It was an honor to be included in a group of guys that got to play with Buddy’s band and also to work with Neil Peart as the producer. Cathy Rich invited us play and to pick anything in Buddy’s book…I prepared and it was a blast. The idea was for all these different drummers to do THEIR take on the songs they picked, and not try to be Buddy or something they weren’t. I asked the guys who they liked and they mentioned Matt Sorum…they dug his interpretation. The band was so very pleasant and supportive, which made things very comfortable. The session was done at The Power Station in NYC…they were there for 2 weeks doing drummer after drummer. Neil’s drums were set up and he would practice between sessions for his turn, which I believe was the last one of all of us. Not long after that I did a gig w the band at The Manhattan Center in NYC. Manu Katche recorded right before me…also the same weekend as my performance at the Modern Drummer Festival. Getting to play with such a historic band and have them be so easy to work with made for a very memorable experience. Quite a weekend, one I’ll never forget!
I once attended a master class with you in the early 90's, and you gave me great advice on my jazz playing. I asked you what was wrong with my left hand, you listened for a minute and then answered, "Your right hand." Seeing the puzzled look on my face, you explained to me that my left hand wasn't going to be driving the band, and that my right hand time needed to be way more consistent in order for it to matter. It was the most "Mr. Miyagi" thing any teacher ever told me, and I thank you so much for it.
@@audibletapehiss3764 You’re welcome! I had the good fortune of taking a lesson from John Riley once and for one hour I played quarter notes on the ride cymbal, while he was explaining to me how that simple thing is the foundation for driving a band. Eye and ear opening to say the least…!!!
Very cool seeing a guy like DG playing this song. The guys that played on this project are all so versatile. The BR band was awesome on this track as well.
David is showing how versatile he is, playing traditional big band style. He is an incredible jazz/funk fusion player, though - just listen to an old Tower Of Power album - his playing is so tight and totally in sync it's like a machine.
If you've got a tight & versatile & flexible & skilful & musical drummer & who is also very susceptible to the mood & the vibe of each piece ...then you are golden!!! AND he is definitely one of them !AND he's got his style!
Saxes: Andy Fusco (Lead), Dave D'Angelo, Steve Marcus, Walt Weiskopf, Jack Stuckey (B) Bones: John Mosca, Rick Trager, George Gesslein Tpts: Dave Stahl, Ross Konikoff, Greg Gisbert, Scott Wendholt B: Chuck Bergeron, P: Jon Werking, D: David Garibaldi
Robert Dore No doubt that he's one of the most soulful players around :) By the way did you know that Buddy himself actually liked DG:s style of playing?! David is also a super nice guy been fortuned to have met him a few times.
I played this exact arrangement in my high school jazz band. We played it slower and here it sounds like the trumpets changed a part or two to make it a little less boring. So it's not the exact same arrangement but it's very, very close. We played it at a contest in Gatlinburg, TN in the spring of 1989. It even has the same sax soli. That's right, soli.
Nice! In my high school in 1989 in Berkeley, CA, we played Nutville, Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters and Time Check from Buddy, Pools and Northbeach Breakdown from Woody among other tunes. Good times!
Nice!! Dave did you ever wish you were in the Tonight Show band? My Dad was a huge big band jazz aficionado and always kept me up to date on his favorite guys. Stan Kenton was one. 🥰🥰. Yer one of the greats dude. 🤩🤩🤩
Cool that you mention Stan Kenton. My dad took me to see him play back in '74 or '75. He was gone a few years later, but damn, what a show that was! The "Kenton in Hi-Fi" album from '56 is a masterpiece and I still listen to it all the time.
DG is a great drummer, but this is a cold, skilled, mechanical performance. He had two takes to get it right, and nailed it. If he had a chance to play this tune every night for two weeks it would really start sounding ferocious.
Yup. To swing a big Jazz band you have to play the ride cymbal on top of the beat. DG plays it in the center of the time and that gives it the performance that you mentioned.
+aletsiko It's LrllRllRllKRL played as 16th notes. Starts on 2 on the Snare, ends on 1 on the high Tom, followed by a crash on the and of 1. Hope that helps.
I don't understand this comment. The ride cymbal is in triplets, this fill is in sixteenth notes, so it clearly breaks up the rhythm of the ride cymbal - which is what makes it interesting in the first place. This fill (just like almost any fill) is a combination of a)rhythm b) sticking and c)orchestration all of which I explained. The way I understand your comment is: "Hey, just play whatever you like with any sticking, orchestration and rhythm as long as it swings." That just doesn't answer the question.
Well, this clearly is a sticking thing. It doesn't have anything to do with the ride pattern - are we talking about different fills? I've worked extensively out of Davids books and they are basically all about stickings - like exactly this type of stuff. You should check them out, they are great and give deep insight in his playing. I'm not saying fills shouldn't be in the pocket btw. Of course they should.
You don't think about them while playing. You think about them while practising so you don't have to think about them while playing. That's my take on it at least. IMO if you don't work on stickings you will sooner or later end up playing the same things over and over. This discussion seems to go in circles, so I'll leave it at that. The original question has been answered in the first comment already anyway.
This is one time where, I couldn't stand David's interpretation. Great band as always. I know a hundred people that could have killed it. Putting all modesty aside, myself included...
Pretty much a straight chart read. Any decent high school or college stage band drummer could have played this note for note. The point of these vids is to inject the individuals style into the piece and that was lacking.
cpu554 Well the point of jazz drumming is not always to highlight the drummer by playing complex fills after every 4 bars, doing so makes you look like an amateur jazz drummer. its to highlight the soloists and the band. If you watch, every one of the drummer's hits in this video is well placed and accents what the band is playing. When the solos happen, he drops out, allowing the soloist to be focused on. Any fool can play hard fills with enough practice.
The Stuffed Lemme put it to you this way,if I'd never heard the chart before, Buddy was playing and I didn't know who the drummer was,i would guess that it was Buddy because of the drumming style. The way that this one was done ,given the same situation,it could have been any generic drummer from A to Z. Having played in stage band ,there are those of us that remember you got records of the new charts being played precisely as they were written by the book for reference. Why would I bother buying a recording if everybody that recorded it sounded exactly the same? The point of these recordings is for these famous drummers to inject their styles into the playing. I saw Jeff Berlin in San Jose at the Cabaret ,it was a small crowd and Jeff just smiled and said look,we know why you're here,and that's to watch us burn on our axes,so pull your chairs down front cause we get it. Same difference.
