Outstanding Drum Performances

The Sheffield Drum Record by Sheffield Labs would get my vote as the ultimate reference recording for drums. One cut from it, a 7-minute drum riff by Jim Keltner called "Improvisation," is included in the Usher demonstration CD used and given out by Usher Audio at CES and Rocky Mountain AudioFest. It is sensational--far and away the best drum recording I've ever heard. When I play it for people, their jaws usually drop, and when I played it for my nephew, who is a drummer (as well as a budding audiophile), his response was: "How does he DO that?"

Jack de Johnette & Foday Musa Suso - music from the hearts of the masters.

Thanks for all of the input so far....I'll print this out and head to Borders & Best Buy later this afternoon to see how many of these I can come up with for the weekend. The Sheffield Drub Record sounds particularly interesting...hope I can find it. Thanks again to all!

Mattkimb96, Doubt that you'll have much luck looking for the Sheffield Drum Record at your local Borders or Best Buy. But you can find it and buy it online at Amazon.com, from Amazon.com marketplace sellers, and you can also read a couple of reviews of it there. Happy listening.

The Sheffield Drum Record is very good. My reference is a CD-R called Drum Improvs done by a guy in St. Louis a few years ago recorded live to hard disk of himself playing a huge drum set. It's not perfect but is far more dynamic than any other drum CD I've ever heard, and the soundstage is huge. I don't know if he is still willing to sell copies as he made it sound like a bit of chore for him to do, but anyone interested can contact me offline for his info.