August 26, 2011 in Soloing | Tags: David Letterman, Dennis Chambers, Drum solo week, Gavin Harrison, Stewart Copeland, Tony Royster
Last night Letterman wrapped up his second “Drum Solo Week.” Television has had a huge impact on how drum solos have evolved and been perceived by the public, so it’s cool to see Letterman continuing the tradition.
Below are the solos from this past Mon-Thurs. Although Copeland is probably my favorite drummer of the bunch, I think I liked his solo the least.
 | Matthew Smutek on Introducing: The Drum Lib… |
 | Olly Chrich on From The Archives: Albums Ever… |
 | raoul on Coltrane On The Drums |
 | Bradley Christenberr… on Ben Rector DrumCam |
 | BeeRad on From The Archives: Albums Ever… |
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August 28, 2011 at 10:14 pm
David Blascoe
Yea I think Gavins was the most well rounded and musical. Copeland to me has lost what made him an inventive and original drummer in his older age. It sort of comes off like he doesnt practice anymore haha. Royster Jr. just got pretty predictable with the whole “gospel chops” thing and Dennis Chambers solo was a bit redundant. I feel like Copeland and Chambers both have bigger reputations than their CURRENT playing calls for…
September 17, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Seth Earnest
Earnest back in action. I haven’t played drums for a month!
But I can say with certainty that Steve Jordan playing 4 bars of 1/8th notes on his kick drum in that one clip you posted last year sometime (the first clip on your “I Make No Apologies” entry from May, 2010) embarrasses most of these chops monsters.
And listen to Jordan’s groove on that Yamaha Club Custom video at around the 2-min mark.
Oh, jeez…I’ll take making people’s hearts dance over chops any day.
But, on the other hand, what in the world do I know? I forget what sticks feel like! I probably couldn’t make the cut for a high school pep band right now. These guys can play circles around me on a single cowbell with BOTH hands tied behind their backs.
Thanks for all your excellent work on the blog, Steve! Always right on and always a great read/listen!
September 18, 2011 at 8:37 am
Seth Earnest
This isn’t to say I think all solos or solos of great chops showmanship are always boring and soul-less. Quite the contrary.
For instance, I just watched a Dave King solo thing in the middle of a The Bad Plus’ rendition of that Aphex Twin tune they do, and I literally welled up a little bit. It’s certainly impressive chops-wise, but there’s a considerably deeper thing happening within Dave’s soul that he’s expressing. It is a *deeply* moving thing, and it makes me want to experience music and life more deeply and express the life in me more powerfully.
THAT is soul pouring out of a person. Sometimes it’s through technically wizardry which impresses every person, and sometime it’s through, say, 32 1/8th notes on a kick drum, but it’s the soul that is being expressed. It isn’t *always* one or the other, to be sure, but it does require listening to your heart as said solo (or music in general) is happening.
I realized I sounded like I was coming down hard on these guys, and maybe I was b/c their solos are boring, but not because or their inherent technicality; it’s b/c of their lack of anything deeper happening *in my humble opinion which please lay the smack down if you thing I’m full of it.*
I very well probably am.