Why I don't hear bass drums on Jazz LPs?

In the 1990’s Earl Palmer’s jazz trio (piano, bass, drums) was performing in the bar at Chadney’s Restaurant in Burbank, located directly across the street from the NBC studio where the Tonight Show is taped. I lived two blocks away, and would occasionally walk over and sit on a bar stool, nursing a Scotch-on-the-rocks while listening to (and watching) them for a set or two.

Recordings are great, but there is nothing like watching a master musician playing live, up close if possible. I went to literally hundreds of live shows in the 1960’s, seeing everyone from The Beach Boys (my first concert, in the summer of 1964 at The San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, with Brian playing bass and singing falsetto), The Beatles in ’65, and all the local San Jose groups and bands during 1965-67 (including Fritz, whose membership included Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. They were just another SJ group).

Then it was up to San Francisco to see and hear Hendrix and Cream, Procol Harum and The Kinks, The Nice (Keith Emerson’s pre-ELP group), The Dead and The Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (Dan had a Jazz drummer in his band when I saw them), and too many others to remember.

In ’68 The Electric Flag (with Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles) and the doors appeared at The Santa Clara County Folk-Rock Festival (held outdoors. Ugh, I don’t care for that). The poor doors had to follow The Flag, and paled in comparison. Buddy Miles was amazing!

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What do you professional drummers think of Joe Morello?  I was always amazed at his time keeping on the iconic Brubeck albums, Time Out and Take Five. I have one LP on which he is the lead musician.  But he did not receive much notoriety for his skills, at least not as much as I would have expected.

@lewm: Oh man Lew, I was playing with a guitarist who wanted include "Take Five" in his live shows. I can’t tell you how hard Morello’s part in that song is to play convincingly. He asked me if I could do it, and I replied "Sort of". Not even close!

By the way, my favorite drum "solo" are the little "breaks" Don Lamond plays in the recording of Bobby Darin’s "Beyond The Sea". SO cool!

Morello seems to lay back until the last millisecond and then let loose with a meticulous riff, on those Brubeck albums.  I think i read somewhere that the time signature was 11/13 or something ridiculous like that, on Take Five.  Although the name of the tune may suggest it was 5 beats per measure.

I’m a jazz fan and especially a jazz drummer fan...current drummers like Tyshawn Sorey, Bill Stewart, Bryan Blade, Dave King, etc...not yer grandaddy’s drummers, and you can easily hear the kick in balance with everything else. Also note that not all jazz drummers adhere to the aforementioned cliche’s about "head on-head off kick drum size standards," and that’s a good thing. I get the thing about older recordings of course, but meh...I just turn the subs up a little.