And now… it begins.

The ever-evolving list of records that are a must-listen for all drummers… in my opinion. It will henceforth be called, the “AEDSK Club.” That name has no catchy ring to it whatsoever, but just watch, it’ll stick.  I’m going to start things off with the records I can think of off the top of my head right now, and I’ll be constantly adding to this post as time goes on.

Some clarification at the outset…

- I am listing albums that have been influential to me personally, so much so that I think they will be equally influential to other players as well.
- This obviously means that I won’t necessarily include all of the great records on YOUR list of big influences.  If you think there’s a record that I need to include on the list then let me know about it and I will check it out.
- I’ve left a ton of history’s great “drum” albums off of the list intentionally.  The main reason is that I’m trying to not repeat styles and concepts too much (i.e. there’s only one Zeppelin record on the list, but they are all obviously awesome).  But, I also might be missing a great record simply because I forgot about it or don’t even know about it.  Don’t yell at me for not including your favorite record.  Again, just let me know about it, and I’ll either include it or explain why not.
- I’m trying to cover all the bases here… rock, pop, jazz… good pocket, unique fills, well-executed-but-straight-ahead fills… etc.  However, I’ve excluded a few categories altogether.  Hardcore would be a great example.  I am painfully unfamiliar with hardcore bands/drummers, but I also feel like hardcore is a VERY niched style… too niched, in fact.  I would submit that the big hardcore records, although great in their own right, have had very little impact on the rest of the drumming world.  The point of the AEDSK club is to list albums that “every” drummer should know about, but I admit that I don’t really mean EVERY drummer – just MOST drummers.

So, with that said, here we go. The list is alphabetical by artist first name, with the album title in italics, and the drummers in parentheses…

12Rods, Lost Time (Dave King) A great Minneapolis rock record.  King brilliantly combines smart/progressive ideas with appropriate and sensible rock playing.  Some wicked chops on this album.

Allison Krauss / Robert Plant, Raising Sand (Jay Bellarose) Grammy-winning folk/country collaboration.  I learned a lot about expanding and contracting the groove from this album.

The Bad Plus, These Are The Vistas (Dave King)  The poster-children for current prog-jazz, The Bad Plus combine crazy chops and odd time signatures with artful and sensitive playing.  This album is a great lesson on thinking outside the box.

Bethany Dillon, Imagination (Josh Robinson, Dan Needham)  CCM singer/songwriter pop from an incredible female vocalist.  The grooves are dripping with great feel, and the fills are really creative.

Bill Frisell, Live (Joey Baron)  Early 90’s avante-garde jazz guitar trio.  Joey Baron’s approach is like none other.  Very tasteful and amazingly creative.  You will be constantly asking yourself, “how is this weird weird playing working so well?”

Bob Dylan, Time Out Of Mind (Jim Keltner)  Keltner’s feel is legendary, and there’s no better example than this record.  Living, breathing, GROOVING… and lots of great ideas.

Bruce Hornsby, Hot House (John Molo) John Molo is solid and creative, but the really great part about these cross-between-jam-band-and-pop tracks is the diversity of feels.  Shuffle, latin, blue grass, improvisation, odd-time signatures… this record has it all.

Counting Crows, August And Everything After (Steve Bowman)  A really unique sounding record for having enjoyed so much pop success.  Bowman plays very unorthodox stuff in these songs, but it all fits very well.

Critters Buggin, Guest (Matt Chamberlain)  The studio great Matt Chamberlain stretching out in a jam-jazz context.  Lots of layers.  Dense and complex grooves, all with Matt’s signature feel.

D’Angelo, Voodoo (Amir Thompson)  This record BLEW MY MIND when I first heard it.  Live neo-soul r&b… with Pino Palladino on bass.  Questlove’s grooves are so deep, and the whole record has this crazy lilt that just shouldn’t be possible.

David Sanborn, Up Front (Steve Jordan)  Steve Jordan lays down 9 incredible grooves on this album (one per track).  He is patient and consistent, and the patterns are SUPER grooving and very creative.

Dogs Of Peace, Speak (John Hammond) Nashville session greats playing 90’s pop/rock.  The sound is somewhat dated, but the playing is SO solid.  John Hammond has a couple earth-shattering grooves on this record, and a few fills that took me a WHILE to figure out.

