Tell us about your favorite partner in crime

[jive1]

Since bass and drums are the foundation, I figured I'd start a for us to gush about our favorite drummers we jammed with.

I can think of two in my nearly two decades of playing. The first guy is Brian Lannon, the drummer I jammed with in my high school days and beyond. Maybe it's a nostalgic thing, but in any case there is still strong chemistry. Throughout our lives regardless of where we were or what we'd be doing, when we got to jamming it was like it was back in the day, except with better chops and gear. We learned and loved music together, and he's still one of the best drummers I have ever met. He's my peer, a friend, and an influence on me. Funny thing is that in the last few years, he's picked up the bass and I've been noodling on drums.

The other was a drummer who played a simple kit and simple grooves, but was a monster. His name was Doyle Hall. He came to audition for our band with a 3 piece kit, and he blew us away with his meter and feel. He's not the flashiest drummer out there, but definitely the most solid. Where he lacked in chops he made up for in groove and feel. He was referred to as "the Heavyweight Champion" in the band, and he had "the belt" and none of us could ever take it away from him. Also this guy was one of the smartest people I have ever met (not for a drummer either). This drummer was an astronomer for NASA Believe it or not.

Tell us bout your favorite drummer.

[JimK]

Billy Drummond-
...sat in with my friend's '80s Top-40 band a few times. Drummond was the drummer; solid time & feel. BTW, Oteil was the bassist in this band.

Rodney Dutton-
...only sat in with his band 2x. Heavy-hitting Funk. A backbeat groove that would hurt ya.

The best, though, was the 'unknown guy' I played with back in the mid-'90s. He was my age (mid-30s), had been playing drums since he was about 4...went to Interlochen, played in his uncle's Jazz band as a teen(supposedly, this band was the rhythm section for the 'known' Jazz guys as they swung through town). IMO, he could do it all...Rock, Swing, Funk, Afro-Cuban, etc. His Odd Time/polyrhythmic/displaced grooves grooved.
In the past, I played with guys who played mostly backbeat; playing with this guy forced me to count & not depend on the drummer.

He would cite Buddy Rich & Billy Cobham as his early influences.
To my ears, he could sound like Vinnie, William Kennedy, Cornell Rochester, Billy Kilson, etc...literally, he sounded like a drummer + a percussionist all in one. Ndugu Chancler on Weather Report's Tale Spinning...track #1(IIRC) would be a good example.

...have no idea where Eric is now. I miss him & owe him a lot for the free lessons!

[Bard2dbone]

I have played with two particular drummers more tahn any others.

The first is Mark Rubenkoenig. He was my best friend in high school.We played together in several bands. He never hits a wrong note. He has no flash. But he is positively dripping with groove and taste.

The second is Ron Mccullough. I jave played in fewer bands with Ron, but spent more time doing it. He has chops for days. We started playing together as a trio, with his brother, John on guitar. We started with Rush covers. I don't have the chops anymore to do that. But he still does.

I always figured if I could find someone with Ron's technique, and Mark's feel, I would have the perfect drummer.

[Alan Vorse]

I played in this country/variety band for a year. Other than the vocalist, none of the band members came from a country background (jazz, fusion, prog rock, classical). The drummer was this guy named Chris Kolling. I have played with some chops-y drummers over the years, but this guy could lay down a cement mixer groove AND blow like Billy Cobham. The 2nd gig I played with them was on a flat-bed truck trailer.
He hit so hard that the whole thing was bouncing up and down.
At one show, the singer got sick and couldn't finish the show (or the song for that matter) and Chris proceeded to take this Steve Smith style solo.
We finished the gig playing Hendrix, Zeppelin, Santana. The country audience didn't like it.

[Dan1099]

The first was Mike Shimmin, an indomitable jazz guy with a small, simple kit that seemed supernatural. He knew his stuff, inside and out.

The newest is the drummer in my current band, Ryan Grudzien. We recently replaced our old drummer of about 4 years with this guy. Ryan is one of my best friends little brothers, and he's quite a bit younger than anyone else in the band, buy he can lay it down. I never connected with our old drummer like this, in four years of playing with him. Ryan came, sat down, and within one rehearsal I had the biggest grin on my face that I can remember.

[NJL]

Eddie Rivas

Michael Alexander

Steve Glaser (sp?)

[Folmeister]

Steve Bowman - We played together back in the 80s. I went back to college and he went off to be in Counting Crows. He is still one of the most solid and versatile drummers I have ever played with.

Christian Canalita - We played together in a weak blues/classic rock outfit, but his solid timing, tasteful fills, and thunderous kick made it all worth while. He now plays in an 80s cover group and nails that vibe


Jeff Carr - I currently play with Jeff. He played in the past with Ray White. He's got great feel and is a great guy to boot!

[DaveDeVille]

Charlie San Miguel - number one on my list , without a doubt .
damn , what a fine drummer ... too bad he quit a $70.00 a night gig with us to go become a lawyer ...
go figure

distant second , Rene Segura , - local rock drummer , not very reliable ,
but most nights we clicked like nobody's business .

