Let's Face It - Drummers Are The Best

[A. Kingstone]

Drummers

Ian Paice - John Bonham - Keith Moon (on record)


Zappa's Bands - Aynsley - Chester - Terry - Vinnie - Chad : sorry to y'all else. (mostly on record)


Workshops with Carmine Appice (at a school where he had to borrow a buddy's, buddy's kit).
Bill Bruford (Church at Bloor and Spadina). (some great records)


Being allowed to stand on the chairs at The BAMBOO but table standing was too far (for the sober Bamboo staff) at the final set for Art Blakey - 1984.


Elvin Jones - New York / Blue Note - 1997
Toronto - City Hall - early 00's


Leroy Williams - Toronto, Montreal, New York. (since)



I love the drums.

[A. Kingstone]

There was a strange encounter in 97 when going to see Sonny Rollins. Watched as the line formed around the block, early show exited. Went to box office 'I bought tickets in Canada' - "through that door" - suddenly old guys playing, one just knocking a floor tom. Then Mike and I are in a crappy empty venue. We walked to the front and leaned on the rail as Mr. Rollins; twice our age played an amazing second show. Al Foster on drums.


Oh yeah - Max Roach - Toronto early 90's

[jbear]

Carl Palmer...waaaay before I got into jazz. Him and Neil Peart...don't know of any better.

[Litterick]

Dave Tough

[Jimmy Smith]

They're not the best at melody or harmony.

[339 in june]

Jon Hiseman
Dennis Chambers
Gautier Garrigue
Chad Taylor
Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez
... to name but a few .... and in no particular order

[Alter]

Basically in Jazz drummers seem to have great CDs, the music is always happening!

[Jimmy Smith]

Dominator cam mofos.

[jameslovestal]

For a trio I prefer an instrument other than a drum kit.

E.g. Piano, Guitar, Bass or Sax Piano, Bass versus Piano, Bass, Drums, or Guitar, Bass Drums.

An exception would be with an Organ. Sax, Organ, Drums or Guitar, Organ, Drums. No bass since the Organ can provide that.

[Eck]

Jack DeJohnette is my absolute favourite with distance.


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[mr. beaumont]

Basically in Jazz drummers seem to have great CDs, the music is always happening!

One of my rules in jazz is if Art Blakey is on it, it's worth hearing. It's never let me down.

[JazzPadd]

Some of my favorite drummers already mentioned here (Blakey, Roach), but on a personal note I would add my younger brother.

We’re now in our early 60s and living on different sides of the globe. We started playing music in NY in the 1970s with garage bands, and went on to fusion and jazz after that. We still play together when we’re together, most recently late last summer. He’s currently studying with a Brazilian drummer, and so we played thru a few Jobim tunes.

And just before corona, when he was in Japan for work, the house master of a venue I play at set up a special jam session for us.

Thinking back on half a century, I attribute growing up with a drummer to much of my musicality to this day.

[wintermoon]

One of my rules in jazz is if Art Blakey is on it, it's worth hearing. It's never let me down.

Indeed, he lifts every session he appears on to another level, much as his former employee trumpeter Lee Morgan did, you can tell within a couple measures who they are.
I'll throw Philly Joe Jones in there, another drummer that really enhances a session. If I had to pick, along w Elvin probably my three favorite hard bop drummers. Big fan of Billy Higgins, Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor as well.

Then there's the great soul and organ drummers, Idris Muhammed, Joe Dukes, Donald Bailey, Bernard Purdie, etc...

[AndyV]

One of the most memorable musical moments I've ever seen was seeing Max Roach live playing an amazing solo on only a Hi-hat cymbal. Like this ....

[Oscar67]

Good drummers are the spice of life!

I love so many drummers I hardly know where to begin. Some of my favourites (across the genres) are Steve Smith, Jeff Porcaro, Phil Rudd, Jonathan Blake, Simon Philips, Alex van Halen, Buddy Rich and Greg Bissonette. And many many more. One thing always required: don’t mean a thing if it doesn’t swing. No groove, no fun.

[A. Kingstone]

One of the most memorable musical moments I've ever seen was seeing Max Roach live playing an amazing solo on only a Hi-hat cymbal. Like this ....

Was that by chance at Massey Hall?

[AndyV]

Outdoors in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, circa 1979, in a free concert with Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Bryant.

[AllanAllen]

Gene Krupa all the way.

[Doctor Jeff]

So many good ones mentioned above.

Did anyone mention Peter Erskine? His work on Weather Report's River People is worth a Grammy or 2.

Also Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, Lenny White.

In the rock arena--yes Carl Palmer and Neil Peart are great. But the all-time best are Bill Bruford and Phil Collins.

I've said before--I'll say again--if Phil Collins couldn't sing a note, he would be regarded as one of the greatest drummers in popular music. Check out his jazz work with Brand X and his big band:

[Doctor Jeff]

Now you've got me on a rock tangent.

Charlie Watts and Ringo Starr--legendary drummers. Played exactly the right stuff for their bands and vaulted them from "good" to "fantastic".

Keith Moon--I agree his recorded output during their "golden" period was awesome--Tommy, Who's Next, etc.

And John Bonham--well what a sloppy bombastic player. But what an iconic sound. "Rock'n'Roll"--you are hearing that beat right now. Unforgettable. (And sloppy...)

Maureen Tucker--she played standing up, and emphasized Toms. But very influential in the punk and art rock sounds of the late 70's/early 80's.

Finally props to 2 multitalented musicians who could beat a mean drum--Stevie Wonder and Prince. The drum intro to Superstition--one of the most iconic drum intros ever. And played by...not a drummer.

And Prince....still miss that guy.

[TheGrandWazoo]

Someone mention favorite drummers?

[Doctor Jeff]

^^Yep!

As an aside, IME drummers may not be as reliable as other bandmembers, but they are less likely to steal your girlfriend.

[AllanAllen]

Someone mention favorite drummers?

In case anyone else has no idea who this is, I googled it and it's Paul Motian. Not Kenny Aronoff.

[Christian Miller]

Inevitable Karen Carpenter post

[James W]

Jack DeJohnette is my absolute favourite with distance.

I hear ya - I've seen him live with his own group.

In addition to Jack, some of my favourites include Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Rashied Ali, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Chad Wackerman, Gary Novak, Brian Blade, Mark Mondesir and Tony Bianco...