Dave King

lowender

Member
Dave is the most exciting drummer I have seen in a very long time. I was fortunate enough to see him live in Manchester last year and I cannot stress how much anyone that loves good drumming should check him out.
Sometimes it sounds like he's painting a delicate watercolour on the kit and sometimes its like they're his worst enemy.
Also check out his use of non drumming utensils (kids walky talkies, happy apples etc.)
One of his many bands is THE BAD PLUS (thebadplus.com) give it a butchers for some great music (jazz sensibilities with a bit of a rock attitude). They do quite a lot of Jazz covers of stuff like Nirvana, The Police, Pixies but especially stunning is their cover of Aphex Twins 'Flim' which particularly as far as drumming goes is phenomenal.
Not to mention they're own material.
In my mind his drumming conjures up images of Tony Williams, Jack DeJonhnette and John Bonham.
Any chance of seeing him reaching the "Hall Of Fame" that is drummerworlds profiles section?
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

He should definately be added to drummerworld imo, although I know Bernhard's busy so it might take a while but definately. Saw the Bad Plus on Later with Jools Holland, absolutely brilliant. Was blown away by Dave, fantastic and very interesting drummer
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

If you check the website they're playing in dublin in november (16th I think, at the Sugar Club) - anybody any ideas what this venue is like? I'm thinking about getting a flight across to come and see them as they're not playing the UK this year. You should see him live, I feel sorry for the other band members as he really steals the stage. Even non drummers can't keep their eyes of his playing.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

My god man! Thanks a million for the heads up. I'm really lookin forward to that now.
About the Sugar Club, I'm pretty sure its a jazzy venue, so it should be comfortable. If it got a good review from the Irish Times then it must be good.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

No worries dude. You can buy me a pint when I get in! It's definitely the 16th, I've checked. You can't afford to miss them playing in your hometown.
Good skills.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

Guiness dude!
seriously, I hear it's better than what we get over here (although I can't complain cos I love the stuff).
I initially thought they were going to be doing 2 dates in dublin and was going to go to both but it turns out one in dublin and one in cork.
i just need to find the funds for the flight/ferry and b&b!
It will be a right treat. they're currently playing a fair bit of stuff live thats yet to be recorded.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

yeah, we probably save the best for the natives (he he he).

The venue they're playing in cork is meant to be very very good. But i'd say the sugar club will suffice (fingers crossed).

Knowing Ireland the flights/ferry and b&b might cost a bit (damn rip off Ireland, damn you to hell!)

whats the deal also, tickets or just show up on the night?
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

I'm going to see about booking tickets as imagine I've forked out the money and time to get to dublin only for there not to be any door tickets! Aaargh!
I need to see if I can afford it though, if so though there'll be a small group of us coming over so it should be good.
If you know any good b&b's (when I say good i mean not rathole's but as cheap as poss!) then please let me know.
Cheers dude.
Also I heard rumours about them making a documentary but no sign of any dvd yet (sadly)
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

I've had the album These Are the Vistas for about a year; it's one of my favourites to listen to, and King has become one of my favourite drummers. He sounds so natural and fluent on the kit, everything connects.
The Bad Plus in general sound great. It's headbanger jazz (at times), sorta. :p
They were in Victoria last year for JazzFest and I didn't see them, and I really regret that now. I'm hoping they'll be back again soon.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

I'm glad there's other folks out there that appreciate the might dave. I agree these are the vista's is great but the last studio album "give" is also excellent.
Also well worth a go is "Blunt Object" that was recorded live in Tokyo. It is only available through itunes or through Sony (go the THEBADPLUS.COM and follow the links regarding that, their latest album.
Check the site regularly for tour dates. Its a shame there's no UK gigs this year mind. Mind you at least I'll finally get to see Ireland!
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

I saw Dave and the Bad plus about a year ago at the Regattabar near Harvard University. They are pretty mean musicians. The drummer Dave has quite a sense of humor. He plays with a bunch toy drums an pots and pans when he plays. He even used a pair of toy walkie talkies for one song. My only bone to pick with The Bad Plus is they get a little too experiemental or abstract at certain times. However if you are a drummer and love creative Jazz music they are a must see. Dave can really play. By the way they do a bad ass cover of Velouria by the Pixies.
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

he is awesome but i think sometimes he does draw a bit too much attention away from the rest of the band. check him out on Craig Taborn's Junk Magic, he is a bit more in the pocket
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus is one of my favorite bands. I've been wanting to drum along to "Flim" for a long time now, but its so hard to do exactly becuase theres no single beat repeated. So I've started transcribing it, and its taking soooo long, but im up to about 2:30. Good stuff.

Ben
 
Re: Dave King from The Bad Plus

I'm lucky enough to live in Minneapolis (Dave lives in the Twin Cities area) where, if he isn't out of the country touring, he's playing live with one of his many bands (Happy Apple, F-K-G, Halloween Alaska, Love-Cars, Electric Bill, and some others I probably don't know about). His gig schedule is unbeliveable.

For those of you in NYC you have 6 chances to see him with The Bad Plus when they play SIX nights at The Village Vanguard, September 20-25. All 3 of these guys are accomplished musicians with incredible imagination and the chops to execute. And all extremely nice guys.

I'll chime in here with a "me-too" on wanting to see Dave have a page on this great website. Some links for Bernhard:

http://www.thebadplus.com/
http://www.happyapplemusic.com/

BaDrum21 said:
The Bad Plus is one of my favorite bands. I've been wanting to drum along to "Flim" for a long time now, but its so hard to do exactly becuase theres no single beat repeated. So I've started transcribing it, and its taking soooo long, but im up to about 2:30. Good stuff.
Ben
Not too long ago I read an article on line where Ethan Iverson (Piano) said that Dave's drum part in Flim is improvised (and different) every time. I'm always fascinated by his drumming on this tune everytime I see him. Listening to the original Aphex Twin version for the first time (after seeing him play it for a couple years) I was flabbergasted by his interpretation (which on the original track is a drum machine with a definite "beat-box" kind of feel)

I'm looking forward to their 3 night stand at the end of the year here at The Dakota.

Thanks again Bernhard for all you do!

--Joe
 
Ever heard of him?
He is a drummer for the Bad Plus and Happy apple, local Minneapolis, MN Bands.
He has some mad skill in the jazz area.
 
This deserves a bump. I found a little clip of Dave playing the Flim cover. It's probably the best performance of the song I've seen from him so far. Amazing to say the least. He even uses one of his little toys towards the end. I can't wait 'til the Bad Plus comes back to AZ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4auW8F8mQE
 
2 drummers left quite an impression on me last week during the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. First up the amazing and very musical David King from The Bad Plus and the heaviest modern latin kit player i've ever had the pleasure of hearing Gilberto Moreaux with the group Zapato Negro.

Both are in my view are two of the most underated drummers on the scene today period but in David's case he has a ever growing appeciative following and rightful recognition for his very fine musicianship. Gilberto is just one of the best kept secrets going at the moment IMO but that will change soon trust me.
 
Dave King is a really interesting player but man, sooooo many rim clicks. It got to the point with the blue record (with the nirvana cover) where I just couldn't listen to it anymore. It sucks a little bit because a lot of his vocabulary is really exciting. Just all that rim noise. It's like one of those clacker toys constantly coming through the speakers.

If there are any records where that isn't as present a sound, I'd love to know.
 
Back
Top