Jazz Drummers/ Percussionists Suggestions

Thanks for asking, Tony. The answer to both questions is: it's complicated, and I'll split my replies into two separate posts.

As for choosing drummers ... on the one hand, I love drummers, and I love all kinds of drummers, and I've been very lucky to play with some really great ones, including the one I married, Sarah Allen. And each one, as with any musician, has their own musical personality, their own set of skills and areas of expertise. I try as best I can to go with their flow; drummers are usually the main determining factor in how the music comes across overall. As long as they have good time, a good feel, a strong sense of momentum and propulsion, and play well with others, I can adjust to whatever stylistic idiosyncrasies they may or may not have that do or don't necessarily align with my own.

On the other hand, when choosing the ideal drummer for my own music, I have an almost neurotically specific set of requirements:

• I want an unerring sense of time and perpetual forward momentum ... I never want to feel for even one second that I'm watching someone wavering on a tightrope 50 feet above the floor; I want to feel like I'm watching a river flow as strongly as it's flowed for thousands of years, I want dependability like the sun rising every single day.

• I want a solid and exceptionally comfortable feel, like the most luxuriously riding automobile ever made, like sitting on a sofa that makes you feel like you're back in the womb.

• I want a drummer who has an impeccable sense of narrative flow, knowing exactly which sound or combination of sounds on which of their instruments, and exactly how loud or soft, and exactly where in time it's placed, that is going to further the story of the music at every single moment; a drummer who "sees" the big picture of the music the way a master conductor like Leonard Bernstein does, and can not only illuminate that picture to shine on the whole piece of music, but inspire the other musicians to do so, too.

• I want a drummer who has a broad range of authentic stylistic elements; there are a lot of rock drummers who can play passable jazz, and there are jazz drummers who can play acceptable rock (but, truth be told, far more drummers in each camp who only think they can play the other style convincingly but really can't). I want a drummer who makes the music get up and dance, and makes the listener involuntarily want to do so as well.

• I want a drummer who can make the momentum lean slightly forward on a ride cymbal, while simultaneously making the back-beat lay back on the snare, and know how much to lean forward or lay back, and when to double-up the feel, or to cut it in half, when to use a loose swing feel and when to use a sharp-as-a-tack straight-8th feel and can change from one to the other in a heartbeat as needed.

• I want a drummer who has a master classical musician's sense of dynamics, achieving the most subtle gradations in the vast range from whisper-soft to screaming-loud. I want a drummer who has an innate sense of form in musical composition, and can clearly illustrate the form with all skills possible.

• I want a drummer who imparts an irrepressible sense of joy to the music, who can play with the absolute freedom and abandonment of little kids in a playground.

• I want a drummer who comes up with a much better drum part than I could ever think of.

• Basically, I want a drummer who plays the exact right thing, in the exact right way, at every single moment of every single tune on every single gig or record date, without fail ... is that too much to ask? (insert emoticon here)

And in my experience, even though, like I said, I've been so fortunate to have played with so many truly great drummers, the one I go to first when given the opportunity, the one who delivers all of the above, is Mark Walker.

All the best,

Fred

Hi Fred,

Sounds like you should try to play with Dave Weckl or Steve Gadd, they have these kind of qualities you describe...

Both are excellent drummers. Gadd, who is one of my favorites, is one of the greatest drummers of all time.

Thanks for asking, Tony. The answer to both questions is: it's complicated, and I'll split my replies into two separate posts.

As for choosing drummers ... on the one hand, I love drummers, and I love all kinds of drummers, and I've been very lucky to play with some really great ones, including the one I married, Sarah Allen. And each one, as with any musician, has their own musical personality, their own set of skills and areas of expertise. I try as best I can to go with their flow; drummers are usually the main determining factor in how the music comes across overall. As long as they have good time, a good feel, a strong sense of momentum and propulsion, and play well with others, I can adjust to whatever stylistic idiosyncrasies they may or may not have that do or don't necessarily align with my own.

On the other hand, when choosing the ideal drummer for my own music, I have an almost neurotically specific set of requirements:

• I want an unerring sense of time and perpetual forward momentum ... I never want to feel for even one second that I'm watching someone wavering on a tightrope 50 feet above the floor; I want to feel like I'm watching a river flow as strongly as it's flowed for thousands of years, I want dependability like the sun rising every single day.

• I want a solid and exceptionally comfortable feel, like the most luxuriously riding automobile ever made, like sitting on a sofa that makes you feel like you're back in the womb.

• I want a drummer who has an impeccable sense of narrative flow, knowing exactly which sound or combination of sounds on which of their instruments, and exactly how loud or soft, and exactly where in time it's placed, that is going to further the story of the music at every single moment; a drummer who "sees" the big picture of the music the way a master conductor like Leonard Bernstein does, and can not only illuminate that picture to shine on the whole piece of music, but inspire the other musicians to do so, too.

• I want a drummer who has a broad range of authentic stylistic elements; there are a lot of rock drummers who can play passable jazz, and there are jazz drummers who can play acceptable rock (but, truth be told, far more drummers in each camp who only think they can play the other style convincingly but really can't). I want a drummer who makes the music get up and dance, and makes the listener involuntarily want to do so as well.

• I want a drummer who can make the momentum lean slightly forward on a ride cymbal, while simultaneously making the back-beat lay back on the snare, and know how much to lean forward or lay back, and when to double-up the feel, or to cut it in half, when to use a loose swing feel and when to use a sharp-as-a-tack straight-8th feel and can change from one to the other in a heartbeat as needed.

• I want a drummer who has a master classical musician's sense of dynamics, achieving the most subtle gradations in the vast range from whisper-soft to screaming-loud. I want a drummer who has an innate sense of form in musical composition, and can clearly illustrate the form with all skills possible.

• I want a drummer who imparts an irrepressible sense of joy to the music, who can play with the absolute freedom and abandonment of little kids in a playground.

• I want a drummer who comes up with a much better drum part than I could ever think of.

• Basically, I want a drummer who plays the exact right thing, in the exact right way, at every single moment of every single tune on every single gig or record date, without fail ... is that too much to ask? (insert emoticon here)

And in my experience, even though, like I said, I've been so fortunate to have played with so many truly great drummers, the one I go to first when given the opportunity, the one who delivers all of the above, is Mark Walker.

All the best,

Fred