Art Blakey, king of the drums.

i recently heard johnny griffin "blowin session" w/ blakey and coltrance and i was thinking it had the best drumming i've ever heard anywhere--i've never heard anyone who drives a piece like he does.

Art plays in front of the beat. He gives it an energetic sound but I can understand Foster_9's view. Many find that the pocket lies slightly behind the beat. In contrast, playing behind the beat gives a more relaxed feel. Some drummers can play both styles with ease and move around in order to create tension and release in the music. Think Elvin Jones.

Here is an example you should feel how it relaxes and then speeds up. This feel is entirely controlled by the relationship between the bass and drummer. You can feel them both working the groove to relax and then alternately

Compare my last video with this version played with the same horns and a different rhythm section.

Cold Sweat

This is Melvin Parker on drums (Maceo's brother). You can still feel the tension and release but the overall feel is much more laid back than the first example I gave. These two examples show how influential the rhythm section can be. Some will prefer one version over the other....neither is necessarily the "correct" way to play....a lot depends on the musicians mood that very night.

Shadorne, can you help me figure out; why do I keep looking for James Brown to come running out on the stage and grab the mike.

Around 20 years ago I saw Maceo with Fred Wesley at Blues Alley and their drummer was Melvin. I believe the only other instrumentation besides them was one guitar, bass and keys. Anyway it was virtually a JB show without JB, except our table was literally just a few feet from the stage in a small club, which of course would be impossible with JB. Like many great musicians, Maceo sings like he plays. One of my fav shows ever. Later on, when instrumental funk started being hip with the jam-band white kids, he got popular as a solo and quit playing such intimate, jazz-oriented venues in favor of larger rock-oriented concert halls (around here it was the new 9:30 Club, which he could sell out).

Anyway, back on topic: For max jungle groove, don't overlook side 1 of Art's "Drum Suite" album, recorded in '56 and released on Columbia the next year, with Jo Jones doubling the drum thunder quotient along with Candido and Sabu on bongos and Charles Wright on additional drums and percussion. The great Ray Bryant debuted his classic "Cubano Chant" and Oscar Pettiford played bass and cello. (Side 2 is from a different, previously-recorded session of the Jazz Messengers with Jackie McLean, Bill Hardman, Sam Dockery and Spanky DeBrest -- hands-down the best jazz name ever, or should I say hands-on?). I have it on 6-eye and it'll blow your socks off.