Jon Theodore

Re: Jon theodor

BackInBlack said:
It would be a very hardpressed opinion (and quite a sin) to state you *loooove* the Mars Volta, but cannot go outside the proverbial box and look for other musicians previous to them, with a much more Pure sound, showing clearly where the Mars might have constructed their sound from.
Exactly. The first time I heard De-Loused, I wondered whether Jon was a long-lost blood relative of Billy Cobham. TMV picks up where Mahavishnu left off, and one can tell they've really studied the roots of that style of music. That's certainly not to say TMV is better than Mahavishnu, just that they've done a nice job of evolving that style.
 
I'm surprised no one's mention this unbelievable talent yet. (well maybe they have, im just too lazy to view all the threads, in any case i feel like talking about him).

The Mars Volta is absolutely mind-blowing...anyone who's listened to De-loused in The Comatorium would agree, and Frances the Mute is equally as inspirational.

This guy knows how to pound the hell out of the drumset, but he comes from so many places, if you listen to songs like L'via L'viaquez, those latin beats make me wanna get in a congo line

This guy is really somthing, and he's even better live, you just can't beat the kind of energy that he spews during a show.

Not to mention, he uses a really nice kit too, Ludwig Vistalites, and their sound really matches his style of drumming.
 
The Mars Volta is one of my favorite bands, the drumming in the first album "De-loused in the comatorium" was impressive to say the least. The song "Drunkship of lanterns" has some amazing drums and percussion. I recommend giving it a listen.
 
You're absolutely right. The Mars Volta is a great band and Jon Theodore is an amazing drummer. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
 
Well... have at it. Please excuse me if he has been covered before, I searched, and no result came. I am a HUGE The Mars Volta Fan, and Jon inspires me more than any other drummer out there.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jon_Theodore.html

The one song and one solo on that page doesn't really do him justice, as he hardly ever plays solo's live. Speaking of him live, I saw him live on October 14 at the Santa Barbara Bowl.... He blew me away. His presense is amazing.

Anyways if you are interested, and want to hear more, check out the songs "Roulette Dares" and "Eria Tarka".

So, discuss.
 
man, am i with you on jon theodore. you're right, that video doesn't do him justice by a long shot.

what i love the most about him is that his beats are so weird structurally and would look pretty darn strange transcribed, but make the music of TMV flow so naturally. in my opinion, he is the mvp of the band, for the fact that without him they would sound sooo different and be infinitely less interesting and provocative with their music.

i also think he blows those guys like virgil donati or dennis chambers out of the water, just for the fact that he can make insane grooves that actually fit a band. it seems to me that a lot of the extremely chops oriented drummers play like they are doing an exercise, while jon plays with such fire and musicality yet still manages to be so fast, intricate, and complex, while supporting a 8 piece band. from what i've heard of the above "chops" drummers, they are kinda of lacking when it comes to supporting or complementing other musicians with a great groove. not to make a blanket statement at all though, just to make a point for discussion that i think these guys are better playing by themselves than with others, which goes against what for me is the litmus test of great musicians.

yes, but if you wanna get a taste of jon theodore, check out anything from the de-loused in the comatorium for some more punkish drumming and especially take a gander at "cassandra gemini" from frances the mute, a 32 minute cut that TMV reportedly did in 1 take.
 
Jon Theodore is an amazing drummer, but saying that he blows Dennis Chambers out of the water is pretty ignorant.
 
Dude! zj2302 are you serious with that comment?

I dig Jon Theodore too but he's no where near or even in the same realm as Dennis Chambers, Virgil Donati.

Don't get me wrong Jon has chops and is a great player, I give him much praise. But Chambers and Donati are just phenominal power houses that just can't be reckond with. I hear what your saying about his groove and feel and he's has it down. But Chambers and Donati can do that and more. They're not just solo chop players.

I've seen all three of them live Chambers, Donati in clinics and The Mars Volta twice. There's just no comparison.
 
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ah man he's nuts. everyone in that band are just out of their minds. i've been listening to both cds nonstop since i got them a couple of weeks ago. i've honestly never heard anything like it.

jon's a powerhouse, to say the least. it's not that he has chops, he just puts everything into what he's doing. i get the feeling that in a quieter setting you'd still get that same effect, so it's not the volume that he's playing (though he does play pretty loud). to me he seems like a guy who has studied his stuff (jazz, funk, r&b, afro-cuban, brazilian, odd times, false groupings, etc.) and has come back home to rock.

his work with the mars volta is just phenomenal. i can't wait to see them live at some point.
 
zj2302 said:
i also think he blows those guys like virgil donati or dennis chambers out of the water, just for the fact that he can make insane grooves that actually fit a band.