Donald Fagen, The Nightfly (James Gadson, Ed Green, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Jordan)  Just look at the list of drummers on this record.  Holy cow… all on one record.  Vintage tones with complex and interesting parts, all with incredible precision.  It’s as good as you think.

Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin (Steven Drozd)  This record affected me in a lot of ways.  The main thing to listen for is Drozd’s role in the band: tons of backdoor parts and interesting twists and turns.  He lays down huge pockets, but he’s definitely not a “stock option” kind of player.

Happy Apple, Please Refrain From Fronting (Dave King)  Prog-metal-avantgarde-jazz.  Saxophones / electric bass / drums.  Incredible compositions… incredible musicians.  Face-melters and sensitive ballads… and seriously, NOBODY plays drums like Dave King.

The Honeydogs, Here’s Luck (Noah Levy)  This Minneapolis rock trio has enjoyed far less commercial success than they deserve.  Great songs, and Noah Levy has a feel that heavy-weight LA producer John Fields told me he has never heard anyone replicate.

Israel Houghton, Live From Another Level (Michael Clemens)  Smoking gospel.  Horn section, percussionist, 7 vocalists, and chops for days from “Big Mike” Clemens.  Some of the fills on this album just aren’t possible.

Jeff Buckley, Grace (Matt Johnson)  This album taught me a lot about transmitting emotion through the drumset in a rock context.  Emotion, not just energy.

Jellyfish, Spilt Milk (Andy Sturmer)  Andy Sturmer rules so hard.  Lead singer while playing a hybrid cocktail kit standing up.  LOTS of interesting ideas amidst dense production.  A careful listen will reveal a lot of wisdom toward playing great parts in a thick and busy soundscape.

Jimi Hendrix, Band Of Gypsies (Buddy Miles) A perfect demontration of how a good drummer should play behind long and drawn-out jam solos.  Hendrix is Hendrix on this recording, and Buddy Miles supports him without being a distraction.

John Mayer, Continuum (Steve Jordan)  Perfect parts and perfect feel on a perfect pop/rock record.  Every drummer should listen to this album once a week.

Jonatha Brooke, 10 Cent Wings (Abe Laboriel Jr.)  Female singer/songwriter pop with some HUGE grooves from Abe Laboriel.  Great tones on this record.

Jonny Lang, Turn Around (Michael Bland) Bluesy soul with incredibly tight playing from Michael Bland.  Bland drops deceivingly difficult chops like he doesn’t even care, and his four on the floor rivals any other that I’ve heard.

Keith Jarrett, Standards Live (Jack DeJohnette)  Classic piano trio jazz.  Jack DeJohnette is such an inspiring musician.  His comping and dialogue with Jarrett always surprises me, mostly because his vocabulary is endless but never inappropriate.

Keith Urban, Love, Pain, And The Whole Crazy Thing (Chris McHugh)  Nashville pop/country with huge grooves, solid fills, and tons of band leadership from behind the drumset.

Led Zeppelin, Zeppelin II (John Bonham)  The man, the legend.  John Bonham… and this is just my favorite Zeppelin record.  Physical Graffiti would be in a close second…

Living Colour, Time’s Up (Will Calhoun)  This is a crazy album… metal, prog, rock, puck… all in one record.  Will Calhoun has some really interesting parts, and his presence is very unique.

Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose (Patrick Keeler)  Great “roots” country, played by a drummer who is obviously more familiar with indie rock than country.  The result is wonderful, and the tones are super cool.  Great use of snare ring.

Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Friday Afternoon In The Universe (Billy Martin)  Billy Martin threads the needle between jazz and fusion in MMW.  This record shows a side of him that I find to be his best: adventurous and creative, while never leaving his cool “James Brown meets jazz” pocket.

Michael Olson, Long Arm Of Love (Steve Brewster) This album is what made me fall in love with Steve Brewster’s playing.  If you listen closely you’ll hear that he’s actually playing a LOT of notes… really busy stuff… but it works so well that you’d never know it.  I think the record successfully defies (somewhat) the “less is more” principle.

Michelle Branch, The Spirit Room (Vinnie Colaiuta)  Female mainstream pop/rock.  Vinnie plays super solid (of course), but what’s really interesting to me about this recording is the way he so seamlessly weds his grooves with the heavy sequencing and programming on the record.

Miles Davis, Miles Smiles (Tony Williams)  Tony Williams is such a force.  He was 21 years old when this album was recorded, and his maturity and innovation is MIND BLOWING for such a young player.  His passion for music comes through his playing so clearly.

