Greatest rhythm sections

I just saw The Bad Plus in concert at the Blue Note here in Tokyo this weekend. I had thought their recorded music was great but the show was fabulous and I have to say that Reid Anderson (bass) and David King (drums) from The Bad Plus really are the dog's dangly bits.

Before I saw them live, David King's creative drumming had completely changed the way I listen to drums/drummers. Seeing their show brought my appreciation of his talent to new levels. Reid Anderson is an excellent bassist, with a great sense of group. Together they are excellent. Ethan Iverson on piano could be considered the third member of the rhythm section and he too is a pianist of extraordinary range and creativity, but as the band has only three members, including all three as 'the rhythm section' might be cheating... :^)

I encourage you to listen if you have a chance (Amazon has samples - listen to tracks 3-5 on These Are The Vistas - the more accessible of the two major label albums (Motel, an earlier album on the Fresh Sound New Talent label, is not terribly well-engineered to my ears). They play both originals and some surprising covers (a jazz band which covers Aphex Twins, Nirvana, and ABBA on the same album?). If you get a chance to see them live, by all means do so. They are a huge amount of fun.

Well, many of the standout combos have been mentioned already. Personally, I put JPJ and Bono at the top of the list, but Keith Moon and John Entwhistle, as well as Jack and Ginger, are certainly right up there. And yes, Neil and Geddy certainly set the bar up there pretty darn high. We can't forget Double Trouble and their genre-defining work with SRV. The various incarnations of the Funk Brothers are also some of the all time greats, as was Willie Dixon with any of the drummers he played with. Other bands with great rhythm sections from various genres would include: Triumph, Tool, Primus, Metallica (with Cliff Burton), Chris Duarte Group (reminiscent of SRV, and also from Austin).

Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman!

Many interesting entries. What do you think about the seminal
Basie Orchestra rhythm section? Jo Jones (Papa, not Philly) pioneered the use of the hi-hat to drive the band, using the bass drum more for accents. Noone played that way before him, and everyone played that way after. Walter Page layed down that strong 4x4 that ancored all of the solos, particularly Basie's. Most big band bassists still do it that way. And Father Time himself, Freddie Green was the quintessential big band guitarist, with rock solid rhythmicity and an elegant tone. He was an integral part of what made the Basie band swing, and that may just be the ultimate expression of the word.

Not necessarily the greatest, but an intensely musical pair are Pino Palladino and Manu Katche. They're both primarily studio musicians, but they seem to pair up frequently (Joan Armatrading, Julia Fordham, Tears For Fears, Sting, etc.).