EDIT:
almost forgot Doug Levey ... another quality drummer , just had too many irons in the fire .

[Kelly Lee]

Tim H.

He was the first drummer I had ever worked with and thank god for it! He was like a metronome he was so reliable in his timing. He had some serious groove too. It makes me want to cry that we don't work together anymore.

I feel he really helped me in my early years as he could lead me (with his playing) to where I needed to go with my bass line if that makes any sense. It was like I could feel where he wanted to go and even our fills would lock up with each other. He told me once that it was the same for him with me.

It's a real shame that drugs had to mess things up.

[The Golden Boy]

Peter Marchese. I've been working with Pete for the past 9 years or so. Great drummer, even better guy.

Dave Henderleiter. First 'real' drummer I was in a band with.

Mon Rominee's drummer is a whole lot of badass in one place.

[Matt Till]

I've got three:

I've told this one several times, but there was this drummer that I rarely jam with. His name is Nick. But when I do get to play with him... it makes me sound fantastic! His playing is just so insane, that it forces me to be insane. Unrequested insanity is always a good sign! He's very into a prog/metal/jazz style. One night, we were set to jam bass/drum/guitar... but guitar was late. So for two hours with only a couple short breaks, we played... just bass and drums. And a whole party of people gathered around us in awe... it was weird. I think one of my favorite compliments I've got about my bass playing was some kid who said this to my friend (I'm paraphrasing), "Matt's bass playing is crazy... when I think of bass... I think of like just following the guitar... Matt can make an entire song out of just bass!"

The Next: The Current drummer for the band I'm in, King Bowman. His name is Phil. He has the greatest personality, he has the energy of a little kid. We have to reel him in sometimes, he's said himself "If it were up to me, I'd just be playing blastbeats all the time." This doesn't fit in Doom Metal. It's very strange playing with a drummer as fill heavy as Phil (hahahahhahah)... it's almost like our playing is accomanying a drum solo. It gives the music the feel of the band Mastadon from time to time. He's just a great guy and a great player.

The Third and Probably favorite is my friend Jared. He's a real beginner at the drums, but he's rock solid, and very much into funk. He's the one that I talk about that made me hate Tool... since he's "not good enough to be Dana Carey" he plays funk. I pretty much raised him into funk... he's actually a guitarist, who when I met him, though funk was stupid. He was straight up blues, but frustrated that his playing wasn't going anywhere. I taught him to change up his styles from time to time, got him into a bunch of music. Now he plays drums and guitar... I tell him he's a drummer at heart, he claims he isn't because he loves being able to control melody, then I was like, "Dude, when we went to the music store, how long did you play behind that electronic drum kit?"... "Probably Two Hours..."... "Did you go over and check out that sweet SRV strat..." "No..." "Did you look at the guitars at all..." "No..." "You're a drummer." We just have such great musical chemistry from years of jamming, as a guitarist and drummer.

[ERIC31]

Fave of all time has to be my brother Marc. Straight up, we have so much fun playing together. We instinctively know each others groove and we have just about the same frame of reference for what we play. Grew up listening to the same bands pretty much. Unfortunately he moved too far away so we can't be in the same band anymore.

Currently my fave is our drummer in the Blair Hansen Band, Rafael. Solid groove and we get along so well as people it's a pleasure to play in a band with him. All around cool guy and great musician.

[MJ5150]

Greg Lopez is the only drummer I have gigged with over my five years of playing. I did a little work with a guy named Phil, but no one compares to Greg.

In a brush with fame, I had a chance to jam with Pat Torpey when he was with Mr. Big. It was the early 90's, before I got serious about playing the bass. I was backstage with some friends who were guests of Eric Martin. When Billy Sheehan walked by, I told him I like the bass. He took me to a room where he had his bass, handed it to me, and asked me to play something. I explained that I could not play, but that I was learning. He called Pat in the room, and we walked out to the stage where Pat laid down some grooves while Billy showed me how to groove with a drummer. Billy told me that if I can groove with a drummer, I can play anywhere. He said it has been working for him for 20+ years.

-Mike

[Dan1099]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Greg Lopez is the only drummer I have gigged with over my five years of playing. I did a little work with a guy named Phil, but no one compares to Greg.

In a brush with fame, I had a chance to jam with Pat Torpey when he was with Mr. Big. It was the early 90's, before I got serious about playing the bass. I was backstage with some friends who were guests of Eric Martin. When Billy Sheehan walked by, I told him I like the bass. He took me to a room where he had his bass, handed it to me, and asked me to play something. I explained that I could not play, but that I was learning. He called Pat in the room, and we walked out to the stage where Pat laid down some grooves while Billy showed me how to groove with a drummer. Billy told me that if I can groove with a drummer, I can play anywhere. He said it has been working for him for 20+ years.

-Mike

That's incredible!

[Pacman]

John Cooke.

He now teaches at the US Army School of Music, near Virginia Beach. If you play in the area, you NEED to call him!