Jazz Drumming

[SkankedDrummer]

Any good jazz drummers out there?

[buddyghost]

You should keep your eye on a young Detroit area area drummer named Matt Smith. At age 15 he is already turning a lot of heads with his Tony Williams/Elvin Jones hybrid style. He has already led impressive combos in Europe and showed very well in the Chicago drum competition. He's young but totally real.

[DoZa]

Will he participate in DRUMMER WORLD contest which will take place in NJ this year? I definitely would like to see 15 years old boy winning.

[Smelly_granny]

I went to see billy cobham at a drum clinic...very good stuff!

he played with 4 sticks at one point...that stuff   was amazing

[SkankedDrummer]

4 sticks!! crazy ...

[PASHA]

Cobham is great he was always great!
Love him...

[Smelly_granny]

I got a signed poster from him aswell...it hangs happily next to my framed County Council noise pollution letter.

[buddyghost]

Regarding the 15 year old drummer Matt Smith. I heard yesterday that he was announced as a finalist in the Louie Bellson National Drum Contest to be held next month in Louie's home town. Now I just saw something about him on the Steve Gadd site under the title up and coming drummers. Word must be getting around.

[iamanidiot32180]

4 sticks, ive tried that, but it wasnt too great...  decent but not great, im 17 but it sounds like this kid is awesome.....  can anybody put on a video of him or something here?  is there any i can get to?

[Smelly_granny]

Ive posted some stuff on Matt Smith here

[iamanidiot32180]

thanks

[Tomm]

Just panning for topics and I couldn't resist reviving this one.   It should not have fallen into the archives.  Allow me to reiterate the question.

Any good jazz drummers out there.  My answer is yes.

Questions...comments?

[KenSanders]

Well, to answer the question....these living jazz drummers come to mind immediately

Jeff "Tain" Watts
Antonio Sanchez
Joey Baron
Bill Stewart
Peter Erskine
Adam Nussbaum
Dave Weckl
Terri-Lynn Carrington
Steve Smith
Jeff Hamilton
Keith Carlock
Brian Blade
Chester Thompson
Steve Gadd
Billy Cobham
Harvey Mason
Paul Wertico
Clayton Cameron
Vinnie Calaiuta
John Riley
Joel Rosenblatt
Smitty Smith
Alex Acuna

There are so many other players who haven't made the national (or international) spotlight; yet they are still fantastic players.

YES......there are many grerat jazz players in our drumming community!

[Tomm]

I was kind of leaning toward D.S.A. participants chiming in and doing some discussion on the art itself.
Maybe a bit of Q.&A.

But I must agree Ken, you have submitted quite an admirable list of proven artists.  I would like to see this community of artists provide info and evidence of a list of our own.  After reading about your own experiences and longevity in the field I'm sure you may lay claim to your position at the top of such a list.

[PASHA]

Actually we do have quite a few lists like that, and although lately I dont have the needed time to maintain all of them, Ken is and was always at the top!

Here is what I am talking about:

Most active Drummers on Drum Solo Artist:
http://www.drumsoloartist.com/live/browse/

Featured Drummers on Drum Solo Artist:
http://www.drumsoloartist.com/live/browse/mode_featured/

[KenSanders]

PASHA, thank you for those nice comments.  We are blessed to have so many very cool players here in the DSA community....and blessed to have PASHA keep this website alive and running.   

Tomm is absolutely right.  We do need to talk about the styles (plural) we consider jazz.  I'll start this off with some comments and also invite any interested readers to join the JAZZ AND MORE Group (also here on the DSA website).


Jazz has evolved since the early twentieth century and branched off in all directions.  It continues to do so as musicians explore endless stylistic combinations, different moods, feels, textures and time signatures.  That shouldn't surprise anyone.   

Now I believe that Blues, Swing, Bebop, Dixieland, Cuban-Afro styles, Soul, Funk, Fusion, Big Band, Organ Trios, even Ragtime, and Latin American styles are evidence of the many genres and “forks in the road” that today’s jazz directions can go in.

So can anyone actually define jazz to your satisfaction?  Hmmmm, I really don’t know! 

But........I can offer a few comments that will, perhaps, inspire some of you to share your thoughts here on the DSA forum. 

Some young drummers may think of jazz as just spang-spaga-lang-spanga-lang.  If that was the gist of it, then I wouldn't be "into" it.  Jazz can be whatever!  Understated.  Adventurous.  Moody.  Burning.  Cool. Balls to the wall.  Laid back.  It's all of that and more. 

Jazz blends a lot of different influences and creates something refreshing and interesting.  How?  Well……to me, it’s primarily interaction with the other musicians….plus your mood, their mood, the audience’s mood.

Typically (if anything in jazz can be “typical”) it can involve altering the melodies, adding counter melodies and harmonies.  Additionally the players add their improvisations and solos.  The feel is often controlled by the pulse of bass and dynamics of the drums, but not so much any player is blocked from stretching out musically.  More often than not, a tune is never performed the exact same way twice in live performance settings.

