Someone mentioned Carmine Appice??? Wow....I remember seeing Beck, Bogart and Appice at the Fillmore West in San Fran in around 1971??? Had forgotten about them :)
To name a few who seem to have not been mentioned so far: Mike Clark (check out his solo album!), Steve Smith (yes from Journey but check out his Vital Information and Vital Tech Tones recordings), Stewart Copeland, Dennis Chambers, the drummer (names escape me...I am getting old or something) for The Poets of Rhythm (he can really funk!)
Buddy Rich, Neil Pert & Keith Moon. I know it's a boring answer, but I could listen to them all day! Of course, Ginger Baker, Bill Bruford and too many more to mention are also great!
Interesting that the Latin percussionists are not heavily mentioned yet (e.g., Tito Puente, Alex Acuria, Bobby Sanabria) or heavy metal drummers (e.g., Jimmy Degrasso, Mickky Dee, Charlie Benante). I'd love to get some opinions on percussionists in those genres!
How about Hal Blaine? He's played on gazillions of top selling hit songs. I'd be willing to wager there's at least one recording in everybody's collection that features his excellent and tasteful playing. He's the master at playing exactly what the song requires and nothing more. He doesn't get into the egotistic gyrating that interests only other drummers, instead he finds the proper groove, propels the song forward and places a tasty fill where it works best. While he certainly is an excellent technician, he is without a doubt the most musical drummer ever to play on records, having provided the push that made many songs so memorable.
There are even drummers mentioned in this thread whose parts on their records were actually played by Hal.
Hal Blaine is one of my favorite drummers. I just had the pleasure to meet and speak with him at NAMM 2008. He was very gracious. His famous "monster" drum kit was on display at the Zildjian pavillion.
Alan White was also there. He's a teriffic drummer as well.
John Bonham - Force of Nature Ginger Baker - GB and JB thought the were in a jazz band...w/EC as Ornette Coleman or maybe J Coltrane...can't remember. Keith Moon - Force of Nature 2 Ringo Starr- Mr Self Control; a great percussionist...not simply a drummer
Billy Cobham (pure unadulterated power) Steve Gadd (timing--everybody's session guy) Bill Bruford (versatility) Carl Palmer (pure speed/craft) Jack DeJonette (deftness of touch) Tony Williams (stunning dexterity) Neil Peart (explosiveness) Narada Michael Walden (keeping up with Mclaughlin note for note)
buddy rich,without a doubt ,is the best of all times.he transcended 50 years of unparelled excellence . sure ,he wasn't a rock drummer,but his jazz genre was more difficult than r&b or rock and roll. look at some old tapes of him on the old johnny carson show and tell me there is a better technical drummer than buddy. by the way,he was well past his prime on these shows.
I wouldn't think of calling Buddy a great musician, let alone the "best" drummer. While he was a great technician, he wouldn't play any arrangement that didn't feature him as a "soloist", even when he didn't have a drum solo in the song. Drummers like Hal Blaine and Bernard Purdie were team players, playing parts that would place the "song" as the top priority, not their egos. Buddy never did that kind of thing, as it just wasn't in his personality. And speaking of personality, ask any player who ever shared the stage with Buddy (or worked for him) exactly what they thought of him.
I would have to add Steve Gadd and Buddy Rich and Billy Cobham to the list as well.
Had the opportunity to see Steve Smith's Buddy's Buddies at a small club in Chicago once. It was his tribute to Buddy Rich, complete with two of Buddy's bandmembers, Steve Marcus and Andy Fusco. It was a show I'll never forget. Unfortunately you will never see this group again, because a couple of months after the show Steve Marcus, one of Buddy Rich's sax men died. That guy could blow!
Kofi is Gingers son and can this guy crank! He has a totally out front lead style that fits in with one of the best progressive jazz fusion bands on the planet, Chris Poland's OHM. All of these guys rock out to the max, and Kofi's style drives them to frenetic levels. If you are into heavy progressive rock/jazz, they can't be missed!
I was a big Kofi Baker fan based on the Jonas Hellborg Abstract Logic disc and one night stumbled into an Ohm show... figured they'd smoke pretty good based on their 1st disc. This was different... the drums were even better (dangerous level 5 tornado s**t), seemed like it must be new drummer. Then they broke into an exceptionally glandular section off Hellborg's Abstract Logic, it had to be and was Kofi Baker proving that he has few peers.
I will say this though ... I saw Lynard Skynard some 30 years ago with 2 drummers doing solos and passing sticks through the air, not missing a beat and thought that was cool. I saw Diana Krall live in Montreal on Bravo channel and thought that the Peter Erskine performance was the most at-home, in his element drummer I had ever witnessed. I enjoyed watching Steve Gadd perform in "One Trick Pony" - his perfomance on 'Aja' - well...I wish I could have seen it. Dan Gottlieb at a Pat Metheny Group show in 1979. "Futureman" from Bela Fleck - the best non-drummer I had ever witnessed. All performances I shall remember - not necessarily the best. Oh yeah, the guy from Filter that went on to Smashing Pumpkins - honorable mention.
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