Dave Weckl

Yeah, Vinnie! Sorry couldn't resist, I understand the futility of these arguments. I've just always heard an 'in the moment' spark of genius in Vinnie's playing that Weckl has always lacked. But as you say, a drummer can only ever be a master of their own style. Chris Dave might well possess a creative ability that surpasses them both.

Great post!

I lIke the referenced drummers too.. all three are trailblazers, redefining their respective musical spaces.. and though I absolutely love Weckl's playing and have all the respect in the world for him, I would think Vinnie's 'alien-ness' and Chris Dave's freakish skills with a new drum vocabulary kinda outshine his contributions to the music world.

Having said that.. of course music is no contest of any kind, at any level.


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That's the show that I was at. I was sitting over near Randy Brecker, about two "rows" back.

The last drum solo (last tune I think) - he tore that up. I'm not a huge fan of drum solos but that was hugely impressive. Some really cranking grooves too.

How did you like the tuning of his drums? I thought they were kind of thuddy.

Answering Bart: We were at the Tuesday early show. You were at one of those shows?
 
We are going to see him with Mike Stern in May at Ronnie Scott's in London. Looking forward to it, should be a great show!
 
Hah, we were at the table nearest to Randy (in fact he was often filling up most of my field of view so I couldn't see Weckl), so we must have been just a row or two apart. One of the things I really liked was the sweet groove Weckl played with his hands on the snare with the snare wires off.
 
None of us will EVER be that good. Face it. And it's ok. Because you can still love to play music and be good in your own ways. But only a jealous fool or musical incompetent would not be in total awe of Weckl's abilities and technique. He has it all, and I guess some people just can't handle it. Too bad. Too sad. For them.

Speak for yourself. Dave set his ambition to be the best, and he is up there doing that. Some of us have the same ambition, and I'll be damned if someone tells me I'll never make it.

To echo someone else's statement above, nobody will ever be BETTER than Vinnie and Dave, but to confine ourselves to never being as good? No way. Aim high, work hard.
 
I know approximately where you were sitting. I was between Weckl and Brecker for the most part. Since you were over near Weckl's left-most crash cymbal, did you happen to see a sizzle chain on that cymbal on one tune?

Hah, we were at the table nearest to Randy (in fact he was often filling up most of my field of view so I couldn't see Weckl), so we must have been just a row or two apart. One of the things I really liked was the sweet groove Weckl played with his hands on the snare with the snare wires off.
 
Weckl is technically amazing, but he is part of the fusion thing that leaves me and many others cold.

I have never heard Weckie on anything 'normal' myself. Didn't he play for Madonna?

His Remo demo is pretty impressive by any standards. His playing seems a little "looser" than what I remember of it, and this is a good thing. He wants to be a perfect drummer, and I bet he listens to the criticism. His instruction vids were helpful to many players too ...

The main thing that bothers me is the obsession with playing fills on the toms mixed with double bass strokes. I know it is a religion now, but for me it sounds like someone falling down the stairs. There are different ways of playing the drums, and this isn't the only way.
 
I have always loved Weckl! He is def one of my favorite drummers. I saw a vid on youtube of him and Chris Coleman going at it, and it was superb. I love them both!
 
Hi wizard sticks,

Weckl is technically amazing, but he is part of the fusion thing that leaves me and many others cold.

I have never heard Weckl on anything 'normal' myself. Didn't he play for Madonna?

I used to share the same view as you. He plays far too many notes and etc and etc... "It's fusion, but I like something more normal." I respected him a lot but fusion was too alien.

Years later I bought his Multiplicity album and really loved it. The music isn't the kind that is "fusion for the sake of fusion", but more about what serves the songs. It is evident that the musicians, not just Weckl, chose their licks and solo ideas tastefully.

Ever since, fusion has become my thing. At first I didn't bother learning to play it because I said to myself "it's too damn hard". But then I thought "Ok I'll start from ground up if it's too damn hard - let's start from jazz". I never heard of jazz at the time and diving straight into John Coltrane + Elvin Jones made the experience more alien than fusion. But I pulled through, over a few years' span... Now I dig jazz. I dig funk. Rock. Prog-rock. Metal. Fusion. Reggae. Still learning the Latin taste but getting there.

All I've got to say man, is any music, not just fusion, may not be everyone's thing at first impression, but once you get what it's about, you find yourself in a whole new world. I still listen to my good ol' Rush and other stuff from time to time, but the thing that's changed is my song library just increased substantially. And I seem to be able to express myself better on the drum set. I still put heavy emphasis on grooves, but a basic groove is like a cake without icing and cream. The subtleties decorates the cake and make it taste better. It's like I still enjoy mom's home-baked cakes without the icing and cream, they have a different taste to those in the shops. But the ones in the shops have their own unique taste too... If you get what I mean. (Arguable to say which is better though, I'm not a picky eater/listener.)

I recently got into romantic, classical, baroque, renaissance, medieval era (plain chant) music. No drums in them at all. (It's kind of funny how I like genres in a reversed chronological fashion.) Although for the avant-garde (John Cage) stuff, I sort of get it but not really my cup of tea.

Dave Weckl's music changed my life, man. I owe it to this genius. Even though at first I didn't like the so-called "overplaying".
 
Back to his playing, though, I don't get the 'Boring / Predictable / Overplaying' assertions at ALL. Weckl's solos themselves are beautiful pieces of music. He plays with more intricacy, finesse and phrasing than anyone out there. He has great chops, but he uses them in really tasteful ways. Apart from that, his technique is perfect. If you watch A Natural Evolution or just some vids of him talking about technique you can probably appreciate it, and you can really hear it in his playing. He is one of the few drummers (John Bonham being another) who can draw the perfect sound out of a drum (these being some pretty great Yamaha Drums already, by the way), just by hitting it. I also was not a fan of fusion, but Weckl himself got me into it. His playing on his own albums Perpetual Motion, Synergy, and Rhythm of the Soul, as well as on Chick Corea's Inside Out and other albums is just so perfect. Everything he does is so precise. And I guess for those of us who "get it" -- meaning we happen to like his playing -- those are the reasons that we're so blown away by Weckl.
 
Back to his playing, though, I don't get the 'Boring / Predictable / Overplaying' assertions at ALL. Weckl's solos themselves are beautiful pieces of music. He plays with more intricacy, finesse and phrasing than anyone out there. He has great chops, but he uses them in really tasteful ways. Apart from that, his technique is perfect. If you watch A Natural Evolution or just some vids of him talking about technique you can probably appreciate it, and you can really hear it in his playing. He is one of the few drummers (John Bonham being another) who can draw the perfect sound out of a drum (these being some pretty great Yamaha Drums already, by the way), just by hitting it. I also was not a fan of fusion, but Weckl himself got me into it. His playing on his own albums Perpetual Motion, Synergy, and Rhythm of the Soul, as well as on Chick Corea's Inside Out and other albums is just so perfect. Everything he does is so precise. And I guess for those of us who "get it" -- meaning we happen to like his playing -- those are the reasons that we're so blown away by Weckl.

+1- Big Weckl fan and love to watch his lessons/clinics on YouTube as well.
 
The thing that grabs me most is that I can watch Thomas Lang play for about two minutes. I have to watch it, as well. For two minutes, I will be totally stunned by all the stuff he's doing -- but it just becomes annoying noise SO fast. I could watch and / or listen to Weckl play for hours without getting tired of it. There's so much more emotion, thought, and beauty going into what he does. It's music.
 
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