musical drummers...who are they ???


the elusive it..... what drummers have it ??

Ringo, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Jeff Porcaro,Anton Fig, Dave Weckl, Vinnie C, can't put my finger on it, but they just play....the music...any thoughts ??
Ag insider logo xs@2xsuperhonestben
Another jazz drummer... but he has some of the biggest ears of any drummer I have heard. To me, a musical drummer can lay down a groove when needed or add a sense of lyrical conversation to a piece. He can really tell a story. His work with the Bill Evans trio is a fine example, as well as his solo projects from the past two decades.
Check out Michael Giles on King Crimson's first album, In The Court Of The Crimson King, An Observation By King Crimson, and also Andy McCulloch on King Crimson's third album, Lizard.

Hey Texan, I'm also a big fan of Lee Kerslake... He wasn't the best soloist, but he was a bear, who was about playing the song and composing his parts in the rhythm section with Gary Thain.
Hi All,

I would cast a vote for Hal Blaine - the great session drummer. His playing always seemed to be exactly what a particular song required.

Best,

Barry
ritchie Hayward of LITTLE FEAT....plays from his heart to his head and THEN down to his hands!! :)
A lot of good responses here ( I particularly like Dave Mattacks and Jim Keltner as rock drummers and Jack D. for Jazz). Since, as Tvad points out, the question regarded musical drummers, I'd also look to less obvious people like Cal Tjader. He may be better known for vibes or even bandleading and songwriting, but he brought that broader sense or "musicality" to his drumset and congas, Latin Jazz was full of this phenomenon, see Tito Puente et al. Mick Fleetwood, Will Rigby, Jim Brock and Phil Collins would be somewhat analagous in the rock world IMHO.
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Eric Montzka(Patricia Barber band) and Lars Ulrich from Metallica are probably the best drumers I heard on recordings and in live performance.

Eric Montzka's drumming on Companion, track 7 - "Black Magic Woman" is just outstandning.

Lars' drumming on Metallica's Load cd, track 14 - "The Outlaw Torn" is incredible.
Steve Jansen of Japan. Actually, he's David Sylvian's brother and has drummed on most of David's solo albums. Great drummer, totally under-rated, very musical (??what else could drummers be??)
Carl Palmer
Manu Katche
Andy Newmark
Simon Philips
Phil Collins (yes, when he keeps his mouth shut and drums)
Bill Bruford
Jack DeJohnette
Having played drums in my youth,started in junior high band,I practically worshipped Buddy Rich.There are/were a lot of good ones,but I cannot think of one I have heard that is better than he was.Yes Ginger Baker was good,but he was no Buddy Rich.
i've been over peter erskine's house and took some lessons (yeah i play)--i think he is a robot with no real heart...the only drummer on your list is ringo #1 by miles (no pun intended)--honorable mention: narada walden and tony smith....then maybe max roach--just my personal increadable list.
brad
Only one musical drummer? Well I'll be darn. Think of all the music I must have missed? Damn.
There is only one 'musical drummer'........STOMU YAMASHTA.
No joke. I mean, if 'ol Stomu hadn't played on every CD in my collection, I'd be sitting in silence right now.
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What is the difference between John Bonham/Carl Palmer/Charles Watts? Here's a clue, 1 is a 'musical drummer' the other 2 are rocket scientists'!
Aren't ALL drummers musical?
Definitely not. As a drummer for nearly 30 years, I'd say there are very few who qualify as such. A musical drummer plays compositionally, carrying a tune of their own, even when playing solo. Not many, even the phenomenal drummers in the top-100 list, are capable of being more than timekeepers and technicians.

For musicality, you can begin with anyone who ever played for Zappa...Bozzio, Wackerman, Colaiuta.

Others:
Dennis Chambers
David Garibaldi
John French
Dennis Chambers
Danny Frankel
Pierre Favre
Omar Hakim (Not in the top-100? Top-25, IMO)
Manu Katche
Simon Phillips
Mark Brzezicki
Oh yeah, Dennis Chambers. Let's not forget him. :-)
I am always on the hunt for new great drummers, as rhythm has such a profound effect on my enjoyment of music. Well I found one.

Keith Harris. He is not famous enough to be in drum roll yet but I suspect he is well on his way to becoming one of the world's legendary drummers.

Extremely musical and excellent timing. Like the best R & B drummers, a 'groovemaster' - tasteful and accentuating the music rather than driving and in your face.

Another Harvey Mason perhaps? I'll be watching you Keith!
Paul Wertico of Pat Metheny Group fame is an excellent and very musical drummer! In fact he's one of the best drummers I've seen live.
In the event you want to research this personally into your old age...
http://www.drummerworld.com/
Neil Peart period, might not play the type of music you like; but when it comes to making drums sound he is the most creative.
I'd also second the comment about Mick Fleetwood. Mick's a very musical drummer. Nothing he does is technically difficult or flashy, it just sounds good. Mick has a high get-it factor!
I didn't see any mention of Corky laing (Mountain) man can he belt it out....also no disrespect to anybody who likes Neil Peart..I know we are talking rock music BUT....I feel to be a good or really good drummer, you have to be able to play more than one style...Have you seen the video of Neil Peart playing big band with the Buddy Rich band.....he quite frankly stinks...he cant do it...and it is on tape
Xiekitchen has some hot drummers, but consider Manu Katche, Terry Bozzio, Trilok Gurtu, Phil Collins, Ginger Baker has done some interesting stuff, Steve Gadd is "in the pocket" - the list goes on.

I've always found it hard to quantify questions as such, believing that you can't really compare a great jazz drummer to a great rock drummer, just can't be done. You can only say their either good or not. I don't think that Tony Williams could drum good punk like Topper Heading of the Clash. None of them can play the tabla like Zakir Hussain.
You had to know the Rush fans were going to come out of the woodwork like roaches on this one. I used to hear this every other weekend when I was in highschool and college and was hanging out with the hippies.
Stan Levy. You can find him on any Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse Allstar CD or album. Great West Coast Jazz.
Stevecham, I may be wrong, but, I believe I read in Modern Drummer that Keith Moon did not play on the majority of that album. It may have been Kenny Jones.

Since this thread is really about great drummers in general, add Todd Sucherman of Styx to your list. Anyone who has seen Styx live or has heard of Todd will understand why he gets my vote.
jeremiah green of modest mouse is the modern day keith moon.

both are the embodiment of R&R in a drummer.

rhyno
Priz,

On Tommy? No way it's Kenny Jones, that's Keith Moon back in 1969. Jones never sounded that good and besides, the band didn't work with him until after Keith died.
Stevecham. I found the article in Modern Drummer. Kenney Jones tells MD that he did not “ghost drum” on tracks before Keith died. He also admits to doing the soundtrack to the film “Tommy”, stating that Keith was in the studio but “out of it”.
That film soundtrack is a joke and is insulting to the music and the band, despite their stoned-out participation; Oliver Reed and Ann Margret singing? Yuk.

I'm talking about the original studio album, which is the only version worthy of mention. Keith rocks may he RIP.
Stevecham, personally I could care less about the album or the film — just passing along info. Also, I wouldn’t refer to Moon as a “musical drummer”. He certainly took a new approach to rock drumming and influenced countless of drummers with his unique approach and theatrics. Musical drummers are Peart, Porcaro, Bonham, Bruford and Rich — just to name a few.
Jeff Poccaro (Toto and Boz Skaggs). Died way too young. Definitely had so much more ahead of him.