I saw Kenny Aronoff in 1978 with a jazz band called Streamwinner. He was a GREAT jazz drummer. He has also made millions, and driven many simple rock megahits, playing solid, loud, 4 on the floor, rock drums. Your drummer is a fool. Fire him NOW!
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The unicorn
- Thread starter wcnewby
- Start date
Only thing worse than jacking up Marshall Tucker would be jacking up Molly Hatchet.
Fire the drummer!
Fire the drummer!
You know, there are some very good "drum" machines available now. The down side: You lose the physical presence of an actual drummer; one less person to load in/out equipment; one less singer (maybe); the emotional stability/witty verbal interplay all drummer possess (ok this one is BS). The upside: you get exactly the beat you want on each song; always on time (both in songs, for rehearsal, and for the gig); works cheap. So if you decide to, "fire the drummer," you have options. Keep the groove.
I won't argue that he is a great musician, because his CV speaks for him (besides who the hell am I to judge people at that level). He is a really talented drummer, now, I don't think he is the best example, I saw him playing with John Fogerty and I didn't like him at all. Although he was correct on what he was playing it was the how what drove me off. He was hitting those drums like he was playing on a Hardcode Metal band
OK, usually we joke about firing the drummer - the joke is all about doing inappropriate things that don't fix the problem, but here, firing the drummer is the fix that will work, so....
Fire the singer!
Fire the singer!
he is not a good drummer if he can only play one style and unable to see that style doesn't fit the genre........it would be the same if you played boogie woogie lines exclusively for C&W tunes, even if your boogie woogie was the bees knees
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When I play with a drummer like that i have to hold back. As, I want to put my size 13 boot thru the front head of the bass drum. I feel for you especially when the rest of the band doesn't understand either.
He probably can't play the music correct so brings up the word "jazz".
He probably can't play the music correct so brings up the word "jazz".
I'm a jazz guy who 100% agrees with you. If the place needs country western, you give them country western. Give the paying public what they want. Unfortunately, jazz has mostly turned into a labor of love for me. It is the one genre I truly love more than anything in music. Furthermore, I only get 1-2 jazz gigs a year. So I fill the calendar up with other work as needed.
I had a similar experience with a guitarist. He was a great guy and an amazing musician. He came in and we were all blown away at how well he could play and what a nice guy he was.
Then when it came time to write and record songs the brakes came on. We new after the first session after we hired him that it was not going to mesh. Either he was too good for us or we were just too straight forward 4 on the floor hard rock and roll for him.
We ended it after the second session with him and it was all on good terms. We told him the truth and apologized for wasting his time. No harm done, he just wasn’t fit for our band.
Fire the drummer.
Then when it came time to write and record songs the brakes came on. We new after the first session after we hired him that it was not going to mesh. Either he was too good for us or we were just too straight forward 4 on the floor hard rock and roll for him.
We ended it after the second session with him and it was all on good terms. We told him the truth and apologized for wasting his time. No harm done, he just wasn’t fit for our band.
Fire the drummer.
The ultimate joy is when you end up with one of these busy jazzy drummers as a sub without realizing it until you're a couple of songs in. Talk about taking an already compromised situation and making it even more painful. It's like being a wild animal with your paw caught in a trap for three or four hours.
I don't blame you, I don't even know how the auto correct got that... It was supposed to be put me off.
As I said, the guy is great but he was being way to heavy for the music he was playing
Wish I had a nickel for every jazzer I saw who came into a rock band setting with their noses up in the air and ready to “educate” the unwashed about “real music” only to totally crater when they couldn’t handle even a simple rock beat and chord progression. Some of them even went into brain lock and had a meltdown when it happened.
Takeaway: every genre has its own rules, vibe, stylistic conventions, and vocabulary. And mastery of one genre doesn’t automatically qualify you as a musician for another. Be disrespectful of those differences and subtleties at your own peril.
Takeaway: every genre has its own rules, vibe, stylistic conventions, and vocabulary. And mastery of one genre doesn’t automatically qualify you as a musician for another. Be disrespectful of those differences and subtleties at your own peril.
Dunno. The fact the gigs are drying up for this band because they’re not playing the kind of music their audience wants to hear or they’re hired to play speaks volumes to me.
If they want to be patrons of the art it’s one thing. Or maybe retool themselves as a jazz ensemble. But if their goal is to be a popular and busy local cover band, it’s a real problem.
As any musician knows, there is no excuse for overplaying. The groove is sacred.
I've played fun event-band gigs with some really nasty jazz drummers. There's no reason jazzy drumming needs to kill the floor, just as there's no reason a good working jazz player can't play genre feels.
But you're having the wrong conversation with him. You don't have to convince him country > jazz, or that he's turned around on his philosophies of educating the masses, etc. Y'all are a dance band, and you've been losing the dance floor and losing gigs. An empty dance floor speaks for itself, as does a full one.
If, as the dance floor emptied at your first gig w/ him, he didn't immediately switch to a simpler drum part, then that's a real problem. If he refuses to try when it's suggested, then that's a stopper for a working dance-band drummer.
Testing your theory about the dance floor should be painless. Play a few reliable floor fillers with the drummer playing genre-appropriate drum parts. Then switch to a few more usually reliable floor fillers, but let him play the kind of parts he wants to.
But they do have a problem with losing the dance floor and losing gigs, right? If so, keep the conversation about that. If not, look for a new band: your band's problems go beyond the drummer's judgment.
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No? I’ve seen it happen with both a guitarist and a drummer.
