Dave Weckl

He was the first drummer that I went to do a research on the web looking for drum lessons and I´ve gotta say that he´s kinda good too :)
 
You gotta love Weckl. Before I went off to school, I thought he was amazing. I remember playing "Master Plan" for my mom in high school and telling her that he was the best drummer in the world...Period. (That was before I understood that there are best DRUMMERS--plural--in the world! Everyone has a voice, and so many are great...)

After going through 4 years of pretty intense study, I realized that Weckl was even better than I thought. But ironically, I think his technique often overshadows his musicality. A lot of drummers get hung up on his chops and miss out on his ability to musically speak through the drums.

My favorite work of his is when he backed up Michel Camilo on 1989's "On Fire" disc. He kills, and it made me want to understand that contemporary sound.

If you don't have that album, it's a must. Joel Rosenblatt and Smitty are on it, too, and it's excellent!
 
Man Dave Weckl expresses himself on the drums like no other. The only one even in contention is Vinnie Colaiuta. I can't believe people would say that Dave is predictable. The guy has such a grasp of his drumming vocabulary that he can say almost anything he wants. He has developed such an impeccable sense of dynamics that NO drummer i've heard can match. You wanna hear this guy swing. Also he has the decency to admit that he had to change his technical approach and contradict some of his earlier tutorials in DVDs etc. Not many people, nevermind drummers, would be man enough to do that.

I can't stress enough how musical Dave Weckl is. He Bridges the gap between Rock and Jazz for me. I mean if drummers actually listened to him they would hear how some things he plays have the force, conviction and OOOMPH! of anything from the rock idiom. And he does all this in the name of Jazz baby!

Dave, you're a legend. You speak to me and i hear everything you do man.
 
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i love weckl's playing as well as vinnie's,but man,i don't know,lately you might have to throw dennis chambers into that mix,too.
 
drsnazzy said:
My favorite work of his is when he backed up Michel Camilo on 1989's "On Fire" disc. He kills, and it made me want to understand that contemporary sound.

If you don't have that album, it's a must. Joel Rosenblatt and Smitty are on it, too, and it's excellent!

Have you also heard DW on the 1986 Michel Camilo Suntan CD? I think the drumming on that is even better. (Plus the drum sound micing/recording is more upfront as well.) Did you hear "Tombo in 7/4"? (It's a remake of Airto tune). The entire tune (including the solo) is in 7/4. I've listened, studied, dissected that particular piece more than 1000 times. Also, the 1993 Michel Camilo disc "Rendeveous" has a track called "As one". That entire tune is in 5/4 including the solo break! A lot of songs with odd time often only have the odd-meter for a few bars as a gimmick section and then they revert back to 4/4. It's hard to find tunes with odd-meter all the way through and be a quality song that's fun to listen to!

If folks want phenomenal examples of odd time playing, those 2 tracks are worthy of study. Both were done by the trio of Michel Camilo + Anthony Jackson + Dave Weckl.
 
I have tickets to see The Dave Weckl Band on November 29th in St. Louis and I can't wait to see him. Better yet, I am attending his clinic the following Saturday. Should be awesome!!!
 
Mapex589 said:
I have tickets to see The Dave Weckl Band on November 29th in St. Louis and I can't wait to see him. Better yet, I am attending his clinic the following Saturday. Should be awesome!!!

Yeah that will be awsome man hes the such an amazing drummer.
 
Mapex589 said:
I have tickets to see The Dave Weckl Band on November 29th in St. Louis and I can't wait to see him. Better yet, I am attending his clinic the following Saturday. Should be awesome!!!
damn im jealous. wanna send any of those tickets my way? id love to see a weckl clinic. that would be awsome.
 
Class A Drummer said:
damn im jealous. wanna send any of those tickets my way? id love to see a weckl clinic. that would be awsome.
Yeah, I am fully stoked about this clinic. I think I am more excited about the clinic than the concert. I will post a review of both after I attend. I can't wait!!
 
Wow. Thats all i can say. Ive been reading some of the comments posted about Dave weckl in this thread and im amazed. I mean as far as i am concerned Dave weckl is one of the most innovative drummers of all time. There are few drummers in this world who raise the bar for the rest of us. Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Steve Gadd. I believe that Weckl is in that class. He has brought the art of drumming to another level.

How any drummer could find him boring is beyond belief. Your all drummers!!! I realize that not everyone is into that genre that he plays, but you have to respect his playing ability. You have to respect his ability to come up with split second beats,rolls, accents, fills that fit so perfectly to the music.

Thats my take.
 
bgdrummer said:
How any drummer could find him boring is beyond belief. Your all drummers!!! I realize that not everyone is into that genre that he plays, but you have to respect his playing ability.

Yes, but having to respect somebody on some level doesn't mean you aren't also entitled to find them boring. I've met some amazingly smart people in the past for whom I have a great deal of intellectual respect, but who bore me to tears on a personal level. Same deal.
 
that latin stuff in odd time signatures is something he owns. you can really see(and hear) on his videos the influence of gadd and how he took it further out. oh,and his beat displacements on his 2nd video(i believe it's "the next step") is fun to practice.
 
I like a lot of drummers for many reasons, here are a few of them:

Dennis Chambers, for his power, sound, the choices he makes

Antonio Sanchez, his unique timing, and the independance he has

Brian Blade, his sound and feel

Virgil Donati, his innovating techniques, inventer of new drum sounds and chops that where unthinkable a few years ago (i only like a few songs from planet x)

Horacio Hernandez, his pure playing, the way he looks when he plays (the boy got soul)

And ofcourse my ultimate favorite Dave Weckl

Dave is the only drummer i know that is good at EVERY aspect of the drums there is. I am getting tired of people saying he's too technical or not musical, for those people this music is clearly of a level beyond your understanding! Some say he's boring or unoriginal, well, the fills he makes are the most sophisticated and musical ones out there, he even plays things i have never heard before! How's that for original??

It takes a Virgil Donati to beat him in some techniques, but Dave is way more musical, or a Dennis Chambers to have more 'brute force' power, but all his skills combined makes him the ultimate drummers drummer!
 
Dave is the only drummer i know that is good at EVERY aspect of the drums there is...the fills he makes are the most sophisticated...ones out there

Not even Dave himself would agree with you.
 
But what area of drumming would you say Dave Weckl is not good at then ?

Out of respect for Bernhard's wishes I shan't answer that, but anyways, you didn't quite get what I meant, which was - Weckl would name plenty of other drummers who have mastered all aspects of the instrument, and he would definitely tell you there are drummers who play more sophisticated fills.
 
Thanks Womble, for not "going there"! Yea, it's always better to highlight someones' strengths than to point out their weaknesses. Though, I dare say, that Weckl has few, if any, of the latter. IMHO. He never ceases to amaze me, whenever I see or hear him. There's always something that he does that makes me say, "Neat! How'd he do that"? Thanks again and Play On!
 
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