly hated.