Steve Smith

Steve is (and has been for a while now) my favorite drummer. He can slam, groove, whatever and do it all so dang well it's sickening!

His DVDs really opened up my playing and got me playing in a more relaxed fashion. I really want to get the new Hudson Music Brushes DVD he collaborated on too.

I used to be really into really technical music. But my friend is a big Stu Hamm fan and got the "Show Me What You Can Do" with Stu, Frank Gambale and Steve Smith. It had tons of over the top stuff, but there were a lot of little things that Steve did. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. It really opened up my EARS to the subtle things in drumming as opposed to the crazy speed and slamming stuff.

So his influence has led me to change my playing and even my goals in improving. And I think much for the better too.

His Tone Center label recordings are all very, very good. It's mostly fusion. My favorites are the "Show Me What You Can Do" and the two Vital Tech Tones CDs. Very good stuff with some really creative musicians.
 
If I am not wrong, Vinnie Colaiuta and Steve Smith were roomamates in Berklee... And what came out? 2 worldtop drummers, Steve is brilliant and powerful, Vinnie is .. Genius.

Yes they took a ride on Greyhound and went to NY to see the VSOP concert in 1976 (that quintet was not named as VSOP yet at that time). They also often visited Village Vanguard or some other clubs in NY to see Tony Williams and Steve Gadd.
 
well, my camera malfunctioned, but a buddy sent me this pics from the gig... enjoy:
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Steve Smith is easily one of my top 5 drummers, his style (and shirts) are beautiful, his History of the U.S. Beat DVD is very interesting aswell. He is definately one of the Giants in the history of drums.

My top five is:

1,Gavin Harrison
2, Stewart Copeland
3,Steve Smith
4,Jojo Mayer
5,Joe Morello

Dang I have taste! =p
 
Technically, he is a very proficient drummer, and a very good musician.

I'm glad that he's going to be tipping his hat off to the jazz greats through his new DVD Drum Legacy.
 
There was this overlapped syncopated pattern he played on his '86 instructional video that I transcribed and used to be able to play. However, I lost the notes and can't find the video anywhere, even YouTube.

It was do damn cool and was a real mindbender...

DuhDuh(rest)Duh(rest)DuhDuh...etc with the foot and then you overlap the same pattern on top of it with the snare, starting with the "e" of the bar.

Crazy stuff...

Here's some vintage Steve. He just has such a distinct style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EdC03nNUPI
 
There was this overlapped syncopated pattern he played on his '86 instructional video that I transcribed and used to be able to play. However, I lost the notes and can't find the video anywhere, even YouTube.

It was do damn cool and was a real mindbender...

DuhDuh(rest)Duh(rest)DuhDuh...etc with the foot and then you overlap the same pattern on top of it with the snare, starting with the "e" of the bar.

Crazy stuff...

Here's some vintage Steve. He just has such a distinct style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EdC03nNUPI

Its so odd seeing him do stuff that isnt jazz fusion type stuff. Sick solo.
 
Fine drummer.

Singularly un-gracious person. I saw him last October at the NE Drum Expo in Manchester NH. His snare was a little out of place--rather than just move it like anybody would, he demanded some poor kid come scrambling over and move it for him while he sat there. Just ridiculous.

Then he broke the head on his snare. He asked for a new one--"Be sure to get me a Jeff Ocheltree snare". Again, some poor kid scrambled out and returned with a new snare--which Steve then instructed him how to re-position, right between his legs. Too important to just put it in place himself.

After the show, we were moving some gear out and walked right by him. I politely thanked him, said I enjoyed the show. He looked at me without reply--from 5 feet away with three other people in the room. I thought it good manners to express my appreciation for his efforts, especially in such close proximity where it would have been rude to ignore him.

Good drummer--sure, very good.

I've met several others (Mike Portnoy, Vinnie Colaiuta, Scott Philips, Dave Weckl, Mike Mangini ) who are gracious and pleasant--and their obvious proficiency speaks for itself. In my professional life, I have dealt with Governors, Senators, White House staff. In that atmosphere, I've rarely come across anybody more self-important than Mr. Smith.

You always learn a lot about people when they don't know who they're speaking to. Just my own observation.
 
Fine drummer.

Singularly un-gracious person...

What an unfortunate interpretation of a single encounter with the man. I can think of many reasons why his actions, as you've described them, would be perfectly reasonable. I have heard him play, complimented him, seen him interact with fans and fellow drummers, and even dined with him, and in my estimation he is kind and gracious by any standard. I know that if I were in a situation where I was watched and judged for everything that I said and did as much as he is I suppose some of my actions could be misinterpreted as well. Oh well, to each his opinion.
 
I've met Steve several times. He was always very approachable, friendly and courteous.
 
"I have heard him play, complimented him, seen him interact with fans and fellow drummers, and even dined with him, and in my estimation he is kind and gracious by any standard."

Well, of course he would be gracious to an Administrator of this site--he'd have something to gain, wouldn't he?

That's all I will say on this one--the man is a virtuoso, and of course he has worked very, very hard to get to that level of skill. I just noticed how he treated people--from whom he had nothing to gain, but simple good manners-- along the way at one event. Maybe he was having a bad day. It's just that the behavior was repeated several times.

Over and out.
 
Hey all!
Steve Smith, as has obviously been said in this thread many times,
A MONSTER!
with cool shirts :)

to the point, on the modern drummer '06 performance, he was playing with Vital Information right?
Does anyone know what song(s) they were performing?
cheers :D
 
Not sure if anyone has mentioned these Steve Smith recordings:

Vital Tech Tones-- with Scott Henderson and Victor Wooten (both CDs)

Vital Information-- Vita Live

Tony Macalpine-- Edge of Insanity

and so many more but these are some of the best IMO...and the Journey stuff is all great.
 
Concerning the topic of using the right stick model for the right musical style, I suppose Steve Smith is a great opportunity to get an idea about it, because he, more than anybody else, alternated between pure jazz and pure rock. My question is if Steve used another pair of sticks for Journey than the ones he was using for jazz at the time (which - if I remember correctly - weren't the Vic Firth Steve Smith Signatures just yet, I guess they were 5As and then Dave Weckl's original red stick). It'd be an interesting fact if he actually played in Journey with the same sticks he used for jazz.
The main reason for me asking this here is because I didn't find any useful info on the topic so far and I guess it's just a good place to try to find out this kind of things.
Thanks.
 
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