Rimshot

Mikewell is quite correct in his description of doumbeks,(darbukah,tabl). Although I am a had bop drummer, I also make a fair living playing gigs as a hand drummer. I own many middle eastern drums for belly dancers and I own even more West African drums (8 djembes,some dunnunba, sangba.kenkeni, kryin, talking drums, etc.) for playing with a NY based African ballet company. The heavy caste aluminum drums that you alluded to are usually made in Egypt by Alexandria (I own three of those) and they sound fine, but have a sythetic head very (much like a 1 ply clear tom resonator). I also own a few ceramic doumbeks, one with a goatskin head and two with Remo fiberskins in a fixed mounting (most of these that are around the States are made in Pakistan). I own one rosewood zarb (toumbek) from Persia that has a fishskin head.I have a few other doumbeks, one synthetic made by Toca that sounds great, and others from Morrocco and Turkey that are beautiful but tempermental. The one that was pictured above is very familiar to me and I believe it is a chrome plated brass drum. They are very nice but are mellower sounding. You can't really tighten the skin as much to get the sharp cracks that you can get from a ceramic or heavy aluminum one, but they sound nice in a small venue with other un-mic'ed acoustic instruments. Some of these thinner brass ones are also fitted with a small tamborine inside just under the head, for a little more atmosphere. If the one pictured has betwen an 8" - 10" head it would retail for just over $100.00 in a major store and you could get one in a deal for about $65.00-$75.00 , so you did well.

Two that immediately come to mind are : Wallace Roney (has killer chops and instincts, but is always being compared to Miles or Freddie. He belongs in an "A" group but will probably always be looked on as just a B player) Donald Harrison Jr. (I've never heard him turn in a bad performance and occassionally he is stellar. His years as a tenor sax player with Jazz Messengers give him some props, but he's doing even better stuff now.)

Two that immediately come to mind are : Wallace Roney (has killer chops and instincts, but is always being compared to Miles or Freddie. He belongs in an "A" group but will probably always be looked on as just a B player) Donald Harrison Jr. (I've never heard him turn in a bad performance and occassionally he is stellar. His years as a tenor sax player with Jazz Messengers give him some props, but he's doing even better stuff now.)

It's all good! Hype be damned! I don't like to rate good musicians. They all bring a different flavor to the stew. Clapton and SRV are blues musicians, maybe not in the same flavor as the great "Kings" but blues players nevertheless. Hendrix ventured into blues and often in a way that'll cross a bluesman's eyes, but it's different, and good. Hard bop was considered too extreme and an abberation by some bop players and when fusion first hit the scene, everyone turned their nose up at it except rock fans. Now, it's just another color on the palette and musicians often travel between styles. I enjoy Clapton a lot and consider him to be a fine musician and well worth listening to. He's going to be different than an American bluesman because it's coming from a different place, but deep down it's really coming from the same place. He's just a different flavor. I like chicken. but I woudn't want to eat it everyday.

I admire Buddy Rich as one of the truly GREAT big band drummers. He had incredible technique and I agree with what was stated before, the music was better when he was a sideman. On this session, the problem was: he just didn't have a feel for the music. It wasn't his taste and it showed. It was kind of like those times when a soprano from the Met is a guest on a TV show and tries to sing a pop or rock ballad. It sounds all wrong, yet the musicianship is undeniable. Buddy Rich wasn't one of those drummers that could sit back and ride the groove at times, he always had to drive it. He did his best work with his hands, his feet were steady. Bop drumming needs a much more organic feel to the feet especially the hi-hat. Great drummer, it just wasn't his style of music.

Hello everyone. I'm brand new to this board and just wandered over from another BB. I'm an old hard bop drummer and love all the names mentioned, but did I miss it or did someone not mention one of my favorite working drummers: Jeff"Tain" Watts (I just saw him a couple of months ago at Blue Note,NY with Kenny Garrett, Pharoah Sanders, Bob Hurst and Carlos McKinnon, Great show) Billy Cobham (I just saw him a few weeks ago and he's grown even more as a musician. Quite a statement,since he was always awesome) Terri Lynne Carrington is a favorite of mine, I just saw her on Tuesday night at the Blue Note with Herbie Hancock. I know she was already mentioned, but I gotta give props to Terri. Grady Tate is often overlooked on these lists, but he gave the Blue Note label it's distinctive sound as a session drummer. A good all round jazz craftsman. Michael "Babatunde" Olatunji. We just lost Baba last April, but he influenced many percussionists and gave us all memorable moments. Steve Gadd is a good clean drummer that got all of the sloppy new drummers back into the rehearsal rooms practicing their rudiments. Here's one you might not know off the top, but he was my teacher back in the early 60's and that's a big band drummer named: Al Miller (Albert Milnerstadt) he taught several generations of drummers in the NY tri-state area how to be musicians and craftsmen on the drum kit.A number of his instructional books are still being used by drum teachers. We lost Al a few years ago, but he used to play with Cab Calloway and Xavier Cugat and in the 80's he performed a concert called "The 3 Drummers" where he played with his big band, Buddy Rich played with his band and Louis Bellson played with his band. There was technique in that show that would bring tears to any drummer's eyes.