Elvin Jones was such a unique drummer. He would transition erratically between long, fluid, and legato sections and quiet sections with a lot of negative space, but for as erratic as it was, it was always musical. Elvin was a true storyteller who always kept you excited about what he was going to do next.
beautifully said, Sir ... if you can, please search here for Elvin Jones Jan Hammer "Destiny" ... another aspect of Elvin's genius, this time in a more electric context
Just when I thought this can't get any better, Max Roach walked onstage. Just when I thought this can't get any better, Art Blakey walked onstage. Just when I thought this can't any better, they started playing together. The crappy quality of this video actually helps capture the sense of history. Perfect!
I'll name the participants of this drum "battle"(more like a sporting event for these gentlemen!)The Maestro(Elvin), the Killer(Max) and finally the Crazy(Art,naturally!) The Maestro & the Killer lay down some impressive drumming..., but "Crazy" here just goes all out! (We were blessed by/ these guys musicianship in our lifetime!)
@@russelltoffoli444 Ive been drumming for 50 years and reading youtube comments since the 60s and this is my first time hearing this idea, this concept. I find it not only insightful but also funny. It also helps me to feel superior even though my preferred genre is less profitable/ popular than others
@@jordanposnik6663No way. Max and Elvin were a lot more adventurous and had more creative use of space, which is indicative of them spearheading the free sound of the 60s. Blakey was amazing in his fundamentals however.
Same with Ginger Baker. Both Bonham and Baker had deeply influenced jazz roots and they actually blended techniques of jazz and rock even if they were just playing solid rock music.
Same with Ginger Baker. Both Bonham and Baker had deeply influenced jazz roots and they actually blended techniques of jazz and rock even if they were just playing solid rock music. Same thing goes for Hendrix’s drummer Mitch Mitchell
Amazing to watch this! Thank you for sharing this footage its awesome! Takes me back to the 1970' village Gate as a young teenage watching Art Blakey & the Jazz messengers! First Class Jazz & incredible drumming! Hey what Jamakin' Art!
Of these 3 absolute giants, Max Roach is definitely my favorite, but it'd be really hard to say who won this drum battle. Each was remarkable in his own way.
Roach had a melodic approach to drum breaks and accompaniment. Jones was a monster driving a band. Blakey was the only real soloist. Few long drum solos make sense; they're mostly pyrotechnics.
Such a special treat, that had to be, for anyone fortunate enough to have actually been there! At first I thought that Art was just there on his name, until he started smoking in the middle. Hands down winner in my opine. Would have loved it if Philly Joe was with them also.
That was my impression, and with no disrespect to anyone else. He was definitely feeling it that day. Reminded me a lot of Billy with Mahavishnu in terms of taking charge.
1) Virtuosic artists throughout history have always tended to use competition to push their limits. If you get into a cutting contest with your peers, it's safe to assume that the natural desire to win will be at least a small motivating factor in your playing. 2) It's fun for us as an audience to contextualize the performance this way. It adds drama and urges us to act actively as judges as opposed to passively as bystanders. 3) As you can see, they are playing their pieces separately, not together; which makes it hard to refer to this as a colab. except for in a very loose sense of the word.
@@mthomas1973 of the three, elvin is the least 'straight ahead'. he comes out on top imo in terms of phrasing, inventiveness and texture. not to discount max or art, but they had playing solos similar to these, the same licks, for decades
I think this was from The Maltings - Adleburgh Festival Hall, Suffolk. The BBC had several trie to manufacture videotape rather than buy American Ampex, and this may be the cause of the quality degeneration.
came in here expecting Elvin to kinda win this even though they are all fckin legends, but i’ll be damned if Art Bu Blakey didn’t just lowkey eviscerate them… once again yea it’s not a competition but it is quite literally a drum battle so that’s just my opinion
@@JesseOnThaDrums It's a mixture of singles, doubles, and paradiddles. It depends which phrase. A lot of Max's fastest stuff was indeed all singles, but he had a lot of different patterns that used different sticking.
It's weird... If I try to hear the unspoken beats, I can hear the rhythm. But, If I try to just listen, it kinda clashes with my sense of rhythm, breakbeat or not. I feel stupid, lol, but, sometimes I can hear something close to rhythmic progression, other times, i just hear incomprehensible noise.
@@luisn642 The only difference is that Elvin started playing much later. Art, Max and Elvin are the holy trinity of jazz drummers. They gave so much to the art and all had unique styles and sounds. Give me those three over Buddy Rich any day. They are full of dynamics, melody and musicality. Not just showing off. You see how much space they leave. Buddy was great, but just filled space with 32nd and 64th notes. Sometime one note means everything!
@@goesjem the machine gun buddy was mainly in short clips on tv show. In his own stuff that was quite different. Later on he did, similar to Elvin, some abstract solos , including some entirely in Match grip ! As opposite to the popular opinion.
At the risk of being ridiculed, I can honestly write that while there is no denying their superb technique, I didn't like any of them in this video. I couldn't tsp my feet to this kind of drumming and if I can't do that, then its just noise. It don't mean a thing if it ain't gogt that swing. That's a fact.
@Andy Butler Baker overrated? He created the rock drum solo and pioneered afrobeat music, just to name some of his contributions. Playing rolls and paradiddles at 250 bpm doesn't necessarily make you a legend. Baker was the Cream drummer for barely 4 years, his career lasted almost 50 years. Listen to "Sunrise on the Sufferbus" by Masters of Reality and maybe you'll realize how amazing Baker was.
