Who would you be most scared to play with? (living or dead)

[Chad.mundt]

This is inspired, strangely enough, by a discussion on the Harmonic major scale.

I'd have to get started with:

Michael Brecker (RIP, thanks for the music)
Allan Holdsworth
Chick Corea
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Keith Jarrett
Bill Stewart
Vinnie Colaiuta
Ari Hoenig
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( )

there are many others, but these come to mind immediately. They all have ears that scare me to death. Bill for his perfect time. Vinnie for his groove.

[Matt Till]

Frank Zappa.

He was pretty picky, and frankly (ha) I'm not good enough.

There are tons for me, I guess.

[bongomania]

GG Allin ( http://www.ggallin.com/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GG_Allin )
Extreme Elvis ( http://www.extremeelvis.com/photos/index.htm , http://www.sincitysounds.com/spotlight/7-12-2002.html )
Stryper ( http://www.stryper.com/ )

[lemur821]

Probably Charles Mingus. Although GG Allin is a good one too.

[jomahu]

oh lawd. everyone!

i'd be particularly scared to play with Rush. or Primus.
and Prince.

[cdef]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Frank Zappa.

+1. That would have been one tough gig. As far as I'm aware, Zappa was the only rock musician (in a loose sense) ever to use classical conductor technique on stage with his band.

[IanStephenson]

Playing with the dead would be way more scarey than playing with living people... The dead have risen and they want to jam...

(maybe I missunderstood the question...)

Ian

[cowsgomoo]

Frank Zappa (if he wasn't now restricted to jammin in hebbin)

I wouldn't exactly be scared, because i'm familiar with all his stuff, and can play most of it... (maybe not to the standards of Scott Thunes or Arthur Barrow but well enough not to embarrass myself) but it'd be a REAL taxing gig with a true hero... and one who was renowned for being veeeeery intolerant of mistakes...

three or four months rehearsal would be nice

[Jumbotron]

Great food for thought.

GG Allin is a great one, for scary dudes. Maybe along those lines, Brian Jonestown Massacre (Anton Newcombe=wildly unpredictable).

For talented dudes who I couldn't possibly hang with, the first thing that comes to mind is Robert Fripp. I imagine him in the corner, just looking so pissed as I mess up time and time again.

[fearceol]

Van Morrison : He is notoriously hard on his musicians.

Captain Beefheart : During the recording of "Trout Mask Replica" the band were virtually locked in a house for a couple of months (one member went out to get in food every day). It took this long to get the music the way he wanted it because as he could n't read, it was hard to convey what he wanted to his band. According to some members of the band he could be a bully also.

[jomahu]

oo, some more i thought of, just based on reputation:

buddy rich
james brown

[anechoic]

Well, I don't think anyone is gonna top GG Allin in the "am I gonna finish this show without getting injured, arrested, or covered in various bodily secretions?" department. At least with Gwar you know all the fluids are fake.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'd imagine Prince would be pretty intimidating to play with, given the extremely high expectations he has of his band members. And he will also apparently own anyone foolish enough to challenge him to a game of basketball.

[rushfan73]

Ike Turner. I suppose he may smack the crap out of you if you don't "do it right!"

[Yvon]

Stevie WOnder!!

I always thought that the fact that he is blind make him listen a lot more.

I would be scare to death to do a mistake!!

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by jomahu

some more i thought of, just based on reputation:

Buddy Rich

An old friend of mine had that gig for over 4 years, coming straight out of Berklee. I think that was quite possibly the record in the bass chair (so my friend said anyway), and he then quit playing altogether for around 20 years after he left.

Google "Buddy Rich bus tapes" or "Buddy Rich rants" if you have a strong stomach for musician abuse. The language is definitely not TB-friendly.

[stedtale]

Prince

[invader3k]

Does Phil Spector count?...

[Matt Till]

GG Allin might win, there is nothing like the fear of having human feces smeared on you.

[Rakie]

Originally Posted by Jumbotron

For talented dudes who I couldn't possibly hang with, the first thing that comes to mind is Robert Fripp. I imagine him in the corner, just looking so pissed as I mess up time and time again.

You know, my uncle saw Robert Fripp once, he was sitting there, stone faced with his arms folded and a guy ran up to him and said "Oh my god, you're Robert Fripp, You're my idol" to guy extends his hand to Fripp for a hand shake, Fripp just looked away and the guy walked off looking pretty sad.


Seeing how he treated that guy that was complimenting him and praising him for a hero, if you messed up his show... he'd probably stab you.

[SGT. Pepper]

Joe Zawinul from Weather Report.