<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I really enjoy Tom's playing. Whenever I have had the chance to see him play with the DWB, he was always right on the ball. When I saw them about a year ago in Zurich he played the entire gig while suffering kidney stones. Apparently he had spent the entire day in hospital, but was still willing to play the gig. Talk about dedication!Originally posted by Flamaque:
PS. Tom Kennedy was the best musician on the stage that night.
Pocket, you said a mouthfull when you called it a lost artform. I think the last stab at it that I can recall is when Cobham was touring with his band in the 80's. I was fortunate to have seen that band as well. Just outstanding music performed by some of the hottest players.
We hear so much about playing for the tune, especially in the popular genres, as another way of saying "less is more" that really does have a great deal of validity. The other side of that coin is playing for the tune when the tune calls for a virtuosic display. Much of the groove thing came about as a result of music intended for dancing. There are other forms of music, however, that are intended strictly for listening and yet others that fall somewhere in between. It's occured throughout the history of music and it is evident in all cultures. I still don't get all the controversy. I wonder if some believe that it's not valid if you can't bop your head and snap your fingers to it? I've also heard others who condemn anything even remotely intended for commercial purposes. I have lived through several periods of my own development where I shut out certain types of music that I thought had no place in my or anyone else's lives (something like a music Nazi). I'm now happily at a point where I feel comfortable listening to a great variety of music whether it's Mozart, the Allman Brothers, Chick Corea, the Chieftains, Penderecki, whatever. I can get as much pleasure out of Ringo's drumming on "Ticket to Ride" as I can from Vinnie's sickness on "I'm Tweaked" (Warning; don't try to dance to that; you <u>will</u> pull something). I take it for what it is and learn what I can from all of it. And if I find it's something I don't particularly care for I simply turn it off and move on.
So if you want to hear DW groove, and he can groove, get the recordings he's on where the music was intended to groove. But don't complain about groove when the music was intended to challenge the talents of the performers. Funny thing, at the Chicago show I saw a lot of people dancing in the aisles. Wow, music that stimulates the brain and makes you want to bop your head. What a concept!
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