Tony wails those quarters on the hi hat on VSOP live under the sky (once again thanks to peter c for opening my eyes to this recording!)
I heard that he broke his hi-hat stand.
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Tony wails those quarters on the hi hat on VSOP live under the sky (once again thanks to peter c for opening my eyes to this recording!)
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">lol, that would explain it.Originally posted by benrand:
I heard that he broke his hi-hat stand.
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Tony! Tony! Tony!
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Hi guys, I've been listening to a lot of the miles davis stuff from the 60's - the quintet with tony. The first record I heard was 'Four and More', which blew me away. I love the way Tony plays time on the ride cymbal, but i noticed that on this recording, on tracks like four, and seven steps to heaven, you can't hear him playing the 2 and 4 on the hi-hat. I found this strange because if you watch those early clips on drummer world from that era he is playing that hi-hat pedal like a madman. The hi-hat is definately mic'd up because he uses it in a decorative way now and then throughout the performance, and you can hear it very clearly.
Now, I bought the best of Seven Steps to Heaven 1963-1964 cd yesterday. And was surprised to hear this time, he was playing the 2 and 4 very securely througout, and it can be heard clearly.
So... my question is,... was Tony experimenting with not playing the 2 and 4 during the four and more gig? If so, this is a very intersting concept. Obvsiouly, one should be able keep time using only a ride cymbal in most situations, but the the 2 and 4 hi-hat is part of that language and something I'm sure Tony was brought up doing from age 5.. [img]eek.gif[/img] Especially in a quintet like that, playing at those tempos - you'd think he'd need to lay down that 2 and 4 for everyone to lock into. But man I'm amazed how well it swings and how natural it feels all the same. Any Tony experts out there that know what was going on here?
Tony played straight quarters on the HH as well. Tony plays broken time, so having a HH on 2 and 4 makes it too straight.
It's all about melodic phrasing, and the HH is one of the voices for orchestration.
A band of that caliber does not need someone slamming out time like a robotic 2 and 4. They all have good time, and they just play with it.
Cool yeah that's what i figured. I was just suprised to hear Tony take a different approach on the second record i mentioned. A lot of drummers like Jack DeJohnette use tasteful a combination of playing time on the hi-hat and then using it melodically, and at the ends of phrases, to tip the time and create tension. And this is what I hear tony doing on most studio recordings from that time. I was just wondering why he isn't playing time on the hi-hat at all during that gig.
Ah, Four & More, a seminal recording for me. Such inventive, groundbreaking conceptual interplay. Exhibiting such maturity, intelligence and such a sophisticated invention all the time and re-evaluation of an interplaying concept going on here. All with such drive, a beautiful touch, beautiful sound. And he was what... 17? Aw man, what a revolution and what an innovator he was. How inspiring is that!!???
By the way... a little hi-hat, snare drum and hi-hat "time"/"solo" type of introduction to the track "Four", but, no, generally he was into open/ride mode for just about all this spirited and historic performance it would seem.
I notice, sometimes he would strip everything down on occasions, around and about his period with Miles, particularly later I guess, (remember "Sorcerer"), where he'd just contribute ride cymbal with hardly anything at all for long stretches of time. I guess he felt like in that moment it was all that was needed in his judgement. I remember reading an interview once where he was talking about the bass drum and his approach to it... and him explaining that he felt to play it where it "meant something".
To me, this is where he defines his approach and priority very clearly. He did things to "mean" something. Nothing was ever flash-based, superficial or superfluous with him, for me. I always felt he totally qualified and supremely earned the title "artist" to the fullest degree.
Something else.
Gary Husband
Ah thanks Gary, that's very insightful. I had wondered he had simply evolved into this way of playing over the course of the year between the two records. and from what you are saying he obviously he went further, and played even more stripped down. I will have to check out Sorcerer now. It is such a beautiful way of playing where every voice of the instrument is used in a meaningful way, never unnecessarily.
By the way, I love your playing with holdsworth, and force majeure its brilliant. I saw you play with level 42 up in scotland two years ago, awesome gig - thanks so much.
Very kind Elpatricio, thank you.
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