Postby smoggrocks » Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:05 pm
it was awesome.
stanton moore gave best clinic. broke down and gave history of mardi gras indian beat that i forget which jazz session great co-opted and evolved. then showed how cuban and other rhythms were applied to it, then did his own thing with it. his aim was to show how to take something simple and embellish it. i liked how he went from simple to complex and super funky. gadd took a similar approach in his 'mission from gadd' thing, in terms of taking useful patterns that you get a lot of mileage from.
weckl won for best totally F you up clinic/performance. his emphasis was musicality and music. said to remember it's the music biz, not the drumming biz. of course, his actual performance went higher into the stratosphere than that baumgartner dude, in terms of drum splooge. i felt myself drowning 3/4ths of the way into it and had to walk out to get air. seriously. the technical facility, musicality, hi-hat pulse, fluidity and absolute aplomb with which he played just slayed me to no end. layers and layers of music and sound.i tried so hard to follow everything he was doing and just felt myself wanting to cry. you cannot help but sit there with your jaw gaping. just nuts.
negro took the prize for greatest musical evolution and inspiration. he played with 2 awesome brothers from toronto--last name botos. one on bass, the other piano. i loved the pianist. bass was funky and groovin' but got a bit lost in the mix. negro did his clave thing but there was a lot more density and subtlety to his playing over that than i've ever seen, even from last year's (or 2010?) modern drummer fest, when he had the 11-piece cuban entourage. he was also the only one who REALLY employed dynamics the best and the most.
carlock. in a nutshell, the dude simply gives you new reason for living. i heard so much elvin in him and could not believe the power he put forth, and how long he put it forth for. i believe he went full on for almost 30 minutes straight. astounding. the audience were floored and literally threw themselves to the stage. kinda made me think of the riots that ensued when stravinsky premiered rite of spring. it really rocked peoples' world. people were buzzing about it all night (some folks hated it). i felt like this when i first saw gary husband play with holdsworth. you feel as though you're going slightly mad.
those were the highlights for me. i liked a lot of what joey heredia did, but his double bass kinda trampled the lovely billy childs's playing. jerry watts was on bass for this ensemble--he was my favorite bassist of the day, and there were many.
i missed joel rosenblatt, unfortunately.
drumbassadors--i liked them. much talent and finesse. not something i'd think to go see if i wanted to see a music performance. it felt more like a musical theatre thing.
damion schmitt--well, my drumchum and i got into a bit of a wee-wee match over this. i liked a lot of stuff schmitt brought to the table (namely, technical facility and the whole simultaneity thing. dude also had ridiculous singles). when he was soundchecking with the ensemble, i thought there was some nice interplay. but my friend felt he peed on everything at the actual performance. i suppose he's right in the grand scheme, but there were still things i liked.
a great surprise was like a 5-minute infomercial performance by larnell lewis. i confess to never hearing of him. i was bitching about playing on the e-kits in the exhibit hall because they feel like crap, but lewis's performance on the yamaha whatevers was brilliant. he was musical, funky, gutsy and very soulful. but i still think e-drums are a drag, no matter how much he talked them up.
everyone else i pretty much missed, as i was helping out at the unix drums booth somewhat. hope to post pics of these things--they are amazing. and the folks that build them are just great. my friend bought a set and is extremely happy. unix are custom stave drums made in canada and really stunning to behold. i fell in love with one 14 x 6 bubinga-maple hybrid snare.
finally got to meet ronn dunnett, too. love that guy.
i so wanted to get a colon pipe pic of me with ralph angelillo to post, but he was a busy man the whole time so no luck there.
all in all, a fantastic and very inspired time, despite a 10-hour drive up in pouring rain. i frickin' love canada.
Preserve wildlife...throw a party.
