Lang and Practice

[wolfgang.at]

I think, you have to distinguish between their earlier (European) days and what they do now.
That?s quite funny.
Lang used to be one of the most respected Live-drummers here in Austria, grooving like hell, showing great feel and of course great technique. Since he noticed, that his technical abilities were enormous, he focused on that. The result is the clinician Thomas Lang, as you know him today.
Jojo?s developement was totally different.He got famous among drummers in the middle European region by doing incredible clinics, showing unbelievable technical skills paired with acrobatic performances on the drum set. I?ve never seen such a performance since that time. But he started focusing on playing music rather than blowing away the audience as a clinician.

What I want to say with this: They are able to do both, they just have focused on different things.

[peter c]

I have found it true that
certain musical situations
tend to draw the ability
out of one than others.
Maybe that's what I need
to see in Thomas' case.

Again, there's no doubt
of his skill. The guy cuts
sushi but you need to pre-
sent it too. That must be
what it is. I wonder if
that is not part of why
he so excels at the show-
manship skills. Don't get
me wrong. I love it when
a proficient player can
showboat like Lang. He's
an excellent twirler.

Let's see if he doesn't
find a platform outside
of the solo/clinic. It
would do him and us good.

I look forward to it. I
am suspicious that he
will do more than impress
us. He'll get to it.

Of course, Andy, a great
player himself, brought
up the practice regimen
of Thomas and you can
tell that it's worked
wonders for Lang, tech-
nically. His suggestions
are good ones.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 18, 2003 11:24 AM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>

[XNavyDrummer]

Thanks Peter! Any new stuff will have a mixture of reviews. Vinnie didn't 'get' Tony Williams stuff at first and then he really started to appreciate and emulate it.

Maybe it's the same with Lang...for some.

[shedder]

nope

[matricks]

Shedder is one of 'those'.

[matricks]

However, when i see Virgil live it seems that whatever he plays, it is coming from an even deeper place than is being shown. There is more going on inside his head than just what is coming out on the drums. It is just the vibrations coming from what is happening on a deeper, lower level. There is just an amazing density of ideas. His envelope has been pushed farther than most living drummers, so that even the ideas that are way below where he is now is still far beyond what most will ever acheive. That being said i have seen many drummer with less chops who impressed me more musicially. Thomas Lang may not have as many chops as Virgil and may not be as dense conceptually but Brian Blade does more for me than Virgil or Thomas any day.

[Derek DeFields]

It's good to remain open minded but some stuff just doesn't resonate with you for whatever reason.

Take for example, the band The Mars Volta. They've been on the tip of the tongue of most of my musicians friends for the last 3 months or so. They gave me the disc and I was like, "meh... it's ok I guess."

For some reason, 2 days ago I fell in love with it. Go figure. [img]redface.gif[/img]

[Steve Holmes]

Dammit Derek now I have to check it out.
[img]wink.gif[/img]

[numeroUnoHODfan]

Kinda like the Spin Doctors virus that was spreading quickly when they hit the big time on college radio... [img]redface.gif[/img]
[img]wink.gif[/img]

[peter c]

I think that we all are
drawn to a drummer, at a
certain time, for a cert-
ain reason. That reason,
not only has to do with
advertising and circum-
stance but a kind of in-
ner knowledge (that each
one of us has) of where
we have been, where we
are and where we want to
go. For some of us, it's
going to be technique.
For others, it will be
the articulation of that
technique (as in incorp-
orating into the groove).
Some us will will look to
circumvent the technique
in order to groove or
vice-versa. Everyone is
different and when we
chat about it, we reflect
where we are and what
we're focusing on.

Virgil is in another world.
His world isn't really be-
ing shared. He's just
Virgil. There's really
nothing like him. Think of
Tony. It's the same. I
hear Terry roll on the
toms and it SOUNDS like
Tony but it's not. Even
Vinnie can SOUND like
Tony but it's not. Tony
is "an attitude" and
I don't think there's
anyone like him.

Steve Gadd once told me
that I will always sound
like me, no matter what
I did, even when I was
trying to cop someone. I
think it's true. Weckl,
when he first came out
was being equated to Gadd
but really, they're very
different. It's only the
cursory view that evokes
these familiar comparisons.

A lot of drummers would
categorize drummers in
Billy's vein and the truth
is, on close view, nothing
is quite like Billy, his
open approach, attack
clearly distinct. I was
just recently looking at
some old video of his and
it is as mind-blowing now
as it was then.

All drummers have an ident-
ity - perhaps some more
than others. I'll speak for
myself and say that my tech-
nical work has taken a real
turn, all with the purpose
of allowing me to say what
I really WANT to say, not
just what everyone else is
saying.

You know what I mean?

Lang is a great player, who
is on the journey, we're all
on. He's in a different place
and that place appeals to
some but not others. For me,
he's not there. On the other
hand, Virgil IS there for me
but some others disagree with
me. That's OK.

I was at my HUGE family re-
union, yesterday. I met a
drummer there, who'd married
into the family and we talked
about all the greats. He said
he wanted to hear me do some
of these Latin tunes, he'd
heard about and I can tell
(because he's Latin) that he
was suspsicious it would not
sound good but he was sur-
prized. You know, we're
at different places and we
will receive what we will
because we're ready.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 19, 2003 11:59 AM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>