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- From: ujwb@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jeff Beer)
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
- Subject: Re: The easy ones first
- Date: 25 Jan 1993 17:16:56 -0600
- Organization: Educational Computing Network
- Lines: 49
- Message-ID: <1k1sd8INNf9l@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu>
- References: <ALLMUSIC%93012511410910@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
-
- In article <ALLMUSIC%93012511410910@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> "Michael H. Bloom" <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET> writes:
- >
- >> playing rock or fusion. That is why I always considerd Cobham as a rock
- >> drummer, and Jack as a jazz drummer, regardless of the style of music
- >> they play.
- >
- >I'm probably just being oversensitive to a perceived jazz snobbery here again,
- >but I have difficulty not reading this whole exegesis as "Jazz drummers are
- >new sensitive males, rock drummers are louts."
-
- How so? When have I ever said anything bad about Cobham, who I
- consider a rock drummer? But if it will make you happy, I'll call Mitch
- Mitchell a jazz drummer, because _I_ like him. But that is not what I am
- saying. About all I can make of this is that you are saying the same
- thing I am but from the different side, that is, deep down, there is not
- a whole hell of a lot of jazz that you are impressed with,
- just as deep down, there is not too much rock that I am impressed with.
-
- I'll tell you what, what do you make of Zappa's thoughts on polyrhythms,
- jazz vis-a-vis the music of Frank Zappa? I trust you have his autobio.
-
- Maybe for people who don't play, this seems to be overly concerned about
- labels. But if you are a player, you do have to be style conscious.
- I was once in a salsa band, and my part had all these punch figures set
- up by the perscussionists. Being latin, I first played them straight,
- but I wasn't comfortable. So then I played them like I would in a big
- band, and it felt cool, and I was together with the percussion, and
- everything felt great. But then they stopped the band, and they said,
- "trumpet player, you're dragging those parts". Then another guy in the
- band said that you don't play them like jazz figures, even though in a
- big band setting, they would have been perfect as jazz riffs. When I went back
- to the straight eigths, they were happy, even though it felt choppy.
- So what it was, I had to develp the latin swing, which was totally different
- than what I was used to from the big bands I had played with.
-
- >> ... Who do they have? Tony Oxley, while not in the LJCO is still
- >> a part of the London scene, is Cecil Taylor's choice on drums.
- >
- >Grew up with Derek Bailey. Interesting critter. If that's your standard of a
- >good jazz drummer, I submit de Johnette doesn't make it either.
-
- sure he does. and so does Sonny Greer, Sonny Payne, Sam Woodyard, and
- Kenny Clarke. Do I have to say? Oxley is a good drummer from one part
- of the history, DJ is a good drummer from a different part of the history,
- as are the other examples.
-
- as for DJ, see Triplicate, by Dave Holland, Steve Coleman, and Jack DeJohnette.
-
- Jeff
-