Hey B, I'll still take one, Papa Jo Jones for every three, Simon Phillips or Dave Weckl's. It's all about the 'Real-Feel' for me. Papa could groove in his sleep like very few (if any,) can while wide-awake today. They haven't invented a digital anything yet that can make the listener feel and hear a groove the way that a 'natural' drummer can. Phillips is good, but his playing style, as deadly as it is, doesn't have -any- of the same 'feel' of even the simplest, Papa Jo solo.
Example:
I was playing some Papa style Dixie Land riffs on the rims of my drums the other day and my wife came running downstairs and commented; 'Wow, what are you doing? That sounds great!' I told her; 'I stole it from an old drummer named, Papa Jo Jones.' She gave me the credit, but I knew, it was just, Papa Joe, still kicking a$$ (through me,) all the way from the grave.
Will someone remember and still be blown away by a, Simon Phillips or a Dave Weckl drum solo 50 years from now? 50 years from now, I think kids will -still- be trying to cop; Papa Joe, Buddy, Gene, Max, Elvin, Tony, etc.
Why? Because of the 'Real-Feel' of that stuff! Mechanically perfect is one thing, creating 'Art' is another. "Or, you got it, or, you don't!" (Mel Brooks)
PS - Bunny, no hi-jack intended... my apology for going off-topic.
John
