nadaladaDOTnet » Drumming

Stanton Moore = Unbelievable

Greg — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:04:09 +0000

I’ve been a fan of Stanton’s for a while now, his resume to those that know him is well known. Founding member of Galactic, leader of the Stanton Moore Trio, session great and master clinician. Also, he is a favorite son of the great city of New Orleans and is considered one of its finest ambassadors.

His skills are incredible, his funk is dirty and swings hard, and his technique is absolutely flawless. For me (and the true sign of the great ones), he makes what he does look so EASY. Almost, dare I say attainable. Even though I know it isn’t. Not without hours, and hours of dedication and years of study.

This clip illustrates his overall funkiness, taken from a class he led in London, 2007:

And then, there’s his distinctive take on the shuffle as interpreted through his impression of Clyde Stubblefield:

The man is just gifted and astounding. His playing NEVER bores me and does nothing but inspire me. Enjoy.

Tommy Lee, love him or hate him…

Greg — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:26:09 +0000

I haven’t talked too much about drummers or music in a while. But I came across this video teaser for Motley Crue’s own Tommy Lee and his crazy new spin (literally) on drum solos.

Seriously, love him or hate him, you cannot deny the man is unique and totally, 100% undeniably INSANE.

Who else would think of creating a mini roller coaster mixed with multi-media mixed with rocking drumming chops to create an experience that I KNOW I haven’t seen and doubtful you have either.

Visual proof:

Too many people focus on his exploits as a “rock star”. And, though the evidence is CERTAINLY out there (the “video” with Pam Anderson, the arrests, the public brawl with Kid Rock, et all), not enough conversation is had or focused on his abilities as a world class rock drummer.

Many of his peers will speak to that effect as well as top line rock producers that have worked with him in studio. He’s got solid chops and most importantly a solid groove. I’ve always liked him more as a player than a character. But this new solo experience? It’s the PERFECT marriage of his skills in both areas.

Tragic Loss, R.I.P. Richie Hayward

Greg — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:13:41 +0000

While I was blissfully hiking over this past weekend, the music world and more specifically, the world of drummers lost a truly gifted player named Richie Hayward.

If you’re in the know, then you know he was/is/forevershallbe the indomitable rhythmic spirit of the great Little Feat. If you’re not in the know, I suggest you rush out and get any of the first 6 Little Feat discs and more specifically Waiting for Columbus which is truly one of THE greatest live records EVER recorded. The man was seriously one of the funkiest humans that ever picked up sticks. He WAS the swamp in their swing.

I feel honored to have met him at NAMM in 1994. He was gracious, humble and warm having not known me or having any idea why I was talking with him (I was trying to get an endorsement with Remo heads and he was there at the same time). He will be missed but thankfully we have TONS of his music on disc and on video. To wit, enjoy this killer clip from 1976 doing “Fat Man in the Bathtub”.

R.I.P. you funky motherSHUTYOURMOUTH!

Dull Boy Jack @ 1st Thursday

Greg — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:16:21 +0000

Full stage view

My view

My band Dull Boy Jack played at our good friends SwellPath’s last big 1st Thursday gathering for Summer 2010. We had the pleasure of playing it last summer and had a great time doing so.

Last year we took a more calculated approach playing specific set lengths and trying to keep it like one of our normal shows but this year was way different and I think that had a lot to do with the crowd. There were SO many people out on the streets it was incredible. We had crowds gather here and there during the first 2 sets but by the time we started the 3rd set…either the booze had set in for the people or they were interested in hearing some music because we had an awesome 3rd set.

Drums and setlist

JT's weapons

We started off with some good blues tunes and by the time we got to “Hoochie Koochie Man” we had quite a crowd lined up. Playing 1st Thursday reminds me of Mardis Gras since there is a constant stream of people walking by and it’s rather festive. This gathering is not too much different except that there’s less drunk people and open displays of skin (which when you’re on stage can be quite interesting, but that’s another post….). We had a big crowd hanging out after that song and also sold some CD’s and even had some gig offers from doing what we do. It was pretty cool. Especially because gigging with the trio is something we haven’t done a lot of in 2010.

JT is ready!

JT's rig

I will say that this gig fired us up and has us re-calibrating what to do in 2011. We have 2 records out for sale and a 3rd that we need to finish. I think now the focus is how many shows do we want to do a year and where do we want to play? These 1st Thursday gigs are awesome though because of the format. We’ll see what this does for our planning.

“Live @ the Cascade Blues Association”….

Greg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:48:12 +0000

Back in June, Dull Boy Jack competed in the Cascade Blues Association’s “Journey to Memphis” 3 day event.

The competition draws blues bands from all over the western United States and is usually the best time to catch hot West Coast blues bands doing their thing with the winner travelling to Memphis, Tennessee to play one night with other top blues acts from around the country. It’s kind of a grind, 9 bands in a night. Everyone uses the same back line (drums, amps, etc) and each act gets only 10 minutes to set up.

We went on in the early part of the first night and did a yeoman’s job in my humble opinion (I had to deal with a monster 8 piece drum kit, a big deal considering I play a 4 piece kit). We did a 5 song set showcasing some of our more rocking stuff. This clip is our last song from the set, a medley of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy” (done DBJ style) and “Love Rocket” from our second record “Sweet Sassy”.

Thanks to Chrissy Van Osdol for capturing it on vid for us.

iPhone’s are fun

Greg — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:13:33 +0000

Last week at my weekly Dull Boy Jack rehearsal I thought I’d experiment with my iPhone.

Propped it up behind me (though the angle turned out to be a little odd) and came up with this performance for “Hoochie Koochie Man”.

Sound quality is suspect but it was a fun experiment.

Glad to be gigging in the sun again

Greg — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:38:39 +0000

Been a while since I got to play outdoors but this summer is shaping up nicely. Kicked off summer with a Closed Captioned gig this past weekend at Bethany Vineyards in Ridgefield, Washington.

We played 3 long sets to many drinkers of wine and consumers of buffet food. Was perfect weather, 70 degrees and sun. Made me dang happy. More shows coming this summer from Dull Boy Jack too.

@ Bethany Vineyards with CC 05.08.10

Friday fun, drumming insanity

Greg — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:10:42 +0000

I give you for Friday, the genius of Tony Royster Jr.

His skills are well known and his talent prodigious.
What I like is how happy he looks when he plays.

He seems completely connected to the instrument and brings so much passion to his playing. He gets a lot of flack from some ends of the drumming spectrum for being just another super technical player but I think he has unique energy AND technical supremacy.

Check this clip out with his childhood band ASAP.

Enjoy.

Thomas Lang makes me ill

Greg — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:50:34 +0000

OK.

First, yes, this guy’s fashion sense is abominable. I mean, look at this get up….

But, man, can he play. His physical abilities matched with musical ones would make any self-respecting drummer or drumming fan twist over double backward. This clip is from one of his recent DVD tutorials and is just a snippet….

Watch his foot speed and overall ability to mess with the time with blinding skill and accuracy. Thomas Lang, you make me ill.

He crush on Vinnie Colaiuta

Greg — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:54:04 +0000

To a lot of drummers, Vinnie Colaiuta is a gold standard to gauge one’s abilities against.

For some.

Some of us, myself included, realize we will never be this kind of player or simply do not ascribe to be this kind of player. That said, even though I know this about myself I can appreciate his greatness and do. Often.

Here’s a clip of a fusionoid super group called Karizma with mega players like Michael Landau on guitar, Neil Stubbenhouse on bass and Dave Garfield on keys.

My man Vinnie obviously is slamming away on the tubs.