https://www.dallasobserve...t-11922564

So was TaRon Lockett a "session" type player for Prince? Does he appear on any recordings? I had never heard of him before ... not that I've heard of everyone, but i thought i would notice a Prince drummer.

aaronoraa said:

So was TaRon Lockett a "session" type player for Prince? Does he appear on any recordings? I had never heard of him before ... not that I've heard of everyone, but i thought i would notice a Prince drummer.

Same

Looks like he was actualy Liv Warfields drummer, and played for associate artists in Prince's camp. Not Prince.

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https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/drummer-taron-lockett-debuts-his-solo-effort-11922564

.In Dallas circles, Lockett is often introduced (though seldom to his face) as "Prince's last drummer." But he's also served as a backbone to artists like Snoop Dogg, CeeLo Green, Erykah Badu, RC & The Gritz, and Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles — with whom he still plays.

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That led to touring with CeeLo Green and Prince's protege Liv Warfield. "Which led to me ending up playing with him," he says of Prince.

Lockett was in New York when he got a call from another Dallas artist letting him know that Prince had fired Warfield's drummer and that he was holding auditions for a replacement. Lockett jumped — or rather, flew— at the chance for the gig.

"I ended up spending my rent money, go to Vegas," he says. "I really prayed to God, man, like if this is for me let it be for me, because I don't want to be homeless when I get back home."

During Lockett's first meeting with Prince, the legend was characteristically quiet."He didn't say much. The only thing he said to me was 'good job,'" Lockett recalls.

He ended up getting the gig, but Prince remained laconic. Lockett would get instruction from others about changing his snare to what Prince wanted to hear.

Lockett began performing at Paisley Park, Prince's home in Minnesota, and doing studio work for the artist. He remembers the star as infinitely energetic, wearing a white jumpsuit and having throngs of people over.

"He was running around crazy," Lockett says of Prince at his parties. "Mingling, going to work the sound booth, going to check things on the stage."

Lockett turned down Prince's offer to stay on as his drummer, and the most the star ever spoke to him was at their final meeting, Lockett says."It was more my integrity at that time than money or what would look good for me," Lockett says of why he quit. "We talked about the shows (coming up), my son, where I'm from. He wished me good luck, we shook hands ... and that would be the last time I see him again."

The star died less than a year later. Lockett says that while he was "blessed" to work with Prince, he felt a greater freedom onstage with his current band, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles.

Lockett believes he was Prince's last drummer.

"Now, he did have Kirk Johnson — he was pretty much his estate's manager," Lockett says. "After I declined he (Johnson) was still there. So if people want to say technically, you know, it would be Kirk, but I'm the last one they brought in there."

Liv Warfield & BlackBird

6 September 2015 (a.m.)
Venue Paisley Park Studios
City, Country Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA
Band Liv Warfield (vox), Taron Lockett (drums), Uriah Duffy (bass), Ryan Waters (guitar), Chris Turner (keyboards), Keith Anderson? (saxophone), Saeeda Wright (vox), Ashley Jayy (vox)
Guest(s) Prince (guitar, towel)
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LP Music, the band by Eric Leeds and St. Paul, played a set in the NPG-MC room first then, after midnight Liv Warfield and her band did a set also in the NPGMC-room. Some 15 minutes in Prince walked on on fanned Liv with a towel, while she was doing a TBD song of her album 'Embrace' (with some audience vocals by Craig Mortimer-Zhika), then when the song segued into Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and then Jill Scott's A Long Walk Prince came out again and did a short guitar solo on Ryan Waters' guitar.

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-PrinceVault

OldFriends4Sale said:

Looks like he was actualy Liv Warfields drummer, and played for associate artists in Prince's camp. Not Prince.

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From the article:

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doing studio work for the artist

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Plenty of those recording sessions are currently unknown to us.