To me jazz music involves playing what you feel and reacting to the way the other players make you feel....and how you make them feel.  So, you ask what the heck does that mean?    It means you goota feel the vibe and communicate it musically.  Your ears and your imagination are as important as your hands and feet. 

Okay guys....it's your turn to begin some dialog. 

[patafla]

I think there are allways plenty of good jazz-drummers out there since it is a form that has been and will be very important in drumset studies. Allthough up and coming players are allways interesting and it is truly a joy to see guys coming up I cant say that I have heard a 15 year old drummer breaking new ground. It simply takes (usually) decades for a drummer to get to that level.

Tony Williams rewrote the book on be bob drumming before he was 20 and jazz has never ben the same after that. But this was 1960 - 70, that does not happen anymore since the instrument has come to far.

There is a masterdrummer by the name of Pétur Östlund who lives in Sweden and he is in my opininon the best jazzdrummer ever to walk this planet, he is well over 60 now and I encourage anyone if you get a chance to see him play to check him out. I have never in my life witnessed such technical strength and complete virtuosity on the drumset.

This guy goes about his buisness and does not give interviews, never has. I saw him play in 1980 and the only drummer that comes close (just so) is Virgil Donati (who adds double bass). But that just goes to show that most of the stuff thats happening today has ben going on for decades, it just did not recieve recognition.

However there are 2 sides to this and most of the new stuff is happening in the area of foot technique today. In that department young cats (old ones to) are knocking down walls where technique is concerned.

[Tomm]

 I knew reviving this thread would be productive.

Jazz drumming, in my opinion, breaks music tempo and signatures down to a science.  Fortunately it is a science that even an average student like me can understand.

If it hadn't been for Jazz music, I'm sure I would have lost interest a long time ago.

[KenSanders]

Tomm

You got right to the point.

Thanks for sharing a good post with some deeper thoughts that we can all ponder. 

[KenSanders]

I want to recommend an old CD called TOM CAT recorded in the early seventies by Tom Scott and the LA Express.  It featues some very clever drumming by the late JOHN GUERIN.  It is a ground breaking recording that features many odd times signatures that he makes groove so solid.  It is jazz fusion before anyone knew what to call it.

You'll hear drum licks that inspired people like Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl to realize there was some very cool stuff to pay serious attention to.

[KenSanders]

It has been a while since we've had any dialog in this thread. I wondering about the live performance jazz scene in YOUR area.  Is it strong?  Is it weak?  Is it hip?  Is it flurishing or lacking support from both clubs and performers?

[KenSanders]

The jazz scene is fairly active here in Nashville, although it is not flourishing.  We are fortunate to have the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society that supports live Jazz and Blues performances at clubs, festivals and of course with their website.  I am proud to be a featured artist of the TJBS.  We also have the Nashville Jazz Cave, that is a performance venue AND a teaching/learning facility.  The faculty is superb there.

The recording industry is still strong here, so we have an abundance of top notch musicians who lend their talents to that industry.  Many of those players also love performing jazz when they are not making records that feature OTHER musical styles.  I only wish we had more clubs to better accommodate the number of great players.
 
We also have "Jazz 89" WMOT (at Middle Tennessee State University), our local jazz radio station.  It plays not only tunes recorded by famous nationally recognized jazz artists, but the music of not-so-famous local musicians as well.  WMOT also keeps the listeners aware of the upcoming jazz performances via radio broadcast announcements and their website.

So I am blessed to live and work in Music City USA doing some jazz work, and doing the other styles we get called to play as back-up bands and tour musicians.

Okay, enough about Nashville....tell me about the jazz scene in your area.

[Tomm]

Here in the Chicago area and east through Hammond, Gary, Michigan City, Indiana, and on up into Michigan along the east shores of Lake Michigan and north (talk about SNOW belt!) Jazz is alive and nearly well.  This area tends to regain momentum after bad times slowly and inefficiently.  Entertainment takes a back seat to other, more important things... like eating and staying warm, and paying outlandish taxes and insurance...well you get the idea.  BUT...one thing I have noticed...Jazz never looses fans and/or followers.  The numbers don't increase with any grandeur, but the quality of the music here is so phat, people just can't help themselves but to follow the amazing talent that resides here. 

I was blessed with a son who mastered the trap set at a very young age, and the day I expressed to him that he was better than me ...he set his goals-as any determined ten year old genius would do, and became the best technical, most articulate, accurately fastest, even tempered (very important), music theorist I know.  He earned the position of drummer for the area's renown, and favorite, other half of the best rhythum section that has been experienced by any of the clubs around, Scott Pazerra.  That dude is so good, it's scary.  Trust me, I jammed with him once and I was scared to death that I was gonna screw up and be desolved from the room with embarrassment.  All's well that ends well.

[KenSanders]

The Chicago area seems to have wealth of jazz fans keeping the fire going.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I remember being in Chicago a few years ago and having an evening to do whatever I wanted.  I found one of those cellar jazz clubs underneath an old hotel downtown.  They had a very cool piano trio performing and quess who was playing drums?  Barrett Deems.  I really enjoyed the evening and watching him play with some amazing finese.