LEAST FAVORITE DRUMMERS

[randissimo]

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..

[sal]

I'm gonna get flamed for this......but I've always found Pete LaRoca to be a boring drummer. Not bad by any means, just not that interesting.

[WD45]

[Guest akanalog]

harvey mason i have found overrated. i never really think anything he is playing is so great outside of his most well known groove (with herbie) or so funky. i think perhaps he is a victim of being prevalent in the late 70s and early 80s when most music sucked, so it is hard to find him on albums i might actually deign to listen to.

mike clark seems like a soulless technician. he overplays and it seems like his idea of "funk" is to make a simple beat as busy as possible. i try to avoid albums he plays on.

louis hayes has only done it for me once (kenny drew's "undercurrent"). he seems like a poor listener sometimes and also a basher.

jimmy cobb has always sounded a little light to me. and a bit "rote" compared to other miles drummers, before and after.

han bennink gives me a headache with his light chattering style sometimes.

jack dejohnette-if i am not in the right mood, his hyperactive busy and light style can bother me. when he lays it down, he lays it down...but i don't always like what he is doing-especially with miles.

ben riley-i can't say what i don't like about him. i don't think i dislike him even. just on most albums i see him on, i think to myself that i wish it was someone else playing the drums! perfect example would be alice coltrane's "ptah the el daoud".

john marshall-i don't dislike him, but he gets so much damn solo space on so many british jazz and fusion albums. it is like the british were so excited to have a talented drummer with good rhythm they let him have 5 minutes to himself every time out and it gets boring. he can sound a little clinical, too.

not jazz, but-mickey hart. even though it is cool he is jewish, his whole thing seems like a crock. just play the drums, man. you shouldn't need three midi systems and a gong and a box of live crickets to do something interesting.

billy higgin's hard bop blue note stlye can get old for me. then i take a break and come back and dig it again. but it can get old.

these are my least favorite off the top of my head of drummers i actually listen to. i mean drummers like steve gadd i just avoid if i see he is on something (especially paired with will lee) so i don't even listen to him.

[jlhoots]

Buddy Rich

[A Lark Ascending]

Drum machine.

I can cope with the rest.

[7/4]

jack dejohnette-if i am not in the right mood, his hyperactive busy and light style can bother me.  when he lays it down, he lays it down...but i don't always like what he is doing-especially with miles.

Them's fighting words.

not jazz, but-mickey hart.  even though it is cool he is jewish, his whole thing seems like a crock.  just play the drums, man.  you shouldn't need three midi systems and a gong and a box of live crickets to do something interesting.

Who cares if he Jewish? I don't.

these are my least favorite off the top of my head of drummers i actually listen to.  i mean drummers like steve gadd i just avoid if i see he is on something (especially paired with will lee) so i don't even listen to him.

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Steve Gadd is lifeless.

[Guest youmustbe]

Can't agree about LaRoca.

He STILL can play and swing. Almost no drummer, with the exception of Kenny Wollenson, today swings, and that includes the old guys that are still around.

But then again, the whole idea of drummers playing a drum kit, seemms old fashioned to me.

Some of the 'swingingest' rhythm I heard was from the DJ for the British rapper Dizzee Rascal. I haven't moved my ass like that in years.

[jazzbo]

Neil Peart

[Rosco]

jimmy cobb has always sounded a little light to me

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Uh... You don't own this album, then?

[clifford_thornton]

I'd agree on Ben Riley and Louis Hayes isn't my favorite...

In 'free' music, Claude Delcloo can more often than not be very irritating.

[Jim Alfredson]

Almost no drummer, with the exception of Kenny Wollenson, today swings, and that includes the old guys that are still around.

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If this is indeed true (which I don't think it is) then maybe it's not the drummers but the bassists?

[JSngry]

Bobby Durham, when he gets that rim thing going. Put him together with Oscar Peterson, and I can NOT hang.

[Kalo]

Buddy Rich

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That's who came to mind for me.

[BruceH]

Of the "big names," I must admit to also thinking first of Buddy Rich. Whenever I've enjoyed his drumming it's been a rare surprise.

[Noj]

Off topic: Am I the only one who laughs out loud at akanalog's Patrick Ewing avatar?

[Guest akanalog]

why do you laugh at it?

[Noj]

Patrick Ewing's head superimposed on a psychedelic background strikes me as funny for some reason. Maybe I'm alone here. Carry on!

[Guest akanalog]

i had this idea to combine patrick ewing with the cover for herman chin loy's "aquarius dub". i don't know why. i redrew the album cover and stuck pat in there. i am glad it amused you. it amuses me too. it needs a bit more work.

Edited July 18, 2005 by akanalog

[Guest akanalog]

that was totally off topic. sorry....

[Free For All]

i am glad it amused you and hopefully it will be on a tshirt and for sale sometime soon. it amuses me too.

for some reason that reminded me of this....

[Guest youmustbe]

Goog point about bassists. 'Acoustic' Bass players, in part because they don't play the instrument, but play the amplifier, definately do not swing at all! Paul West is about the only one that seems to be able to do it now that Percy is dead. Dennis Irwin occasionaly, and Ron Carter, but the pickings are slim.

[Chuck Nessa]

Goog point about bassists.  'Acoustic'  Bass players, in part because they don't play the instrument, but play the amplifier, definately do not swing at all!  Paul West is about the only one that seems to be able to do it now that Percy is dead.  Dennis Irwin occasionaly, and Ron Carter, but the pickings are slim.

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You must be talking about players in NY. How provincial.

[7/4]

Goog point about bassists.  'Acoustic'  Bass players, in part because they don't play the instrument, but play the amplifier, definately do not swing at all!  Paul West is about the only one that seems to be able to do it now that Percy is dead.  Dennis Irwin occasionaly, and Ron Carter, but the pickings are slim.

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You must be talking about players in NY. How provincial.

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[Big Al]

Neil Peart

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Thank you! THANK YOU!!!! I couldn't agree more!!!!!