randissimo

WOW! What a story !! That's crazy!

Different strokes for different folks I on the other hand, love Jack D's playing and have enjoyed him on many occasions. He has been a great source of ideas & inspiration for me personally.. Based on the tracks I've heard, Butch Miles just doesn't connect with me, especially the trio and small ensemble tracks I've heard.. And on the subject of big bands, though there are some really great jazz big bands out there like Phil Kelly's band, the Mingus Dynasty, and Dave Holland's big band, I've never honestly been that into the big band music scene & drummers and that's probably because I have just never really been that interested in playing in big bands. I've always by choice played in smaller ensembles and will typically turn down the calls for big band gigs. OK truthfully, I confess I am not a good sight reader and when I have done big band gigs, I usually ended up stressed out, with my face buried in the charts trying to count my way through the arrangements, at the same time, trying to push and pull along the often dragging horn sections..

The other drummer I can't take for more than 4 bars is Max Weinberg.. A few days before my mom passed away, I was at the hospital sitting next to her bed watching tv with her, just minding my own business, and she says, "Randy,, have you seen that drummer on Conan O'Brien? ... Does he suck !! " ...

Don't judge Carl Allen on the basis of THAT horrible night. Despite the best efforts of Cedar and Bobby, that band couldn't have cohered. No rehearsal, and a coked-up trumpet player, whose name I won't mention in a public forum. Plus a clueless pickup bass player and an even more clueless pickup vocalist. It hurts to think about that night. ← Word... I heard Carl back in the late 80's with Freddy Hubbard in SF, at the Milestone.. He played his ass off that night! I was blown away!

Word.. Before the clinic, I thought Simon was just a great sounding "rock drummer" .. Indeed, there are many out there comfortable in many genres..

Though I pretty much agree with you, I have to disagree with you about this guy.. Steve Smith is a highly evolved and accomplished drummer. I saw him him do a 2 hour clinic and was fascinated. I'm assuming you haven't seen his DVD "history Of The US Beat". Smith is very articulate, plays with great depth, feel, time, imagination, is comfortable in many genres, and has chops to spare! The guy with super chops I've never cared much for is Dave Weckl. To me, he is "Mr. Chopzilla" and typically sounds too premeditated and mechanical. I am an advocate of using snare drum rudiments on the drum kit, but not to the point where the drumnastics come before playing tastefully and musically. The drummer I started this thread with, Virgil Donati, can play 32nd note triplets at 130 beats per minute on double bass drum pedals and can play over 1000 single strokes per minute, but approaches the drums as if it were a competitive sport! Sadly, too many young drummer wannabes think that's what drumming is all about and don't realize what's involved in becoming a good drummer, and often don't want to take the time to learn how to play time tastefully and how to groove, and listen.. ← I am sometimes surprised by drummers I have assumed are "Chopzillas" and nothing more. Several months ago I went to a clinic to check out UK drummer Simon Philips. I was delighted by his clinic and surprised when he did a segment of his clinic on bebop and straight ahead playing. he then played a couple of recordings of a jazz quintet project he's been working on and the dude can swing!

Though I pretty much agree with you, I have to disagree with you about this guy.. Steve Smith is a highly evolved and accomplished drummer. I saw him him do a 2 hour clinic and was fascinated. I'm assuming you haven't seen his DVD "history Of The US Beat". Smith is very articulate, plays with great depth, feel, time, imagination, is comfortable in many genres, and has chops to spare! The guy with super chops I've never cared much for is Dave Weckl. To me, he is "Mr. Chopzilla" and typically sounds too premeditated and mechanical. I am an advocate of using snare drum rudiments on the drum kit, but not to the point where the drumnastics come before playing tastefully and musically. The drummer I started this thread with, Virgil Donati, can play 32nd note triplets at 130 beats per minute on double bass drum pedals and can play over 1000 single strokes per minute, but approaches the drums as if it were a competitive sport! Sadly, too many young drummer wannabes think that's what drumming is all about and don't realize what's involved in becoming a good drummer, and often don't want to take the time to learn how to play time tastefully and how to groove, and listen..