I'm actually going to risk the ire of the rest of the thread and agree with this. It's one thing to be able to play insane grooves like Chambers or Donati can produce on request, it's quite another to make them fit musically into a rock band without going into "Look at me! I'm the star of the show!" territory, which invariably comes off a bit 80s. I'm not a big fan of the Mars Volta - if I wanted to listen to Yes and Led Zeppelin I already can - but Jon Theodore does do a great job of fitting some very complex drumming into a band in a musical fashion.

I always find it odd how people do the whole "Oh, (chops guy X) isn't just about chops - he can do all that musical/grooving stuff too!" yet never the converse. Why is there nobody arguing that Jim Keltner can secretly out-chop Mike Mangini, he just never does it? Chops and groove/musicality are not rungs on a ladder, with chops higher and groove lower. They're both skills that need to be developed, and if you see a drummer displaying a lot of one and not much of the other it tends to suggest that appearance represents the amount of time they put into practicing the two approaches.
 
im not trying to say jon theodore can hang with guys like chambers and donati when it comes to pure, unadultered technique. he can't. no one, except a select few in the world, can.

what i'm saying is that jon thedore can apply the huge amount of chops he does have in a much more creative and artistic way than the above players. and, to me, thats the sign of a true musician.

chambers and donati have shown that, with the right gene pool and years upon years of practice, things people never though possible or even dreamed possible in terms of power, speed, and complexity could be acieved on the drum set. but their technique doesn't make them musicians, anymore than a guitar player being able to shred like malmsteen makes him a musician.

i feel like these guys somewhat miss the big point...namely that they are or should be developing these chops for a musical purpose. not that playing drum clinics or festivals frequently is inherently un-musical, or that even possessing so much ability is wrong. but their use of it to me strikes of an obsession with getting technically better while not necessarily being able to apply technique in a musical fashion. much of their work seems bent on limits of how complex can the groove be or how many notes can fit in a measure.

that is not to suggest that guys who playing minimalistically are somehow wiser or better musicians either. there is a time and place for playing at both ends of the spectrum. i like drummers who can do both, and play even the most complex things in ways that serve the music by creating parts that are both conducive to everything else going on around them and interesting/cool by themselves.

haha sorry for typing so much its late and im rambling.
 
finnhiggins said:
I'm not a big fan of the Mars Volta - if I wanted to listen to Yes and Led Zeppelin I already can



i like the mars volta quite a bit ... but i agree with you that they still aren't quite Yes or Zep ... but i'm glad that alot of younger people today are getting back to that stuff through Volta
 
Does anyone know anything about his background? Like his musical education and stuff. He sounds like someone who knows all his rudiments and his jazz and latin chops and then utilises them to sound like a four-armed behemoth behind the kit.
 
Taken from his wikipedia page.

"History

Theodore first started playing drums at the age of 15. He was soon involved with his high school concert band and took lessons on a full kit shortly after. It was at this point that he studied percussion and learned how to map arrangements; dedicated practice had already become a daily habit. He also listened to a great variety of music, growing to love the likes of Billy Cobham, Elvin Jones and John Bonham.

Around the end of his time in high school, he joined the band Golden and recorded and toured with them for ten years. It was during this time that he met Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, who were performing their first gig with their experimental dub band Defacto in El Paso, TX. They became friends and the former At The Drive-In duo would later invite Theodore to join their latin-tinged prog-rock band, The Mars Volta, with whom he currently tours and records. He also played with Royal Trux for a year-and-a-half prior to joining The Mars Volta.

In his spare time Theodore surfs, which helps build and maintain the main muscle groups used in drumming.
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Influences

Theodore draws inspiration from many different forms of music but those most prevalent in his playing are jazz, fusion and rock. He has also touched upon another factor which adds to his individual style - "Then there's a whole bunch of stuff from Haïti because my dad's Haïtian. My favorite Haïtian drummer is this guy called Azor... ...The Haïtian music that moves me has the drumming from the voodoo rituals. It moves me because the patterns are connected to different spirits; it's a spiritual thing that is interconnected with dancing, sacrifice and devotion. It's fully passionate. There is nothing contrived about it."

In interviews he regularly cites Billy Cobham of The Mahavishnu Orchestra as his main drumming influence: "My all-time favorite drummer is Billy Cobham. I love the way he plays... ...[his] playing is so natural, powerful and dynamic at the same time. I pattern a lot of stuff after him.". He has also been heavily inspired by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin: "He had one of the best feels in the history of rock... ...because [of him] I try and play with as much bombast as I possibly can."
 
Jon Theodore is my Homie. He is effin AMAZING. He rocks. My favorite song is Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt. One weird thing is though is the Mars Volta always plays there songs faster live. Anyone else notice that?
 
Saw 'Volta yesterday evening.
Front Row, thus got really close to Jon Theodore (and the band ofcourse!)
I only lasted 2 and a half songs before getting pulled out, it was way~~ too chaotic for my body.
But those 2.5 songs was a mind blowing experience...
 
I saw volta live 5 days ago, and my god, Jon beats the bejesus out of his drums. they were stainless steel... very bonhamesque.
 
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