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Best Drum Solos

I'm finding that I've been REALLY enjoying drum solos on my system lately. They seem to work the whole speaker, from the kick drum in the woofers, to the tom-tom in the midrange, and the cymbals and high hats in the tweeters. And when it all comes together, they are the instrument I have the easiest time seeing in front of myself.

I searched the forums titles to see if there were any good drum solo discussions going on, but I didn't see any. So here we go. In no particular order, here are some drum solos I've found to be very high quality:

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - The Drum Thunder Suite
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Caravan
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Far More Drums
Led Zeppelin - Moby Dick
Max Roach - Max's Variations

What are your favorite drum solos to listen to on your system? 
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loomisjohnson
1,903 posts
 
bdp:
agree with you on jim capaldi and doug clifford--thanks for the validation. i raised grant hart because a non-punk friend of mine, who's a great pro-caliber drummer pointed out that hart's tempo and technique were very hard to replicate--he was very impressed with his cymbal bashing.
in any case, i went back and listened to "disraeli gears," generally regarded as cream's masterwork and got derailed by the attention-grabbing drumming. despite the very wide song variety, baker uses the same 3/4 offbeat pound and quick drumroll on virtually every track; contrast with, say, jim gordon on "layla" where the beat is just seamless.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
+1 bdp

all excellent drummers!

I agree about the importance of tasty groove drumming that just carries the song

I think Steve Ferrone deserves a mention too

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk3N84ArTno

and Chad Smith who is just a fantastic groove pocket drummer (note how Chad doesn't need an expensive kit to sound great - it is all about the drummer?)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQghnflsBjE
pehare's avatar
pehare
829 posts
 
reminds me of a joke my musician friend (great guitarist/record store owner) told me years ago.  "You know why a sneeze is like a drum solo?"  "No, why?"  "You know they're both coming but you can't stop them"
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,422 posts
 

Loomis, I loved Disraeli Gears at the time of it's release (Fresh Cream as well), and played songs off both albums in my High School garage band. But you have just pointed out Ginger's tendency to play for his own benefit, not the song's or the band's. As I said earlier, he played every song the same, which is not a compliment ;-). Did you read how Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun characterized Disraeli Gears when it was submitted? "Psychedelic horses**t" !

My eyes were opened, and my teenage brain blown, when my band opened for The New Buffalo (only drummer Dewey Martin remaining from Buffalo Springfield) at a San Jose High School in 1969. Bobby's brother Randy Fuller was playing bass, and I became perplexed and uncomfortable when I could not for the life of me figure out why, in spite of the fact that that rhythm section appearing to be playing nothing special (unlike Ginger and Jack), TNB sounded and felt SO good. All of a sudden, in an epiphany, what I had heard and read about The Band hit home. Oh, NOW I get it! THE transformative moment of my musical life. That, and hearing J.S. Bach!

shadorne, yup, Ferrone is a fine player, and Petty likes how he comes up with parts he says would never have occurred to him. Chad Smith is okay, but I really dislike the sound of piccolo snare drums (all they do is make a one-dimensional "popping" sound---no depth, no resonance), which is his sound. His snare drum sound ruined the Dixie Chicks album he played on (Taking The Long Way) for me. But that's just a matter of sonic taste, not style or quality.

rbstehno
1,401 posts
 
I have played drums for over 50 years in many groups throughout the years. I really
like the technical guys. I think ginger baker, Mitch Mitchell, Neal Peart and others are pretty good but play pretty basic, not very difficult. IMO John Bonham was very very good, and the drummer that has a very complex style is Mike Portnoy, used to be with Dream Theater in their better days. Just my opinion!
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