Mutemath, Mutemath (Darren King)  Darren King deftly rides the amazingly narrow line between tons of energy and going too far.  His ideas and parts are crazy and intense, his performances are crazy and intense, the music is crazy and intsense, and yet you always trust him.

Owsley, Owsley (Chris McHugh)  Chris McHugh in a pop/rock context.  Tons of hooky but simple fills, and the signature solid McHugh feel.

Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, *no title* (Paul Motian)  Paul Motian is a jazz legend, and it’s possible that his 60’s recordings with Bill Evans are more widely influential than this 2006 release, but this album taught me a ton about patience and restraint in jazz, more so than any other Paul Motian performance I’ve heard.

Pedro The Lion, Control (David Bazan)  Textbook indie rock.  The really amazing part about this record is how the drumming (and instrumentation in general) fit the lyrical concept of the record so well.  This is not surprising, since David Bazaan is both the drummer and the singer/songwriter on this album.

Peter Gabriel, Secret World Live (Manu Katche)  This is a live album where Manu Katche gets to stretch out a little, and it’s really amazing to hear how he stays so tightly locked with the sequencing.  A great snapshot of Manu’s unique style.

The Police, Synchronicity (Stewart Copeland)  Stewart Copeland brings more sheer energy to a rock band than any other drummer I can think of.  This record is a great blend of his energy and his creativity.

The Posies, Frosting On The Beater (Mike Musburger)  “Indie power-pop” at it’s finest.  Mike Musburger plays great fills with tons of drive/ambition.  This is a great record to learn longer and busier fills in a rock context.

Sara Bareilles, Little Voice (Matt Chamberlain, Brian MacLeod)  Some SICK pocket drumming in a pop/rock context.  Great feel, great parts, great tones… just GREAT.

Shawn Colvin, Whole New You (Shawn Pelton)  This recording has lots of VIBE… in fact, this is the first record I would point to learn how to play that vibey, singer-songwrite style.

Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream (Jimmy Chamberlain)  A 90’s “alternative” band with surprisingly clean playing from the drummer.  Jimmy Chamberlain demonstrates the valuable asset of the hihat foot.

Soul Coughing, Ruby Vroom (Yuval Gabay)  A very patient, groove-oriented drummer.  A great record to listen to for backbeat shuffles and borderline-hiphop funk.

Starfield, Beauty In The Broken (Josh Robinson)  Another typical rock record, but made so much more interesting by the drumming.  Some of Josh Robinson’s ideas are just so awesome-yet-unorthodox, not to mention his feel… I had to include this record on the list.

Steely Dan, Aja (Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie, Jim Keltner, Rick Marotta, Ed Green, Paul Humphries)  Just look at the list of players on this record.  Hands’ down one of history’s great drum albums.

Story Of The Sea, Enjoying Fire (Ian Prince)  Ian is a Minneapolis drummer who masterfully combines energy and feel.  His parts support the songs really well, and you will want to copy his ideas as soon as you hear them.

Tom Petty, Wildflowers (Steve Ferrone)  This is my favorite Petty record, and Steve Ferrone has a very cool “classic rock” approach to the drums.  His parts and simple and rocking, yet not over the top or sloppy.  Very cool.

Tommy Sims, Peace And Love (Dan Needham)  Dan Needhams pocket is SO huge.  This is a perfect album to soak up and just try to capture some of Needham’s groove through osmosis.

Toto, Toto IV (Jeff Porcaro)  Another classic drum performance.  The backbeat shuffle on the first track is as legendary as Porcaro himself.

The Wallflowers, Bringing Down The Horse (Matt Chamberlain)  This is another display of a well-rounded approach to styles from a studio player.  Chamberlain gracefully weaves 11 different vibes for 11 different tracks.  Lots of subtle nuggets for the close listener.

Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil (Elvin Jones)  Elvin’s voice in jazz was as great a contribution to the evolution of jazz drums is as any other drummer that I know of.  This record is a perfect example of his “elastic” time feel.

Weather Report, I Sing The Body Electric (Eric Gravatt)  A true pioneer in the sound of the drumset in music.  The sound of Weather Report at the time of this recording was much more “Fusion” than traditional jazz, and for this reason Gravatt has probably influenced as many rock drummers as jazz drummers.

I will try to update this list every so often as I discover/remember records that I think deserve to be on the list, so check back periodically.