The legendary Steve Gadd

Re: Steve Gadd

Thinshells - I see you love him...for good reasons....me too

Bernhard
 
Re: Steve Gadd

Very well said thinshells. I've always just not felt good about saying anything bad about Gadd's kit sound preference, its blasphemous to do so. BUT... I've never been a fan of the dead thuddy sounding tuning of his. Again though, as you stated, he makes them sing anyhow (not literaly, since they are dead sounding, but the music he evokes out of them).
 
Re: Steve Gadd

great post - it is good to read posts from drummers/musicians that "get it." Without trying to sound too opinionated, if you don't get Gadd, you don't get it at all.
 
Re: Steve Gadd

What's not to like about the guy. He is an excellent and influencial drummer. He is one of my top idols. People who bash him, which there has been, not neccesarliy here on DW, but people that bash him either have no clue who he is(how can you not) or are insecure about theirselves as drummers and take out their frustration of drums on greats like Steve Gadd.
 
Re: Steve Gadd

Stevis said:
What's not to like about the guy. He is an excellent and influencial drummer. He is one of my top idols. People who bash him, which there has been, not neccesarliy here on DW, but people that bash him either have no clue who he is(how can you not) or are insecure about theirselves as drummers and take out their frustration of drums on greats like Steve Gadd.


The really sad thing about the bashings that I have seen is this:

They want Steve Gadd to sound like Joey, or Travis. The bashings usually come from younger folks that aren't impressed by anything except faster, louder. Subtlety and musicianship along with groove are ideas that are undiscovered.

I am glad Steve doesn't do hard rock, punk, or death metal. There are plenty of people to do that stuff, and it's an entirely different realm. Steve does pocket, and epitomizes consummate musicianship. Not just a two-dimensional show of aggression.
 
Re: Steve Gadd

Steve Gadd is awesome, to see him play is inspiring, even for a metalhead like me. It's important not to be narrow minded in our approach to the music we play, taking influences from all style and genres. YET, I still have friends in other bands that have never heard him behind his kit, let alone know who he is.
Though I play in a metal band and don't get too many solo's. When I do, I always revert to a subtler style. I can beat my drums to death with the best of them but there's no craft in that, thats where Gadd comes into it. Watching "greats" like Gadd, Copeland, etc... Has opened my mind, ears and hands, to a far more challenging and rewarding way to play.
Many thanx to the drummer who changed the way I hear and play music, no matter what genre it may be.
 
by thinshells
The really sad thing about the bashings that I have seen is this:

They want Steve Gadd to sound like Joey, or Travis. The bashings usually come from younger folks that aren't impressed by anything except faster, louder. Subtlety and musicianship along with groove are ideas that are undiscovered.

I am glad Steve doesn't do hard rock, punk, or death metal. There are plenty of people to do that stuff, and it's an entirely different realm. Steve does pocket, and epitomizes consummate musicianship. Not just a two-dimensional show of aggression.

I wouldnt worry about what people think so much about Gadd, its their loss if they dont "find" what Steve offers. Its an art form and they just dont like his art work. Im just glad I do.




Dr. Gadd will be at PASIC and performing in the Buddy Rich Tribute..............AMAZING....I play over and over with his GADD ABOUT CD. One of my favorite songs is "My little Brother" its got a good Gadd groove happening. You would be so surprised to just site down and work some of his songs and the more you play them and listen, the more you hear more suddle things he is placing in the song that you just missed.

I must admit, I never heard of Steve through most of my drumming career, but ONCE I did hear him, I couldnt get enough. But all in all, I have listened to him play for years but just didnt know it was him. "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover" Man I must of sang that song a million times and didnt know who the drummer was. LOL. Now its all about studying his playing.
 
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mikkeydee said:
in the weckl-gadd-colaiuta drum off, yes, since this is only a "drum-off", not a musicality contest, i agree gadd is OFF. the least complexity and speed wise.
i felt gadd was the best drummer there! beleive it or not. when i first saw it i thought "come on gadd, these guys are making you look bad". but when i just listened to it, i could hear his style above the other two. they sounded dead similar to me, vinnie and dave, but gadd was unique and made much smarter fills, and it seems like it was probably him that came up with that cowbell groove running through the background. i think that "lucky 13" clip shows gadd doing a lot of the things i think he is best at. it's my favourite clip on the site.
 
Gadd is a real solid drummer and focuses on the groove very well. That's why he's such an in demand session player because he does the job he's paid to do. At the famous BR concert he was the best drummer that played with the band because he just played with the band/did his job while everyone else just showed off (sorry, except LB). As far as the trio with Vinne and Weckl, I don't think he did anything flashy but he was cool because he knew his place in the setting he was in. Vinnie and Weckl were the ones trying to outdo each other and in my opinion Weckl fell into the trap again and Vinne smoked him. Gadd on the other hand kept the groove together with his famous Mozambique groove.

As far as my views of his playing: Sure, he's the one that got us to play our rudiments between our hi-hat and snare, sure he showed us that you don't have to bash to be a good drummer and I think those are great qualities. I respect him a lot for what he's done/still doing but at the same time, I just never had my mind blown by him. Many of you have talked about his recorded performances and that's great of him to be so precise but rehearsal does do that for everyone. I once recorded a demo and some guy thought I used a sample because the rimshot was so consistent. I told him that I didn't and when he asked how that was possible I just shrugged and told him that the band rehearsed. And let's not forget, Gadd does this for a living. He's seasoned and he's readier than any of us.

