1982 - I love that persistence and breaking the rules got him his dream...
I had always been a big fan of Zappa's and had every record. In fact, I had just bought Live in New York and loved it. It was funny and it was musically great. The irony is that I called the office and bugged the hell out of them, asking if I could bring a tape by. They said, "No tapes", but I dropped one by anyway. I'd go there every day until one day they called and said "Alright, Mr. Zappa will listen to you Wednesday night."
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/moderndrummer82.aspx)
1987 - so many drummers would do well to remember this
[On superimposed metric modulation]: And, if you find that you have the place where you can use something like this, above all else, be musical!
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/smm.aspx)
1987 - he says this again in a 1993 interview so the producers obviously didn't learn their lesson...
VC: I do find that a lot of times they'll say, "Put some Vinnie in there."
RF: What does that mean precisely?
VC: I don't know what it means, because when they say that, I think to myself, "Oh, they want to see some flashy fills; they want me to go left." A lot of times, I fluff it off with a joke, like, "Ah, you don't want that," and we all laugh. But they really do want me to do stuff that I don't think is appropriate, just because they figure they're hiring me and I'm this nut case who can play anything. Before, I couldn't get arrested for doing that. Now, I get on dates, and they want to hear it.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/moderndrummer87.aspx)
1989 - I've often thought about this, I agree with it. What makes him the drummer he is, is the person he is. You can't put that in an instructional video, no wonder he's not done one...
The way I am as a person may have a lot to do with how I play the drums. I don't know, that's a whole other kind of issue that I've often wondered about - whether you could separate your musical being from just the way you are. It's just who you are I think.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/rhythm89.aspx)
1991 - I love this because he went through a process with Tony which so many of us have gone through with him
I asked him who his favorite drummer was and he said, 'Tony Williams.' And I was like, 'Who?' So, he told me to go buy the record Ego. When I first listened to it, it was so alien to anything I'd ever heard before. About two years later, I put it back on the turntable and it was like I'd just opened the lid to the Ark Of The Covenant or something. It was as if the sky had opened in my head. I went out and bought every Tony Williams record that I could get my hands on. From that point I realized that Tony was the genius of the drums. I realized what a force he was and how powerful and truthful his musical statement was. It changed my life; it made a profound impact.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/drumsanddrumming91.aspx)
1991 - honouring without imitation is a great way of doing things...
The way that I approach playing something like Purple Haze is... Well, to me that song, the way Hendrix played and the whole band played, captured the essence of what Hendrix was about and it captured the essence of that era. It's like a snap-shot of then and that time, and what they were saying then was very important, it was crucial to the song and the way it should sound. What I don't do is to try and consciously 'nineties' upgrade it because I don't feel that it needs an upgrade. I play the way that I play. I'm not Mitch Mitchell and I can only simulate how he played. I'm not going to sit there and try to play like Mitch Mitchell. I'll honour it, but it's not a full-blown imitation."
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/rhythm91.aspx)
1993 THIS - so much this.
I don't really concentrate on having unlimited facility anymore. I stopped concentrating on being the 'fastest gun' a long time ago. I realized that there will always be someone faster, or whatever, but, did it really matter?
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/drummer2000.aspx)
1995 - I wish more drummers approached solo albums this way.
The album was more an opportunity for my writing than my drumming, because nobody's heard my writing. The goal was not 'here's a lick you never heard before,' but 'here's my drumming in the context of my own music.' The album integrates my drumming into my whole musical persona. My compositions reveal my drumming, which represents my musicality, which is revealed through the compositions.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/pas95.aspx)
1996 - love the use of 'vernacular' here. Also it's a humble thing to say, considering some of the latin stuff he'd done pre '96.
I like a lot of Latin grooves and stuff, and I want to learn more about them, the vernacular of it. I can feel it, but I don't know what I'm doing exactly, I feel kind of uneducated on that level.
