The Funky Blackwell

[Pocketime]

Sounds like flamadiddles between bass snare and toms. Sounds very cool!

[FlamTriplet]

Originally posted by Nikk:
Personally, I don't enjoy the sound he pulls from the instrument. Too muscular. The groove (or lack thereof) leaves much to be desired.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree. He doesn't do much for me. I saw him at NAMM2003 playing a kit, and he sounded very sloppy, very unprofessional. I also saw him at the Florida drum expo in the 90's and he didn't do much then either. I talked a bit with him and he seemed nice------he was one of the judges at a solo contest I was in---

---of course Tony Medeiros won------he was and is a monster, the solo on the MD2000 DVD was nothing like what he did back then. He ripped it up.

Blackwell's not a BAD drummer, but he gets the job done. And he twirls his sticks----good for Prince.

[DanielC]

Pocketime - On Sunday's, a group called Brainstorm would host a jam. The club has since closed and I now play for Brainstorm at a couple of clubs in the Columbia area when I'm home from Berklee. The guitarist (Brandon Mann) and I grew up together and we started a fusion group that played at Monterrey Jack's (it's changed names twice since then) and John played at Monterrey Jack's with the Robert Newton Group. I actually have a copy of a bootleg cd that John is playing on with their regular drummer. He hated playing with John b/c of how loud he would play. Cool fusion stuff - Tutu by Miles Davis, Actual Proof - by Herbie Hancock, Teen Town, and one other song I don't remember.

[Pocketime]

Yes he really does play loud. I remember MJ's. I think that was the place that I saw him. I'd love to hear some of that disc. Post some of it if that is possible. PT.

[buga]

For those that missed the Grammy's, and Prince/Beyonce's opening duet/medley slot, Blackwell was also there on the skins and even got a couple of "candid shots".(you can search for the performance on Emule, someone uploaded it there, it's about 254 MB, great quality)

As for the man himself, I've heard very little of him besides the DVD and I would agree he does seem to come off as quite "arrogant" which is never to good. I'm trying to quote that remark Randy Jones recently made in Modern Drummer(the one with Barker on the cover). It's great and applies to the drum community in general. [img]graemlins/shhh.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 28, 2004 10:24 PM: Message edited by: Bozzio ]</font>

[Steve Holmes]

I saw some of his DVD, I'm not into him really but I think it's cool he's playing with Prince.

[plaid311]

Though Blackwell is undoubtedly entertaining to watch (though only a few times since you know exactly what you'll get each time) and most definitely has a pocket, he really had no business making an instructional DVD set. Being totally objective, he has NOTHING to offer from a teaching aspect, and there's nothing at all wrong with that......just don't make a video for it. What gets me a little angry about players like John is that if you set him up next to guys like Vinnie or Weckl, a general music audience (or otherwise) watching will think John whips the other two (99.9% of the time) because of the flashiness he conveys, and though he's a very good player, he's NOT great. I am personally not a fan of the "brute force/poor technique" way of playing, which is the way John plays, and though it can be VERY effective at times, it kind of lessens the art in my opinion. I think someone on here wrote one time that John was at a drum event somewhere signing autographs and mingling with some drummers, and when Weckl walked by, they all flocked to DW. I think that's WONDERFUL to read.....those drummers obviously knew their art. Anyway, that's my brief rant. Yes, I have the Blackwell DVD's, and they're collecting dust in my closet. The MD performance has some very good moments, yes, but as a previous post said, it gets repetitive, and he's a one trick pony, though a very good player. In summation, he's a showman and a very good pocket player to be entertained by..........not a player to learn from. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[SwiTCh2k]

I cant beleive the things im reading here, i think that Blackwell is an outstanding player. His groove playing i say would come close to that of dennis chambers. He has very tight clean chops and the MD performance he gave i enjoyed very much. Ill agree that hes a fairly hard hitter, but that does not get in the way of his technique, all im saying is cut the guy some slack, hes come a long way. [img]eek.gif[/img]

[FuseU1]

Blackwell's playing on the Leno show was fine - altho his hand technq looks a little uncomfortable to me.
However, MIKE BLAND's playing on that Benson album is a DEF "2 [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] 's up"
Thanx again to Rudy 4 turning me on to that! [img]cool.gif[/img]

[Vdrummer]

We had him in for a clinic and I enjoyed his showmanship, but that was about all. His time wasn't great - he rushes, so I really didn't enjoy him all that much.