my 5 favorite jazz drummers

[turnipmonster]

1) tony williams - when I was younger I read miles davis' autobiography "miles", and after hearing him rave about how tony williams made him start practicing again, etc, I really wanted to check him out. so I go down to the cd gettin' place and pick up the first record I see, "in a silent way", which features an all star cast with tony on drums. unfortunately, tony plays one high hat beat for the whole album [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. great music, not a great intro to tony.

the next record I picked up, miles davis' "1964: Four and more + My Funny Valentine" changed my life and made me want to be a jazz musician. an 18 year old tony williams lights a fire under the whole band and does more with his right hand than most drummers do with two. his drumming on this record is some of my favorite music ever and is just incredibly explosive, it's like electric current. his style is fully formed and completely unique, and the amazing thing is it's never static. he never plays the same beat twice and keeps it swinging the whole time.

2) roy haynes - roy is the only drummer I can think of where I know I'll like an album just because he's on it. the first album I heard with roy on it is pat metheny's "question and answer", a great trio date featuring pat, roy and dave holland on bass. the mix favors roy and his ultra clean, popping drumming. he's another drummer whose endless creativity really lights a fire under everyone else, he can play a lot of things and still manage not to get in the way. it's fitting he's the only drummer to ever sub in john coltrane's classic quartet.

3) elvin jones - the first jazz record I ever got was john coltrane's "live at birdland" with elvin on drums. I couldn't believe how loud and intense it was, it hooked me immediately and for a long time I couldn't listen to records with less energy. elvin's amazing feel and constant polyrhythms are like listening to a fractal.

4) art blakey - my favorite art blakey record is definitely "live at birdland" with the young trumpeter clifford brown. if anyone could ever drive a band and push everyone to play beyond themselves, it's art. another guy who played super loud and intense, but with a more conventional style. he laid into the beat and pushed it so far ahead you kept thinking he'd skip one, but dropping a beat just wasn't in art's vocabulary.

5) bill stewart - bill is the only guy I've ever heard who's ideas are so jaw droppingly unique and witty he can make people he's been playing with for 15 years laugh in amazement. he is constantly implying different beats under what's going on and is one of the most creative drummers I can think of. his concept is completely unique.