Paging Thomas Lang etc
It's not about playing 32 right hand strokes in a row at 130 bpm, and then 32 with the left hand twenty times in a row, just so you can go, "I'm Iron Man". It's about freeing up the hands so you can have a certain kind of touch, and elicit that kind of touch out of the instrument so you don't have to think about whether or not you can do it any more, and that you can become one with the instrument. It's about producing sounds.
This is they key to all music, for me, in a way - when this is the wrong way round, some awful music happens.
Technique has been my tool to help me make my statement, but my statement comes from my spirit.
Love this philosophy
[On being known as the greatest drummer in the world]: I can just say thank you - that's all I can do. You look at Dennis - what a freak that guy is, he's ridiculous, unbelievable! Then you talk to Dennis, and he'll go, 'Man, you gotta see Larry Bright'. You see what I mean? Dennis knows, he's not stupid. He must know what a high level he's at, but I wonder if he really knows. He talks about Larry. You see what I'm saying?
(All from [url]http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/rhythm96.aspx[/url - it's probably my favourite of all of them.]
2000 - You don't imagine people like him getting nervious, so this is nice
Recently, I had the tremendous honour of paying tribute to the great Steve Gadd at a concert for him in Boston. I was nervous enough, being there for Steve, but then, I made the mistake of looking out into the audience right before I went on to play, and saw that Louie Bellson, Roy Haynes, and Elvin Jones were there! I can't recall the last time I was ever that nervous. I mean, those guys are among my heroes, and encompass a very significant part of the entire history of jazz, and drums!
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/drummer2000.aspx)
2001 - Again, this is how solo albums should be written
I was not interested in writing throwaway tunes; I wanted a context for my playing. I didn't want to just chops out over the tunes or rip it up. To me that is like having a tasteless car with a 600-horsepower engine and a crappy interior.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/berklee01.aspx)
2001 - there's loads of things to do with technology to which this rationale can and should apply
MD: In many situations , has the role of the studio drummer been reduced to simply to the "overdub guy" replacing pre-recorded parts?
Vinnie: Yes- and just why should that be considered a "reduction"? What kind of attitude is that? It's still a job to be done, and either you do it or you don't. Duh. What's the big whoop?
(No link for this one.)
2003 - I think we'd all LIKE to be the person who makes this decision, but it's very hard when you're actually IN the situation...
Once I had to turn down a "Round Midnight" soundtrack call that I had gotten, because I was booked on a jingle. Now some people would have said, "You're nuts, you should have gotten out of the jingle." But I was booked.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/drummagazine03.aspx)
2003 - I miss the Gretsch/Zildjian days..
Interviewer: Our instrument is an important part of what becomes defined as our "Unique Voice", and it should convey the sound that we hear in our head.
Vinnie: Exactly! That's why I play Gretsch! [laughing]
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/percussioni03.aspx)
2007 - Says so much about what makes Vinnie Vinnie, and so many other technically amazing drummers essentially interchangeable
If I play a drum solo, yeah, it will reveal a lot about how much I practiced and that I can twirl sticks and do different rhythms with each foot. That comes from hours of practicing, focus, repetition, and integration, and if you're not mentally, physically, or memory-impaired and you have a modicum of talent and you put enough time into it and you want to do that, you will achieve it.
But then you're creating your own context. If you do that stuff free-form and do it to wow and dazzle people, then I say try this: Take all those licks you've blended together and slow the tempo down or change the tempo, and A) put it in a specific context that requires you to obey particular parameters in terms of an idiomatic form that you're going to play; B) play it within a stylistic genre; C) play it within a song form; and D) do that with other musicians in real time reactively as well. Now the story changes.
People wonder why I don't do clinics. That's why. Because you're not getting the context. It's like I'm selling you something. Where is the context? You can't just sit there and be bereft of context.
(http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/moderndrummer07.aspx)
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I also love the clinic quote about how he'll make mistakes, but at least he has the balls to go for things.
Okay that's it! The end. Feel free to add your own.
.gif "Smile")
