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LEAST FAVORITE DRUMMERS


randissimo

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Interesting to find that 3 of my all time favoites drummers get blasted by some people.

Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones could kick and inspire a soloist wonderfully. These two great players along with Billy Higgins are my idea of the perfect Hard Bop drummers.

Ben Riley gets my award for the drummer with the most taste. I have heard him both live and in person many times with the Kenny Barron Trio. Riley constantly knocks me out with his subtle yet very swinging playing. He gets that tap dancing feeling  at times that only very few drummers

are able to achieve. Listening to Ben Riley has brought more smiles to my face than perhaps any other drummer.

Here here. What I remembered most vividly about this thread was someone disparaging Ben Riley and thinking that plainly anathema to jazz.

Duke's nephew once described Woodyard to me as Duke's street drummer, ie Duke's Philly or Bu.

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I won't pile on about Sonny Greer again ..( I don't want Nessa after my ass again! ) :crazy:

As far as Butch Miles goes, he's okay ( I recently heard him with the Basie Ghost Band ) ..sorta like "Buddy Rich lite "..he's got the motions down, the look, and he does nail most of the stuff, but I guess I just have a subjective diferrent philosophy about what I want to hear from a drummer in a big band, and my ideal model begins with the the late Mel Lewis.

Today, my favorite big band guys are my drummer ( of course ) Gary Hobbs ..as well as Peter Erskine, Joe LaBarbera, Steve Houghton. I also like Bernie Dreisel and Gregg Bissonette.

As far as the younger small group guys ,I like Greg Hutchison, Tain, Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington along with several others I cant recall right now with my ongoing cas of CRS syndrome :rofl:

BTW: I too preferred Gus Johnson to Sonny Payne in the old 50s Basie band ...

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Guest akanalog

elis, that was me saying i didn't like ben riley so much.

i will stand behind what i said.

i don't dislike his playing-i have seen him live and have been blown away.

i was just saying i have heard him in a number of contexts where, honestly, i would have rather heard someone else.

he is great with groups like sphere-but i don't necessarily care for him in settings like alice coltrane's groups.

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Guest akanalog

did anyone add ts monk? maybe i did.

anyway-i find him pretty unsubtle and lacking in taste and dynamics.

i respect him for keeping the jazz flame lit, but i think he sort of abuses his name.

actually here is a story-ts monk lives in my parents town and puts on jazz shows at the local middle school (which one has to respect him for) but anyways, i guess he stores his fur coats at the same place my mom does so he came in while my parents were there to pick up some furs (don't know if they were his or his wifes) and the owner of the store (who was russian i think?) saw his name on his credit card or something and was like "you're thelonius monk!" and ts said that he was and the store owner, obviously unaware monk is dead, but knowing the name, asked for an autograph. and ts gave him the autograph and left and then my dad said to the owner "you know that's not thelonius monk. it's his son" and the owner got disappointed and sort of annoyed he had been duped.

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actually here is a story-ts monk lives in my parents town and puts on jazz shows at the local middle school (which one has to respect him for) but anyways, i guess he stores his fur coats at the same place my mom does so he came in while my parents were there to pick up some furs (don't know if they were his or his wifes) and the owner of the store (who was russian i think?) saw his name on his credit card or something and was like "you're thelonius monk!" and ts said that he was and the store owner, obviously unaware monk is dead, but knowing the name, asked for an autograph.  and ts gave him the autograph and left and then my dad said to the owner "you know that's not thelonius monk.  it's his son" and the owner got disappointed and sort of annoyed he had been duped.

Well, he is Thelonious Monk. That's his name. Hell, for all he knew, the store owner's kid or grandkid was a student at the local middle school and had come home all juiced about hearing one of his concerts. What's he supposed to do, say, "No, the name on the credit card isn't my real name. Well, it is, but I'm not who you think I am, in spite of what my credit card says..."? What a party that would turn into...

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... "No, the name on the credit card isn't my real name. Well, it is, but I'm not who you think I am, in spite of what my credit card says..."? What a party that would turn into...

They might arrest him and fly him to one of those funny countries where they're allowed to question him... :g

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  • 1 year later...

I have seen Jimmy Cobb live on two occasions in recent years (including a few weeks ago), and both times, sad to say, he was boring as could be. He played on a lot of great albums, but he just didn't make it for me recently.

I have seen Al Foster live many times, with different groups, and I have never heard him play in a groove with the other musicians. He always seems to be playing alone, not listening. Each of the several different groups was not as good as it could have been as a result.

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I have seen Al Foster live many times, with different groups, and I have never heard him play in a groove with the other musicians. He always seems to be playing alone, not listening. Each of the several different groups was not as good as it could have been as a result.

I heard Foster w/Joe Henderson and Ron Carter in the 80s (at the VV) and was blown away. Also, if you ever spot a copy of a Dave Liebman Artists House album called "Pendulum", snag it. Some great interactive Foster on that one. I don't think it's ever been out on CD- hopefully someday. He also plays well on the Horace "Silver and..." records. I also like his work with Hank Jones' Great Jazz Trio and the late 70s Milestone Jazz Stars band.

I don't deny you your opinion, but my impressions of him have been very favorable. :)

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Has Washington D.C. been relocated to Russia?

As for Al Foster, I recently saw him live with the Benny Golson "I Remember Clifford" Troupe, and he formed a great rhythm duo with Buster Williams! They were always tight - while Brecker was just hot air and Golson got old and rather boring, to be frank.

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Has Washington D.C. been relocated to Russia?

I have been living in Moscow for the last few years, but didn't bother to change my profile. I'll be back in Washington some day, perhaps.

Ah, I see... found the idea of DC being transferred to Sibiria pretty funny! :D

Live it and see how funny it is.

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