Terry Bozzio

Sticksman

Pioneer Member
Chances are that you've heard of Terry Bozzio, and if you haven't, then all you should really know is that he thinks and plays his drums like their his own orchestra ~ melodically.

At first, I was thrown off, because, as we all know, it's all about the groove, but as I listened to more of his work and saw his video here, I became more and more impressed. So now, melodic drumming takes up some of my time as an interesting approach to the drums. He drummed for Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, among other bands, and is now a solo artist.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Terry_Bozzio.html
 
This man is incredible he once played the musical score for a ballet not the rhythm the music. I find that his melodic playing while amazing is a bit of an aquired taste if you would like to hear more conventional drumming from him check out his work with Zappa or Bozzio Levin Stevens great stuff.
 
Also checkout his work with Jeff Beck.

I still like Bozzio but I think he has become a little abstract for my personal taste...
 
terry bozzio

he is for many, not a drummer but an orchestra...then again for others he is a sleeping monster because we dont see a lot from him lately.

i think that he is a monster of a drummer and even though for most of us, the SS Terry Bozzio II is too much, he plays it with such musicality and color that i love it. of course after five minutes i would get bored to listen to him...if it was behind that kit i would try hitting everything in front of me....lol

so what do you guys think about Terry and his kit?
 
Re: terry bozzio

I had the pleasure of seeing Terry, with Mike Patton in Fantomas, at this years Roskilde. Terry is rocksteady, a bit crazy, and very musical to watch. In fact, he had the musical parts written down on notes(even the melodic notes for his tuned timbales etc) And if you havent heard Fantomas...... its pretty out there, in arrangements and speed. So he impressed bigtime
 
to see more vids and pictures from him: www.terrybozzio.com
so nice.. and now, his drum kit is bigger (toms x 2): he want to plays the "chromatics" (half tone by half tone)
 
I'd like to see him on a standard kit. What he has there is very unique, but its so far detached from 'drumset' I can't know what to think of it. Perhaps its the world's largest, most expensive Marimba?
 
If you just look at this kit and how he plays on his monster kit, you must realize the just amazing amount of skill you MUST have to play anything like Terry does. With the type of music and the type of set up he has, no one will ever be close to as good he is.....its just amazing
 
His kit is a work of art, chromatic scale and diotonic scale on each side, and if you look at all the remotes he has to hihats and other bass drum pedals amazing,All credit to him his roadies and DW
 
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I have seen Terry in clinic twice, own one of his videos, have Bozzio/Levin/Stevens and Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop cd, and have always been seriously impressed by his chops, commitment, and INTENSITY! Anyone who has the Zappa credentials has the goods. Have you seen his duets with fellow Zappa alum Chad Wackerman? Talk about inspirational! And that kit is huge, but melodic! If I ever make enough disposable income to afford it, you bet I'd fill my spare room with DW drums! Bozzio raises the bar every time he grabs a pair of sticks.
 
Terry is a nut and I love him!

I saw him with Jeff Beck, in clinic and remember him from seeing Baby Snakes at a very ealry age.

He's brought the drumset and it's players to an entirely new level.
 
Terry is one of my favorites....I know some people don't like him because of his huge set, but I've seen him play and he always seems to incorporate all of it when he's playing and in a very cool way too...
 
terry bozzio, what a great drummer.
he is the frank zappa of drums. not afraid to do things nobody has done before.
not that anybody will be rich enough to copy his setup...
but why has he got cymbals in places where he can't even reach?
 
this is a hilarious song by Frank Zappa, feature TB on drums and vocals acting as 'the devil'.
very funky. hope you like it.
 

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I remember that song from when I was a little kid, but I didn't know that was Bozzio as the devil. After hearing this one now I realize that the version I heard as a kid was an edited version of the same performance. Zappa calls him "Bozzio" at one point, and TB refers to his girlfriend as "Dale," two big clues.
 
HardRockDrummer said:
this is a hilarious song by Frank Zappa, feature TB on drums and vocals acting as 'the devil'.
very funky. hope you like it.

If you want to go one better, there's always "Punky's Whips" which is a much more involved song about Terry's obsession with a glam rock guitarist. Contains the cracker of a line "His hair is so pretty / I want to bite his neck / I've heard a rumour / He's more fluid than Jeff Beck".

The arrangement is better too, T&B is more of a comedy sketch.
 
All too often, drummers who are extremely techinically accomplished just blaze away with nothing musical to say, but Terry Bozzio manages to employ his considerable ability in the service of *music,* not drumming as an "extreme sport."

When TB was touring with Jeff Beck a couple years ago, Jeff and the keyboard player would drop out completely during the tune "Scatterbrain" and let Terry take over, playing the riff on his toms while keeping the groove going underneath. Incredible!

If you're familiar with that song, then you know it's hard enough for most drummers to just play the groove alone. But to play the melody as well...wow.

--Dave A.
 
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