Of course not.... No names.... That would not be cool... When I'm in a situation like this though, there's little I can do but just keep very simple time and try not to carry the "groove trauma" to my next gig...

Lately, I have really grown tired of most of the acoustic bass players I've been working with in my neck of the woods.. Here's the main reason I prefer an electric bass; Consistent tone .. I'm tired of poor EQ often with feedback, too much string, board, & bridge noise, and usually not enough bottom or definition in the overall sound, and the acoustic bass too often ends up being mixed poorly by sound guyz in the monitors... I recently played a gig with a hyper-busy piano player who was supposed to be accompanying the vocalist but instead was filling every possible space and a bass player who sounds better on electric, but prefers the acoustic.. IT WAS WORK! .. Tonight I played a swingin' piano trio hit with the same bass player on electric and he sounded good.. A lot of guys trying to play acoustic bass don't have good technique in either hand, so the tone comes out thin and with poor time, feel, and rhythm articulation..

I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NUTTY TO START THE "LEAST FAVORITE DRUMMERS" TOPIC.... I'll start with Australian drummer Virgil Donati. I saw him at a drum clinic 2 years ago and tired very quickly of his ego driven display of pyrotechnics, .. His 15 minute solo had absolutely no musical value or composition and was just a loud barrage of violent assaults based primarily around double bass pedaling, with no discernable theme, dynamics, or colors. It reminded me of an intense thunderstorm, or the sound of a city being bombed for 15 minutes.. I lasted about 11 minutes and had to flee! For me it was a lesson on what not to play on a drumkit.. Clinician Dom Familaro on the other hand, played a 15 solo with mind blowing technique and his solo had composition, dynamics, colors, and above all, an inspiring sense of music and rhythm..

Isn't Kaiser Marshall the father of SF bay area legend Eddie Marshall?

Truthfully, there are so many many great drummers out there known and many more unknown.. A good example of an unknown drummer who should be more known is a cat I know originally from the Detroit area, and since 1992 has been in the SF bay area, drummer Danny Spencer.. He was one of only a few white drummers on the Blue Note label in the 60's and played as much drums as Tony Williams on those CJQ (contemporary Jazz Guintet) albums!

I'm with you.. These are some of favorites as well, especially Jack D.. I also like Tony Sanchez and let's not forget Adam Nussbaum! I heard him with Michael Brecker at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1987 and he blew me away!!

Nice pics Ann! Great way to end the tour... Pops hated to get on that plane back to the blazing hot Nevada desert where all there is are casinos, lizards, cactus, rattle snakes, jack rabbits, and old keno tickets..

Word... I enjoyed the Miles tunes all the way to Manistee and jammed along with "Walkin'" on my chromatic harp..

Thanks for the nice review Dan.. Wait until you hear "Razzle Bazzle".. The tune was originally entitled, "So Be It". I renamed for my dad because he likes to scat in "razzle bazzle syllables" .. I've recorded it with a piano trio.. However, this is the best the tune has ever sounded! Because it's basically a minor blues and because of the nature of the lines, the tune is a natural for the organ group format.

Dan, "the man", Maybe we can get some gigs this fall or winter in Florida.. It would be great to see you again...

EXCELLENT..

Thanks Jim

AT 10 PM TONIGHT WE WILL BEGIN A ONE HOUR LIVE BROADCAST FEATURING TENOR LEGEND ARNO MARSH AS WELL AS SOME NEW TUNES.. GO TO WBLV.ORG

cool!

FYI, Theo is actually the father of the "Fist Of Doom" & Jim Alfredson.

Yeah Jim! Move yo ass - not just yo hand. ←

John Mayer must be doing something right, Scofield digs him... I saw him with John Scofield's band on Jay Leno the other night... Though he obviously has his shit together as a blues player, I'm not that particularly knocked out by Mayer, probably because I come from that magical era of the 60's & 70's where historically, the greatest music innovations in history happened and are yet to be rivaled in my opinion..

Yes,,, and I'm selling them for $5.00 apiece out of my car with my own cover artwork ← I KNEW IT!!!!! Does your cover-art look like this? ← BUSTED!!