I've been listening to this album by Lothar Kosse (a brilliant guitarist from Germany) that features the drumming of Vinnie Colaiuta. Vinnie is one of my favorite drummers. And it's not because of his incredible chops - or not what most people consider "chops." I'm a fan of his musicality. It always seems that he plays for the song, and rarely do you catch him "going off" for "going off's" sake (like Manu Katche - another favorite of mine - on Peter Gabriel's US Live CD). Some of my favorite Vinnie performances have been on singer-songwriter albums- there was this canandian singer/songwriter's album he played on, and you wouldn't know it was Vinnie unless you looked at the credits.
Similarly, I love to listen to Elvin Jones on that John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman record. Elvin plays brushes, and you wouldn't know it was him, 'cause he plays so understated and subtle.
I mean it's fun to listen to Vinnie and Elvin and Manu (and others) "go off" and do their fancy licks, but I think I realized a long time ago, that most of the music I'm drawn to as a player is the kind that doesn't require the fancy licks and drum solos. (And chances are, I'm never gonna be called for a technically demanding job like Sting, or, say, King Crimson.)
I really enjoy trying to make my drum parts support the vocalist and other instrumentalists on the record. If, through MY playing, I can make THEM sound better, I feel I've done my job.
Sometimes I'm called on to play more technically (like on the physics of meaning record) and on those occasions, I still hope that my playing serves to support the song and not draw undue attention to me and my playing.
And that's why Vinnie and Elvin (and Manu - for the most part, Jeff Porcaro, Jim Keltner, Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason et.al) are my heroes. They are able to play in a professional and muscial way that supports the artists they're hired to play with.
It doesn't matter how technically skilled you are - if you can't serve the artist's needs for that particular song or album, then you aren't doing your job. For the most part, I think we all try to do that as musicians, but some do it better than others and that's why they are hired time and again. And that's what I aspire to: that technically I'll be able to play whatever comes my way, but do so in a way that serves the song, artist, and producer.
Courtesy of the Zildjian Cymbal Configurator, I thought I'd post a photo of my cymbal setup for most of the time when I play live or in the studio.
