My old drum teacher was an older gentlemen from a jazz background and he always said that if you go out and watch drummers play live, you can always tell a good drummer if he can dazzle you with his chops and also play a slow blues/rock/latin etc and still make it feel good. I have been a firm beliver in that from the time he explained to me and I will be right up until the day I die. I have seen so many drummers that are brilliant on up-tempo tunes and they dazzle you with chops but when the band slows it down and is playing a ballad or love song with a slower tempo the whole feel of the "band" goes away. Anyone else seen or heard this??

Seen or heard it? I've caused it. DOH

I've always found it much easier to play fast and loud. When a drummer can play slowly, quietly, and with feeling, you know they've got something.

I still remember the first time I heard Counting Crows' album "August and Everything After." Up to that point, I'd been focused on chops, chops, chops. When I heard "Perfect Blue Buildings," on which the drummer does almost nothing but does it quietly and perfectly, and "Round Here," on which he plays the tastiest two-note fill I've ever heard, the game changed for me. From then on, it was about trying to play with feeling and finesse. I often don't succeed, but at least that's what I'm aiming for.

But I still can't play an ultra-slow blues to save my life. :)

I play a lot of slow tempos in my trio and we have what we call the "Shirley Horn tempo".

Shirley Horn (rest in peace) was my favorite balladeer. And Miles really liked her, too. She was one of the few people who made a recording where he was the guest! Anyway, this isn't the Miles cut, but it is a fine example of the Shirley Horn tempo! Enjoy!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSL5AHhpi6U[/ame]

With Shirley, even though it's "slow" it still sounds brisk and not dead.

There's a quote in Miles Davis' autobiography of Ahmad Jamal, the gist of which is something like "anyone can cook loud, but to cook at a really soft volume with the same intensity as when you do play loud is what separates the the good players from the great ones."

That's my mantra. I love playing brushes all night.

You know who was exceptional at that was Ed Thigpen.

Someone once said that what makes swing swing was the waiting. In some ways when the band is in the pocket it's like they are all dragging at the same rate.

L'il Darlin' is a good example of all of this.

I've heard of bands doing tempos so slow you had to count them in with a calendar.

Monday...

I saw Mark Knopfler play last year, and there was a section in one tune (it may have been "Marbletown") in which the band was jamming and cooking, and then they all got quieter... and quieter... and quieter... and started to huddle together, while still jamming and still cooking ferociously. The playing got more and more intense, and the music got quieter still. This was an outdoor amphitheater with maybe 20,000 people in the crowd, and everyone was dead silent, holding their breath in rapt attention, on the edge of their seats -- the dramatic tension was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it.

By the way, Mark put out a terrific new album last week, and if you get the chance to see him on his 2010 tour, jump at it.