Not usually my thing, but ----

I love me some Matt Garstka.

Tooth and Claw and Kascade with Animals as Leaders are my favorites.
 
Yes, very nice..

I visited a clinic from him a while ago..

Incredibly talented guy and i can highly recommend to go see him whenever he plays nearby..

Very worthwhile to go check out..!
 
Really nice cymbal sounds. The music is kind of meh for me. Nice chops though.
Oh, the music is absolutely meh for me too. Would I listen to that in my car? - hell no. Yes, the chops are super impressive, but for me, it's his approach / choices / dynamics that really impress me.

I wouldn't even know where to start when faced with such material. Remembering the composition / timing in itself would be a long slog. I think the click / metronome threw in the towel around 3 minutes onward :oops:

On the plus side, I'm absolutely stealing that simultaneous cymbal choke / hihat push move at 1:36!!
 
I've never really heard or seen this guy play and color me impressed! I think the music kinda has this Joey Baron kind of modern vibe to it - definitely something you won't hear on radio or being played at a bar, but cool nonetheless.
 
Saw Animals as Leaders a few years back. They're phenomenal players, great to watch from a musicianship point of view.

Clever ideas but only appeals to musos and they're one of those bands that will go over a lot of peoples heads. Still top players, can't blag that stuff!

It just doesn't translate to listening to them and can be a bit of a hard slog.
 
I love me some Matt Garstka.

Tooth and Claw and Kascade with Animals as Leaders are my favorites.

Tooth and Claw is killer.

I worked in a 300 cap music club when AAL came through on a tour 10 or so years ago, so I got to see Matt's kit up close, hear soundcheck and briefly chat with him before the show. His kit, even in the small club sounded so amazingly clear, every hit sounded so in place with the rest of the music. Not to mention he had some killer mics on the kit that I'm sure added to his sound. The band as a whole blew me away live.
 
Wow Andy he’s really playing the spaces-ROFL. Just kidding- but I see what you mean he has a novel approach/feel//dynamic in his playing that captivates. And you know I love this sort of “stuff” and lots of good stuff to steal besides that you mentioned.
 
Saw Animals as Leaders a few years back. They're phenomenal players, great to watch from a musicianship point of view.

Clever ideas but only appeals to musos and they're one of those bands that will go over a lot of peoples heads. Still top players, can't blag that stuff!

It just doesn't translate to listening to them and can be a bit of a hard slog.

Same. I can appreciate the technical ability, but I'd never listen to this type of music. Same applies to the Zildjian/Vic Firth Live series of videos - great players, but the music always just seems to be complicated for the sake of it.
 
I lasted 54 seconds before I turned it off .
I think Matt is a great player , the music just doesn’t interest me .
 
i love his playing, and his approach to tuning...if I had 1/1000th of his flow and power, I would be elated

I can listen to this music all day, as much as I can listen to Clyde Stubblefield all day, and Chad Smith, and Phill Rudd

I like hearing and seeing people who are masters of their craft; I can find groove all over this kind of music, just like Motown, RHCP and AC/DC

and I don't see why this is any different than early 70's fusion...and why the same people who would be drooling over it if it was Dennis Chambers, or Tony Williams; or Elvin on A Love Supreme, ....are casting this off
 
It never occurred to me whether I like the music or not until I read the comments here lol. I was too busy just enjoying it.
Anyway, from about 4:42 on, it sounds like the song is stumbling down a flight of stairs. Very cool.
 
Animals As Leaders played the main stage the opening night of NAMM. It was supposed to be Sarah McLachlan, but she got sick and had to pull out. Talk about a great last-minute replacement, though VERY different from the artist they replaced.

What made it even more interesting is that the main stage is sponsored by Yamaha, yet as far as I know, no one from AAL plays any Yamaha gear. I know Matt plays Tama, if nothing else. I'm glad they didn't limit any replacements to Yamaha artists.

Oh and by the way, count me as a big AAL and Matt Gartska fan. I've seen them at least 5-6 times now, and they put on an amazing show every time.
 
, but the music always just seems to be complicated for the sake of it.
Exactly. I'll love to hear phenomenal players, but my eyes (or ears, to be more exact) glaze over and I loose interest when there is music without meaning.

GeeDeeEmm
 
There was a time I wanted to listen to stuff like this, its so impressive. Reminds me of some Ronald Bruner Jr stuff I listened to for a bit. Funny how tastes change over time. For me, not most of my friends tho. They are stuck with stuff they have been listening to all their lives. I cant really listen to and fully enjoy the stuff I listened to in my early teens and such. I always want to turn some of these friends onto new stuff, but never works, people get stuck in the familiar zone, need familiarity in their music. You love Phish...you really should LOVE Zappa. Sorry for going off on a tangent here.

But yeah this Garstka cat is amazing.

I had to scroll up to correct my spelling on his name like 4 times lol.
 
Maybe it takes 200 listens before the music has any meaning. It's hard to break something down after only a listen. There's so much to absorb. It reminds me of jazz in that I am baffled, and lost. That's no knock to jazz musicians. It's definitely my shortcoming. I can't wrap my head around playing this kind of music. Just listening to it I realize I don't have the ability to even make sense of it mentally, let alone attempting to play it. My tastes are too simple to understand something on this level. For me it's like trying to understand Chinese when I don't speak Chinese. So the only thing I can do is listen to it and say wow, I have no idea what's going on here.
 
45 seconds was the best I could do. I don't enjoy this wandering nonsense at all. It's obvious Matt can play, but if I don't enjoy the music why should he alone impress me? If the music doesn't impress me, the players don't matter. I can't listen to something because of one guy.
 
An update to my earlier post. I was at a restaurant when I saw this, so I wasn't in a position to watch the video. But as a big Animals As Leaders and Matt Gartska fan, I just assumed it was one of the many AAL videos, of which I've probably watched most of them. And any negative comments I saw I just attributed to the fact that AAL is not for everyone.

Fast forward to just now, when I finally got around to watching the video. Whoops, that's not Animals As Leaders! I still love Matt's playing, but I have to agree, the music for this one just stinks!

So here's Matt playing to one of my favorite AAL tunes. Hopefully you guys like this one better (I sure do!)

 
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