Better late than never. Had to say a few words about this brother. Lil' John is a mentor to many of the cats on the East Coast, especially those residing in the Philly area. He's not underrated it's just he's more prominently known in other venues. Meaning, he's just not a "gospel" drummer per se as most ,if not all, of his gigs are with secular artists, i.e. as previously mentioned Janet, MUSIQ, BONEY JAMES, just to name a few. In fact, he came up in Philly with Joey DeFrancesco, the great jazz organist. Thank goodness he has given us "gospelheads" a small taste of his work through the Tony Moore and JC projects. (please check them out, especially his drum solo on the first project) LOVELY!!
BTW, Lil' John himself was on this site about two months ago. (Let me digress for a minute: You'll never know who may be watching and viewing our posts...) Additionally, I believe that there is a recent (within the last six months) interview with him in Modern Drummer. In fact, he may be back in Philly, but I'm not 100% sure so don't quote me on that tidbit.
I can not say this enough but Lil' John's playing is phenomenal. He's downright crazy and one of the best "groovists" and creative drummers out there. He can play ANY style. He was doing ALL of the tricks before they became commonplace. A true master. HE, Jeff and Gerald are the true legends. Peace!