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Rock journeyman
Aynsley Dunbar has proven himself one of the finest drummers in the business for over twenty years, whether as a member of several bands or as a session musician.
Dunbar began his career on the British blues-rock scene, playing with
Champion Jack Dupree and
Eddie Boyd before becoming the drummer for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967; he was influenced by jazz and the Who's
Keith Moon as well. During this time,
Dunbar also played on Jeff Beck's seminal
Truth sessions, and also met
Frank Zappa in Belgium; when
Zappa broke up the first edition of the
Mothers of Invention, he invited
Dunbar to join his new band.
Dunbar first appeared with
Zappa as a guitarist on
Uncle Meat, but soon assumed drum chores in the
Flo and Eddie version of
the Mothers, appearing on such albums as
Chunga's Revenge,
Fillmore East: June 1971, and
200 Motels, and playing music that gave him a chance to show off his jazzier chops. In the meantime,
Dunbar also formed a blues-rock band called
the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, which featured guitarist/vocalist
John Moorshead, bassist
Alex Dmochowski, and organist
Victor Brox. The group released several albums from 1969-1970, including a self-titled effort,
Doctor Dunbar's Prescription, and To Mum From Aynsley and the Boys.
When
Flo and Eddie jumped ship in 1972 after a deranged fan pushed
Zappa from the stage, confining him to a wheelchair,
Dunbar joined their backing band for a short while, although he would also return to work with
Zappa on studio projects like
Waka/Jawaka,
The Grand Wazoo, and
Apostrophe', as well as continuing his periodic studio work for other artists. He briefly formed an association with
David Bowie around 1973-74 for the albums
Pin-Ups and
Diamond Dogs, but in 1975,
Dunbar decided to join a new jazz-rock fusion group called
Journey. He remained with the band up through 1978's
Infinity, departing as
Journey brought in vocalist
Steve Perry and shifted their sound towards arena-rock.
Dunbar next joined
Jefferson Starship in 1978, staying put through 1982's
Winds of Change. He resurfaced several years later with
Whitesnake and played drums on the band's 1987 commercial breakthrough. However,
Dunbar was again gone by the next
Whitesnake album; he has since returned to the blues-rock he started his career with, working with such artists as
Pat Travers. ~ Steve Huey