MrWriter
Active Member
Ok, I’ve been a massive Living Colour fan since their debut album, Vivid, and the superb follow up, Times Up. Their next album, Stain, was a tad questionable for me and lacking the overall genius and funky rock style of the first two albums and I feel that the new bassist, Doug Wimbish, lacks what the amazing Muzz Slillings had to offer in the bass department. The latter three albums, Collideoscope, The Chair in the Doorway and Shade all have smatterings of typical early Living Colour stuff (Flying from Collideoscope for example), but for the most part they lean towards a heavier more raw sound with less of the early funky riffs.
Will Calhoun has been on the skins for all Living Colour’s albums and it is only recently that I’ve read a bit more about him on Wiki and I was not surprised to learn that Will studied music production and engineering at Berkeley College of Music and he received the Buddy Rich Jazz Masters award for outstanding performance as a drummer. Seriously, I was not shocked in the least, his drumming is amazing and I was lucky enough to see Living Colour live at the Forum (Town & Country Club) in North London shortly after their debut album, Vivid, came out and (along with Nirvana doing their Never Mind tour at the Kilburn National Ballroom in London) it is in the top three best gigs I’ve ever seen. Admittedly, Vernon Reid does hit a lot of bum notes and chords live but the ones he gets right are better than anybody else and I would not want another guitarist in Living Colour because Reid just comes up with amazing stuff and I’m sure he influenced Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine (another of my favourite guitarists).
Back to Will Calhoun, who has also recorded jazz albums as a leader and appeared on dozens of other records.
Calhoun’s drumming is not typical, he does stuff that other drummers don’t and if you are a fan of Living Colour you’ll know just what I mean, his drumming style and what he does is recognisable anywhere for his unique snare sound and what he does with it and his kick drum style, in the same way that Neil Peart has a recognisable ride cymbal rhythm.
Although Will plays with the ‘traditional’ grip, he still manages to get good power on the snare and around the toms in his playing, even more so than Peart and I just love the production quality of the drums, especially the less polished production on Time’s Up, where the snare drum sounds like a fire cracker when cranked up!
Yup, it is fair to say that Will Calhoun is my favourite drummer of all time and I suspect I’m just one of a handful of drummers and music fans on the planet who would have pulled Will’s name out of the hat rather than the usual suspects.
Give the first two albums, Vivid and Time’s Up a listen today!
Will Calhoun has been on the skins for all Living Colour’s albums and it is only recently that I’ve read a bit more about him on Wiki and I was not surprised to learn that Will studied music production and engineering at Berkeley College of Music and he received the Buddy Rich Jazz Masters award for outstanding performance as a drummer. Seriously, I was not shocked in the least, his drumming is amazing and I was lucky enough to see Living Colour live at the Forum (Town & Country Club) in North London shortly after their debut album, Vivid, came out and (along with Nirvana doing their Never Mind tour at the Kilburn National Ballroom in London) it is in the top three best gigs I’ve ever seen. Admittedly, Vernon Reid does hit a lot of bum notes and chords live but the ones he gets right are better than anybody else and I would not want another guitarist in Living Colour because Reid just comes up with amazing stuff and I’m sure he influenced Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine (another of my favourite guitarists).
Back to Will Calhoun, who has also recorded jazz albums as a leader and appeared on dozens of other records.
Calhoun’s drumming is not typical, he does stuff that other drummers don’t and if you are a fan of Living Colour you’ll know just what I mean, his drumming style and what he does is recognisable anywhere for his unique snare sound and what he does with it and his kick drum style, in the same way that Neil Peart has a recognisable ride cymbal rhythm.
Although Will plays with the ‘traditional’ grip, he still manages to get good power on the snare and around the toms in his playing, even more so than Peart and I just love the production quality of the drums, especially the less polished production on Time’s Up, where the snare drum sounds like a fire cracker when cranked up!
Yup, it is fair to say that Will Calhoun is my favourite drummer of all time and I suspect I’m just one of a handful of drummers and music fans on the planet who would have pulled Will’s name out of the hat rather than the usual suspects.
Give the first two albums, Vivid and Time’s Up a listen today!
