Gadd

[Gaddabout]

I'm guessing you're under 30 years of age.

well under!!!


I had to learn '50 ways' and it was cool. but there was no concept to it. just a groove to learn and a name the "institute" holds on high. to me taking promo shots with huge rolled blunts does not an amazing drummer make.


i see it as a set of shoulders, giants we stand on, Gadd was one of those. Without a doubt. However he is a layer or two down at this point.

I would consider '50 Ways' to be among the least of his work.

[Patrick Tiglao]

I'm guessing you're under 30 years of age.

well under!!!


I had to learn '50 ways' and it was cool. but there was no concept to it. just a groove to learn and a name the "institute" holds on high. to me taking promo shots with huge rolled blunts does not an amazing drummer make.


i see it as a set of shoulders, giants we stand on, Gadd was one of those. Without a doubt. However he is a layer or two down at this point.

I gotta know....Who is on the "top layer" now in your opinion????

[littlegrooves]

Josiah-- slowly step away from the keyboard.

You don't need to make a fool out of yourself to impress us.

We accept you for who you are.

[Joe Nocella]

just my opinion on Gadd is all. people get so upset over other peoples opinions.

Gadd did some great work. but i never expect to see him in a modern playing environment, and doubt I will.


i went to one of the best musical schools in the world for drumming, and we had to transcribe a great deal of playing, Gadd was never in the mix. Im sure his ideas were an influence to those players that we did study. but none the less one could argue a bias of the instructors.

Joe Nocella - like i said, the artist you name are from that era. Gadd is not playing for modern artist. simple as that. they are artist from the 70's. and yes, great as James Taylor is, he aint selling out Red Rocks in 15 minutes. (TooL does though, 2 nights in under 15 minutes. And Danny Carey brought it big time.)

and yes, Gadd got his ass handed to him on the Buddy Rich Memorial video, with Weckl and Vinnie, it wasn't even fair and I felt bad for the guy. what was being traded between the drummers was UNREAL and Gadd couldnt keep up. are you saying during the trades that Gadd brought the same level of drumming?


sorry to offend but i think Porcaro brought it 1000x more then Gadd could dream of, shame he passed so early.


for the record as well Gary Chester played on more #1 hits the Gadd did by almost 5x the amount. Just saying. The name plays a lot in the game.

Ah...my comments were mostly tongue in cheek. Everyone is entitled to their opinions here.

I prefer not to think of BRMSC and Gadd in terms like: gettings his ass handed to him, toasted, decimated, laid waste to, blown off the stage, etc. Gadd played real musically and I thought held his own pretty well with DW and VC, who undoubtedly owe a lot of what they've assimilated to Steve.

Thanks to Matt, Gaddabout, for the reminder that there was a peroid in the 70s and 80s when Steve was untouchable. The man just embodied music and creativity on every level. There have been extremely few that have redefined the face of drumming more than Steve.

Where did he come up with that stuff? Amazing.

[Cymbalfeltfetishist]

Well it seems Josiah’s perspective is what a lot of young drummers his age have…faster, busier, “getting his ass handed to him, toasted, decimated, laid waste to, blown off the stage” etc etc or “Gary Chester has MORE #1 hits than Gadd” kind of mentality. The more notes or the faster a drummer is, the better. I can understand that to a certain degree, a less discerning or less-experienced ear will hear flash or speed and be impressed with that first, not taking to account there is a lot more to drumming than fast twitch muscles.

You certainly are entitled to your opinion here...but I found myself shaking reading it..lol and how far-off you are. Tool and Danny Carey sold out Red Rocks in 10 minutes and that’s why you invalidate James Taylor or even Steve Gadd’s drumming?? Woah! And before you call me out-of-touch or anything like that, I am well aware of new drummers as well as the old ones and their associated music. I am probably one of the few assholes that can listen to drummers and their music from Morello to Tomas Haake.

I don’t want to speak for everybody, but maybe the problem is you can’t hear a good drummer when you hear one.

I don’t think this is a popular view in regards to the BRMC, even to people on this board, but I thought Gadd did a perfect job doing his parts during the exchange. He certainly played the most musically and just plain cool. Ok, I’ll say it. FUCKIN’ COOL. Every time he did his thing, I would literally shout out loud “yeah!”. He puts his everything when he plays and that’s the shit to me. No hate mail about Vinnie or Dave please, they did awesome as well...but Gadd did his ancient art of inter-weaving in between those guys never stepping on the audience or the guys with a zillion notes....just playing perfectly to my ears. Gadd!!

[cjbdrm]

I went back and watched the ubiquitous Weckl/Gadd/Vinnie BRMS video- it had been awhile. You know, that event was a beautiful piece of drumming history...that moment in time. Each one of those guys played great and sounded exactly like themselves. Their musical personalities really shined through. Gadd played less notes. Big deal.

[Gaddabout]

Gadd's playing on BRMC came from a soulful, highly-evolved place that I think Vinnie and Weckl have only recently begun to discover it.

It's anyone would bring up Gary Chester in this thread. Because every time I read about Chester's challenges to free up the limbs I think, Gadd was already there in the 70s while Chester was getting around to put the ideas on paper. That was part of the wonder of Gadd, part of what made him so nuanced and subtle and unique. His feet were always dancing and he never had to think about placement. He just did what he heard. He never had limitations like I think most drummers do.

Not everyone "gets" Gadd. I don't have a problem with that. My only beef is a lot of those people haven't even heard Gadd's best works. If you think '50 Ways' and 'Aja' and BRMC are his high points, you don't know the fullness Gadd. Not even close. That's watered-down Gadd for the masses. It's like saying 'Seven Days' was Vinnie's best moment.

[Patrick Tiglao]

You certainly are entitled to your opinion here...but I found myself shaking reading it..lol and how far-off you are. Tool and Danny Carey sold out Red Rocks in 10 minutes and that’s why you invalidate James Taylor or even Steve Gadd’s drumming?? Woah! And before you call me out-of-touch or anything like that, I am well aware of new drummers as well as the old ones and their associated music. I am probably one of the few assholes that can listen to drummers and their music from Morello to Tomas Haake.

I don’t want to speak for everybody, but maybe the problem is you can’t hear a good drummer when you hear one.

I wanted to crush someone's head when I read that statement about Tool vs. JT...I love both bands and both drummers..To repeat my question Josiah....Who do you think is the "creme de la creme" of drummers now??? Secondly,What great drumming school did you go to????? What kind of place would instill a "Gadd is old news so he aint nothing" attitude in it's students....

[langmick]

I took a lesson at West Virginia university in the mid-80s, I think the teachers name was Jerry Mazurka. Just had one lesson, I was still figuring out how to play and it was an hour drive.

He gave me five Gadd patterns to learn, demostrated the LH on hat, RH between ride and snare groove, mozambique. I had no idea what he was doing. Didn't get it until many years later.

I like Danny Carey, but I can't see how he would get the same respect from the "educated" class.

Gadd combined intellectual drumming concepts, highly technical, with emotional groove drumming.

I think that was his innovation.

[bigbone]

I don’t want to speak for everybody, but maybe the problem is you can’t hear a good drummer when you hear one.

To repeat my question Josiah....Who do you think is the "creme de la creme" of drummers now??? Secondly,What great drumming school did you go to????? What kind of place would instill a "Gadd is old news so he aint nothing" attitude in it's students....

Don't feed the troll. the guy don't know shit about drums to talk like that, you might not like Gadd or any drummer
of that caliber, but got to respect his work, i'm not a fan of the '' new bread of drummer who play as fast as they can''
but i respect them.