O man, Billy Ward. The ultimate "groovemeister". This dude land on my no.9 spot in my all time favorite drummers because not only does he have the most amazing grooves but also he has so much creativity with so little drums. He can use a simple 4 piece drum kit and make it sound so full... it is really amazing.
Besides such an awesome jazz drummer, he is very versatile, once you put him with a bassist, crazy things happen... I kid you not... when I saw him playing with a bassist from his "Big Time" DVD, I was blown away by the awesomeness of the music they made. It was really cool.... here's a short clip of it on Youtube...
What I like most about Billy Ward is that he just gives the oomph in every style he plays. An extremely versatile dude... and also a hilarious man...
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I was doing a recording at Ps. Jonathan Tse's studio... I thought it'd be nice to jam to his song... a moment later, Ps. Jonathan decided to record me so I'm like..oh crap... gotta do something cool...and this is what happened! >.<
As we are closing in to the drummers that I really like, I would like to name the top 10 in my list of all time favorite drummers whom I can never get tired of. From the beginning of the list. No. 10 is none other then the man who made The Art of Drumming. "Benny Greb."
His groove and style is probably one of the best of the best. He can take a simple backbeat and make it sound so inspiring! I first saw his performance on Youtube. His soloing with grooves was really simple yet jaw dropping... the groove is so awesome that you can almost taste it. I think this video speaks for itself.
Up until today, for some reason, his face just reminds me of Jesus Christ. The one that Hollywood always keeps on portraying. I see a lot of facial resemblance in him. Dont you think so...
Anyways, despite his facial figure. I really love his grooves, it just satisfies my ears very much! Benny drumming with Johnny Rabb. Although I like Benny's groove, this video of him snare soloing with Johnny Rabb, I think Johnny Rabb thrashed Benny but it is really cool.
P/S. For those of you who know me very well. This video on O:45. Does it sound familiar?
This song is call Flavor of The Week by an old band American Hi Fi, which is one of my favorite bands.
Now, when you have seen that video, watch this
Alright... so what does American Hi-Fi have anything to do with Miley Cyrus?
Well... look closely at the drummer for Miley.... Now look closely at the lead singer of American Hi-Fi.
NO way??? YES WAY! It turns out, the reason why American Hi Fi has not had anything new is because the lead singer now plays the drums for Miley Cyrus!!!!!
I know that some people already knew this a long time ago, but I just found out and I think the majority of my readers did not know that either! This is just mind-blowingly shocking! I didn't know he played drums and he's really good at it!
For those who have been asking what I've been practicing on the drums lately. This is what I've just been recently working on...
This is a composition made by a composer called Steve Reich. This is a 12/16 (similar to 6/8 or 3/4) clapping rhythm performed by two people. 1st, both clappers will clap the rhythm in unison. 1 will keep on playing the same rhythm throughout the entire time while the 2nd clapper moves 1 quarter of a note back every 4th, 8th, or 12th bar. They will keep this up all the way until the 2nd clapper comes back into unison with the 1st clapper.
Steve Reich in 2006
This is one of Steve Reich's early pieces of simple "phasing."He has done alot more other types of composition that does even more complicated phasing. For those who do not know what is phasing in a musical term; " it just means that two instruments playing the same thing in steady but not identical tempo. Slowly making them out of sync... all the way until the 2nd instruments comes back in unison with the 1st instrument."
I first got the idea to do this when I saw Glenn Kotche's interview at the Modern Drummer Festival 2006 DVD. I was so fascinating that I've tried to mimic it by ear by for a whole year couldn't find it possible until I finally sat down and spent an entire hour writing out the entire notation for clapping music. Surprisingly it is only 12 bars.
You can see Mr. Kotche talking about the Clapping Music around 0:40 in the video. In it, he also demonstrated how he did the Clapping Music with two different drum surface. One on the floor tom and one on the rack tom. The rhythm he did on the floor tom doesn't change (mimicking the 1st clapper) while the rhythm on the rack tom does the phasing (mimicking the 2nd clapper).
So what have I been practicing?... This is it. Trying to do Clapping Music on the drums like how Glen Kotche did. I have to say..this is not an easy task to accomplish. I might post a video of myself doing the Clapping music piece once I have mastered the piece. Which will probably take a while.
For the past few drummers that I have talked about in my post, I haven't really gotten to the ones that I've always wanted to talk about. The drummers that are doing what I want to do in my life. Being a drummer for Christ and winning souls! The ones that you already know are of course Teddy Campbell from American Idol and Marvin McQuitty of Israel & New Breed. But there are many others that did not come from such Gospel Church backgrounds. Many of them were lost somewhere in their life as drummer but soon became saved.
So here is my salutation and respect towards all these great drummers that I have come to enjoy seeing them drumming.
Gregg Bissonette. The drummer that I have come to realize as being one of the most versatile drummers I have ever seen. He has performed with such musicians like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Santana, and Duran Duran.
Here's an old video of him drumming in the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert.
This is him now, which kind of shows his variety of drumming styles as being both a soloist and a sideman.
Luis Conte. First thing that come to my mind is not just an amazing percussionist, but also a really humble a nice person. I've seen some of his drumming and listened to him being interviewed and I have got to say, he is a very humble and nice guy. Which is hard to find people like him especially when he has performed with such great artists like Phil Collins, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Elton John and even a rock band like Goo Goo Dolls.
Here's Luis Conte drumming along with Phil Collins and Chester Thompson
Zoro the drummer. Do not be fooled by his looks, he is one powerhouse drummer for Christ! He was interviewed by Joyce Meyer last year and to what it is like being a drummer for the Lord. I have the interview video so if anybody wants the video, you can e-mail me.
Sheila E. There is only one thing I can tell you. Dont judge a book by its cover. She will kick your butt if you think you can drum better than her. As being both drummer/singer...she has worked with many famous people like Prince, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
Long ago while still working with Prince. Powerhouse drumming!!!
A video excerpt from the "Sisters in Spirit" Tour. Man, if I had a girlfriend like that, I would be considered the luckiest man in the world. (laughs)
Last but not the very least, the one and only living legend, Vinnie Colaiuta. I have to say, a poly rhythmic master like him being a drummer for Christ is truly a huge win for drummers everywhere and he is one of the most respected musicians among many drummers. I would say he has reached to a status equivalent to Steve Gadd!
To all these amazing drummers, I salute and respect you all!
O man, Billy Ward. The ultimate "groovemeister". This dude land on my no.9 spot in my all time favorite drummers because not only does he have the most amazing grooves but also he has so much creativity with so little drums. He can use a simple 4 piece drum kit and make it sound so full... it is really amazing.
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