Yes, yes, yes. Love his remarks about expectations from a drummer being an equal partner in the music. There's talk on this forum about the drummer just taking a backseat and staying out of the way of the other musicians, but there's so much more to it than that.
Agreed. I love how much he values interaction from all the players, including drummers. He says "it's jazz", and it is, so no argument there, but the same concept can be extended to many other genres as well as long as there's band buy-in.
I also really like his opinion that drummers need to be *performers*; that
musicians play the notes (or keep the beats), but an
artist has to move people. To do that, you really need to be willing to stick your neck out with the confidence that you can help move and shape the music for the better.
I think it's great to move the audience, but even better to move the other band members. When I feel the impulse to throw somethings out off-the-cuff that I've never tried before, and I try it and it works - and other band members respond with huge grins, or even laughter ... man, it really doesn't get any better than that! Even if it's just in the practice room.
Of course, things don't always work and flubs still happen ... BUT: nothing wagered, nothing earned; gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette; blah blah blah ... haha