Last night I had the honor of playing with Dave Elliott, a spectacular drummer and a guy, like so many Washington musicians who work the roots-blues-jazz groove, who should be much better known by locals then he is.

Elliott probably is best known for playing with Danny Gatton for many, many years, and if you don’t think a drummer can make all the difference in a band, you should have seen him play last night. We hauled in a big crowd of people from off the street who heard us as they were walking by, and they showered us with praise, and that was probably as pleasurable a gig as I’ve played in a year or more.

I’ve been struggling lately at gigs with drummers who can’t control their volume and/or keep shifting tempos, and you forget how great it is to play with a guy who knows what the pocket is and understands how to slip in and out of it by instinct. Last night was a joy and it reminded me of why I keep playing music.