Charles Ruggiero has been active since the early 90s, cutting his teeth on the New York jazz scene and landing his first big gig with Chuck Mangione. His New York cohort included such future giants as Joshua Redman, Peter Bernstein, Jane Monheit, Brad Mehldau, and Chris Potter, to name a few. In addition to his jazz exlpoits, Charles found a home on the metal scene as a member of Slunt, and replacing Matt Sorum in the supergroup Circus Diablo. He relocated to LA in 2007 and didn’t miss a step, performing with Larry Goldings, Eric Reed, Bob Sheppard, Bob Reynolds, David Ryan Harris, and many others. He has released multiple albums as a leader and performed as sideman on countless others, and also records for Loop Loft.
In this episode, Charles talks about:
- Playing double drums with Gadd as the intro to his first big gig with Chuck Mangione
- Trying to serve the music through his artistry
- What a drummer timekeeping responsibility actually is
- His perspective on New York and LA, having spent big chunks of his career in both places
- His various side hustles, including teaching, mixing/producing, and creating album art
- Trusting his creativity and artistic identity after getting sober
