“I love playing with other musicians,” he told The News. “I love the audience and they love me. We both know that. I think it all relates back to this dream I had at 13 when I was in a hospital, and they gave me a little drum. And I hit that drum, because they wanted to keep you busy. We all had (tuberculosis), so we were a bit stationary. The next time (the nurse) came, if she didn’t give me a drum, I wasn’t going to play in the band. And that’s how it started.”