I just don't hear any progress in Gadd's playing. One thing I noticed is that he does the same things, all the time! I've seen lots of video footage and heard lots of recordings he's on and it's always the same beats and that same lick between the snare and toms. I don't know about you guys but that's why I won't spend $40 for a DVD that he's on. This is why I respect Steve Smith (even though he's not even close to being my favorite drummer) because when you see him play over the years he's definitely exploring and consequently improving. I think it's so awesome that he's not working with Indian rhythms and it's so obvious in his playing; even his jazz playing!
 
Cuauhtemoc, I couldn't agree more with your appraisal of the Vinnie/Gadd/Weckl trio. Gadd was really the only one of the three to make that band sound really good. I love how he sits back and gets that groove really cookin', just listening to the soloists. And you can tell how much they appreciate it: that 2nd Sax guy blows a ridiculous solo in "Keep the customer satisfied", you can see Steve Marcus look up at him with a big smile and seem to say "Yeeaaaahh!!". I love that bit.

As for the solos, again I agree. Poor Dave...it's just not fair to ask him to play against those two. Gadd's got the groove, funky-as-hell beats, dancing-behind-his-kit thing, Vinnie's got ideas coming out of his arse mixed with plently of attitude, Weckl...he just seems lost. And the audience knows it too: I'm not sure he gets a single shout from the crowd.

I certainly have had my mind blown by Gadd and I wouldn't be as disparaging as you about his studio chops, because talent like that does not come to anyone through rehearsal...the man's a legend for a reason. However, I'm pleased you brought up the fact he plays the same things all the time. This is something that does really bug me. Gadd could improvise quality playing all the time if he wanted, and yet he plays those bloody licks in every clip you ever see of him. I don't know how he isn't bored of them himself yet. Can't really blame a man that successful for resting on his laurels, I guess, but I just wish he wouldn't!

I can't resist a controversial question: anyone else ever thought that the 50 Ways beat just doesn't really fit the song?? Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT groove, I've just never felt that it fits in that particular tune.

Also Finn, do you really think Weckl showed more chops on that video than Vinnie?? I can't see that. The stuff Vinnie executed there is in a different league of difficulty to what Weckl plays.

Womble
 
Vinnie's definetly got more chops than Weck... Weck beats everyone for consistency and precision though. As far as chops goes, Vinnie's got every polyrhythm and metric modulation concieved of by man. Not to mention everything he plays is so damned firey. Not that I don't love Weck- he's great. But he does fall into the "let's out chop Vinnie trap" and there's not one drummer in the world who can do that. Sorry, Dave. Love ya though.
 
poor dave. that solo gadd plays in " things aint what they used to be" seems a little strange. good, but strange. definately not what i expected.
 
I can't resist a controversial question: anyone else ever thought that the 50 Ways beat just doesn't really fit the song?? Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT groove, I've just never felt that it fits in that particular tune.

Womble[/QUOTE]

That's an interesting question. I think it's the perfect example of one's subjectivity. I don't have a problem with you making that statement.
 
I love Gadd, from his groove right down to his drum tone.
 
Cuauhtemoc said:
I can't resist a controversial question: anyone else ever thought that the 50 Ways beat just doesn't really fit the song?? Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT groove, I've just never felt that it fits in that particular tune.

Womble

That's an interesting question. I think it's the perfect example of one's subjectivity. I don't have a problem with you making that statement.[/QUOTE]

Nope. It's perfect, and it makes the song. It's legendary and an immortal classic.
 
Womble said:
I can't resist a controversial question: anyone else ever thought that the 50 Ways beat just doesn't really fit the song?? Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT groove, I've just never felt that it fits in that particular tune.
Actually, no. In my mind the drum part of that song IS the song. The rest of the song works around the drums.
 
Well thanks, Cuauhtemoc, but judging by your previous musings on Gadd it wasn't you I was expecting to upset with my 50 Ways question; some others on this forum tend to be a little, how shall we say...reactionary. I was pleased yesterday to see a post from Nutha J telling people they don't have to put IMO or even worse IMHO every time they write something, because that trend was getting out of hand. I've even seem some people rubbish their own opinion before they express it!

I'm also glad to see others having problems with getting quotations to work. Those damn things seem to have a mind of their own.

You're totally right, DogBreath. And I think that's my problem with it. If I'm completely honest, I think no matter how much I love drums, my priorities lie with the other components of music: melody, harmony, lyrics etc (I've been a pianist a lot longer than a drummer). There was a time I loved drum solos for drum solos' sake, now I prefer them short and sweet and to make sense within the music. Nor am I interested in the minutiae of drumming, you know, how someone sets up, how they tune their drums, what cymbals they use, all things like that...it just doesn't do it for me. And so I can't help wanting drum parts to fit around the song, not the song around the drum part. You've hit the nail on the head there.

Womble
 
Womble said:
If I'm completely honest, I think no matter how much I love drums, my priorities lie with the other components of music: melody, harmony, lyrics etc. ... And so I can't help wanting drum parts to fit around the song, not the song around the drum part.
That's a perfectly valid point, and one that I hope no one finds offensive (referring to the occasionally over-sensitive types). It is a bit of a "gimmicky" song, mainly lyrically, and to a lesser extent percussively.

I remember years ago Paul Simon saying that the song was inspired by the goofy rhymes that his young son liked. I think it was just a silly song that they were all having fun with in various ways.*









*IMHO!
 
My other hands down Gadd favorite is Simons "Late in the evening" Gadd makes that song!
 
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