Yeah Dazz...Thanks for that. I'm about to be a bit harsher though. Here's a dose of reality.
Check it......
Yes Lang is NOT known amongst AMERICA's greats. Of course he's now big in London and in Europe. He's European. He easily plays with a click so he does get great pop gigs in Europe.
The standards are higher in the states. Feel is the most important thing. These guys do not have a good feel. Famous musicians have said it over and over again. I know people who have toured with Lang and Virgil, Mangini, and even Jojo. They have nothing good to say other than, "yeah he has sick chops". Sometimes they even say it's a drag.
Cesar, are you saying these men chose to play unmusically?? The drummers initial role in music is to lay down a deep pocket for the other musicians to play over. That's what makes music. Jimmy Cobb, Sonny Payne, The drummers of Motown and James Brown, Steve Jordan, Shawn Pelton, Jim Keltner, Steve Gadd, so on and so on. They all did that. Lang does not. Virgil does not. The opening tune of Lang's DVD( a complete waste of $$) is probably the worst feeling groove I've ever heard. There are some cool technical tips, but there's better one's on Weckl's DVDs. And Weckl has a great feel in comparison.
I love what these guys have to offer technically, but, let's not compare them to the true working powerhouses of our time. And the younger upcoming powerhouses like Laboriel Jr, Carlock, Hass, Watson, Miller,and other guys that play for the music, come up with the right feel and drum part for the song and not for the sake of technique. Let's face it, guys like Virgil and Lang will never be in the cutting edge of music. Just the cutting edge of free solo drumming technique. I'd like to hear them take a solo over "Stable Mates" or another tune that has form.
If these guys were soooooo great everything including what I mentioned above, why do Shawn Pelton, and Steve Hass get flown from NY to LA to play on sessions that Vinnie and Abe Jr. can't make? Why don't they call Virgil?? Lang? Mangini?
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 09, 2005 04:52 PM: Message edited by: Flarobstix ]</font>
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