Zoro (drummer)

Zoro (drummer)

Zoro (born Daniel Donnelly, June 13, 1962) is an American drummer, mainly in the styles of rock, R&B, and hip hop. Zoro is known as 'The Minister of Groove'. His outstanding feel, drive, syncopation and deep philosophies towards drumming have made him one of the most well-known and respected drummers in the world today.

An interesting part of Zoro's playing is his foot technique. Unusually, he plays mostly heel-down. His reason is that he has always played heel-down and he claims to get a "fatter sound" by quickly striking and releasing the beater from the bass drum head, rather than 'planting', as so many contemporary drummers do. Zoro has toured and recorded with Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, New Edition, Jody Watley, Sean Lennon, Philip Bailey, Lisa Marie Presley, Throttle Body Motorcycle Club, and many others. He has been consistently voted number one R&B drummer and number one clinician in Modern Drummer magazine, as well as receiving awards from other magazines, including 'Drum!.

Zoro's "Commandments of R&B Drumming" earned him a Modern Drummer Reader's Poll #1 Educational text vote. It has recently been expanded and re-released by Alfred Publishing in a 10th anniversary edition.