Lewis Nash..

[randissimo]

I saw him play with Joe Lovano last night and was blown away by his musically expressive and acrobatic approach and mastery of the drumkit. At times he reminded me of an illusionist the way he effortlessly dances and loosely with his sticks around the drumkit and with absolute precision, independance and control. His concept and knowledge of composition and form, playing time, unique way of rhythmically phrasing, and colorful use of dynamics is astounding! I was particularly impressed with Nash's playing on the free pieces and Ornette Coleman's tune "Lonely Woman". I was spellbound and transfixed on his voice in the quartet though Joe Lovano and Cameron Brown played their asses off! I don't remember the pianist's name and he played very well, but was not as animated and interesting to me as the others of the quartet.

Lewis Nash stole the show several times. The audience's response to his solos, duets with Joe, trading 4's & 8's was the most vocal and enthusiastic. He exudes an infectious joy of playing and the interaction and smiles onstage reminded me of 4 pre-school kids joyously playing together.

The encore was "Four And One" and they really cooked!

I left that show very inspired and with my jazz batteries charged, feeling warm in spite of a very cold night, and a with a big smile in my face..

Edited January 25, 2008 by randissimo

[Joe G]

Lewis is one of the best - there's no doubt!

[Chalupa]

Lewis is one of the best - there's no doubt!

Agreed. I first became aware of him when I heard him on Don Pullen's "Random Thoughts" album and saw him a backing up Sonny Rollins a couple of times in the early 90's. The last time I saw him play was w/ McCoy two years ago. He just blows me away w/ every time I see him perform.

[randissimo]

Lewis is one of the best - there's no doubt!

Agreed. I first became aware of him when I heard him on Don Pullen's "Random Thoughts" album and saw him a backing up Sonny Rollins a couple of times in the early 90's. The last time I saw him play was w/ McCoy two years ago. He just blows me away w/ every time I see him perform.

Though Jack DeJohnette is still my favorite, I have to put Lewis Nash as a close number two.. I have seen few drummers with the expression and mastery of the drums that Lewis Nash has..

[catesta]

Yeah, I'm a fan as well.

First saw him play live with Cedar Walton four or five years ago and have been fortunate enough to catch him a couple of more times since.

[fkimbrough]

I've known Lewis since we played in the big band and small groups at Arizona State University 30 years ago........I was a lonely country boy from North Carolina, just beginning to play jazz, and he was (and is) a great friend - he had me over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner with his family - that's a day I'll never forget........he's a great human being, and he always played his ass off.

[Tom Storer]

More props for Nash! I remember him when he was starting out with Betty Carter's trio. She used to tell the audience, "Keep your eye on this young man, he has the potential to go all the way!" And he has. He was great with Ron Carter's nonet, too.

[Peter Friedman]

Lewis Nash is one of my very favorite living drummers. He is able to fit extremely well with a huge variety of styles and musicians. I have seen him live quite a few times and he has never failed to impress me with his excellent playing.

[Dan Gould]

Peter said it all for me.

[seeline]

I've never heard him live, but hope to some day - he's such a melodic player, and is so very good at doing "Latin" rhythms on set. One of my favorite cuts by him is with Tommy Flanagan, from Flanagan's Jazzpar prize disc - "Tin Tin Deo."

He's also superb at color and accent work, and (if I'm hearing him right) seems to have an incredibly light, deft touch.

Edited January 26, 2008 by seeline

[Morganized]

I have been enjoying a session he did with Clark Terry, Don Friedman, Victor Gaskin titled Portraits....on Chesky.

[thomastreichler]

He is one of the driving forces behind the current Gerald Wilson Orchestra, proving that he also is a superb big band drummer.

[sal]

I saw him play with Joe Lovano last night and was blown away by his musically expressive and acrobatic approach and mastery of the drumkit. At times he reminded me of an illusionist the way he effortlessly dances and loosely with his sticks around the drumkit and with absolute precision, independance and control. His concept and knowledge of composition and form, playing time, unique way of rhythmically phrasing, and colorful use of dynamics is astounding!

Nicely put, Randy. I too remember being very impressed by his dynamics the one time I saw him play about 4 years ago. Dynamics in jazz drumming is SO critical and there aren't may drummers who have mastered that concept. He's an exciting, tasteful drummer. Glad to see him get his own thread.

Edited January 28, 2008 by sal

[randissimo]

I sent Lewis an email last week with a link to this thread and got this nice reply..

Randy - Thanks for your nice email message! I had a great time in Grand Rapids, and hope to come back to perform there in the near future! Will take a look at the posted thread when I get a minute. Take care and best wishes. Thanks again!

Sincerely,

L. Nash

Edited January 30, 2008 by randissimo

[BillF]

He is one of the driving forces behind the current Gerald Wilson Orchestra, proving that he also is a superb big band drummer.

Yes, he was very good when I saw him some years ago with the Carla Bley Orchestra.

[jlhoots]

I've heard him live with Eddie Daniels among others.

Just listened to a CD he's on led by Joan Stiles called Hurly Burly.

He sounds excellent as does the rest of the CD.

[six string]

Count me in as a big fan of Lewis Nash too. At times it seems like he's everywhere I go. I've seen him perform with so many different bands. The last time I saw him was with Bobby Watson w/John Hicks on the piano stool. Fantastic show as you would expect.