Re: VINNIE - The thread about Colaiuta
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:16 pm
Kurtis wrote:nomsgmusic wrote:Steve Holmes wrote:Chick actually loses 1 on Tumba and asks Vinnie for it resulting in a big SMASH on 1 soon after. Tumba and Humpty are pretty amazing on there - getting the CD and then the videos back then was FUN!
When I saw the Acoustic Band plus 2 (Wallace Roney and Bob Berg) the week or month before in NYC, Vinnie was losing EVERYBODY! That was, still to this day, the most "drums" I have ever seen someone play on any (actual) GIG (whether it was musical or not could be debated, and has been.) But Lord God Almighty, was Vinnie playing some amazing drums that week!!! Every musician and drummer in the audience was just shaking their heads in disbelief.
That week makes that trio recording (that I love too) sound like Ahmad Jamal "Live at the Pershing." (HA! I love that record too!)
Weird, years later, I had a couple of long conversations with Chick about that week, and the week of the CD, and "hate" is a strong term. He had some issues with it, but I wouldn't say "hate," (nor did Chick use that word.)
MSG
This video Rodge posted has shaken and stirred some drumming vibes.
Noms you have had some fortunate VC experiences!
I was at the baked potato gig. The place was packed. I was hanging onto one of the pole that goes down to the stage. Carmine Appice was there struggling just to get a view of VC. I was hanging on peoples shoulders just to see VInnie .
Yes, I've been lucky (I guess?) But if you hang around this world enough, follow your muse, and take enough chances, you'll have a pretty enjoyable life, and hopefully make people smile.
Interesting, while everyone always talks about the VC Chick dates, all of the Baked Potato gigs, and the one nighter Pattitucci tour... I never hear the week at the old Iridium (uptown) in NYC talked about. I couldn't have been the only drummer who attended that week. I actually sat with Johnny D one night if I remember correctly. (So there's two drummers.)
Jason Miles did a week long tribute to Weather Report that was soooo much better than the record. Vinnie, Mark Egan, Chuck Loeb, Mino Cinelu, Jason Miles, and half week of Steve Wilson and half week of Eric Alexander on saxes. I went for four nights. Seeing Vinnie play WR music with Mino was amazing, his hook up with Mark was good and playful. Jason doing his best Zawinul impression, Chuck was playing his ass off (not "smooth" at all,) and Vinnie and Steve Wilson were mixing it up from note one.
I remember Vinnie left the morning after the last gig to go do the Asia record, we kidded about that. I think maybe Vinnie did Egan's record while he was out here as well. Mino was wearing a blue leather jacket that matched my Yamaha Blue Cobalts, we had played together prior. And after I told him that his jacket matched my drums, he offered to give me the jacket. Yes, he offered to give me the coat off of his back because it matched my drums. Mino is one of the great percussionists, musicians, and people ever! Steve Wilson was actually doing some gigs with me (and MANY others) at the time, and I asked him all about the inside happenings of that gig. No real "stories" but that everyone knew how lucky they were to have Vinnie on the gig, and there was VERY little (if no) rehearsal time. Everyone (basically) sight reading WR tunes.
Anyway....
Good times!
MSG
