Drummers Collective DVD Review

You only have to look at the front cover of the dvd to know its gonna be special. It’s the reason I bought a plane ticket all the way to New York to see it! Dave Weckl and his band, Horacio Hernandez, Steve Gadd and the Gadd Gang, Steve Smith and phenomenal bassists Victor Wooten and John Patitucci, all on one bill! It was a very special concert.

The DVD is a two-disc set with all the performances from the artists mentioned above, plus the Drummers Collective teaching faculty playing in various ensembles. Loads of bonus footage also, including 5.1 Surround Sound mixes, Steve and Victor’s backstage rehearsal, Steve Gadd’s sound check, photo gallery, alternate edits with footcam and artist interviews.

Dave Weckl kicks off proceedings with his band playing three songs plus a drum solo that brought the house down. Finesse, power and serious chops with his exciting band just makes you laugh out loud! Poetry in motion.

Bassist John Patitucci and keys player Orinete Lopez join Horacio Hernandez in some of the most fiery and intense afro-Cuban music I have ever heard. I found and still find it slightly hard to get into and enjoy due to the complexity of the music. Horacio plays very gentle and musically, but makes you think how many limbs he really has?!

Victor Wooten is a phenomenal musician and even drummers can relate to his stupendous technique and wonderful time. He dazzles the audience before giving a few words in tribute to Jaco Pastorius and bringing on his son, Felix Pastorius, to show everyone that the sprit of Jaco lives on!

Steve Smith only playing a tiny Sonor Jungle Kit, shows everyone less is more! He sings a blues pattern and displays some sublime brushwork before getting the audience clapping in groups of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10’s over his 5/4 pattern! He also demonstrates his now legendary hi-hat tricks. Steve then invites Victor Wooten onto the stage to do a duet. Funky and fast!

Steve Gadd and the Gadd Gang finish the night with a set of soulful r&b tunes. Only Gadd can make a band swing and groove like this and it’s fun to watch. However I left before he started due to that fact that it was very late because Steve arrived 4 hrs late for his sound check and kept me and 2,000 other people waiting in line. On the DVD he then comes out and does EXACTLY what he has been doing for the last 30 yrs. His drums sound poo and he looks all uncomfortable, yet everybody goes wild and cant believe its him. Now im no fool, and know what a great and valid contribution Gadd has made to drumming, and music for that matter, but HAS is the main word. The way he is, its like he was just the first person to come up with playing rudiments etc all around the drum-set by accident or coincidence while he was smashed of his face on drugs! Even he looks bemused as to why 2,000 people are standing up clapping! But because its “Steve Gadd” its ok for him to keep everybody in line. HOWEVER, when the band kicks in it does make you laugh at how well he can make any band groove with such simplicity.

The DVD is around ?39 and with a running time at about 5.5 hrs it is more than worth the money. The sound and picture are superb quality and it shows all of the “super-drummers” at their best. If you only bought one drumming DVD this year, make it this one.

Thanks for the review Louie. I'll add my 2cents.

First the good: Video quality is incredible. There are a few annoying shots of Weckl's face (you can't see his hands) during some of the better playing moments. Still, camera work is pretty good overall.

Horacio and Weckl. Great sounds and playing from these guys. First tune with Horacio I especially enjoyed. Really great phrasing from the whole band. John P. on Bass is sounding better than I've heard him; tone is just incredible.

Weckl is Weckl. Great smooth playing, superb drum and cymbal sound. I gotta say, most of the cymbals I've played lately that have impressed my have been Sabians even though Weckl's in person have generally underwhelmed me, they sound excellent on this DVD. Tom is slamming on Bass and Gary Meek is playing a little less like the Saturday Night Live band than Brandon did which gives the band a more fluid vibe. (to me anyway) I'd say this DVD is worth having just for these two performances. (And they are fairly long so...)

Steve Smith would be the next must have on the vid in my opinion. A lot of drum'n bass inspired playing, tons of double bass work. I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of the, "here I am playing just brushes on a snare, here I am just playing hi-hat. see? look how great I am, I can make music on just one thing?" That's just the way I see it. Sounds cool for a minute, but after that it's like listening to someone JUST play double bass. Might be impressive but it's generally on the boring side. (especially without a musical context which he DID try to give by humming)

The rest of the drummming side of things is just OK IMO. Kenwood is all over the place and doesn't really turn in a very cohesive performance to me. Kim Plainfield sounds good but it's tough to follow what came before. Weckl, Horacio and Smith really set the standard on this disc.

As far as the bass playing... I'm a Victor Wooten fan but his performance on this DVD is a little flat to me. That and the bass distortion doesn't help. I'm assuming this was a problem on stage because Felix Pastorius suffers the same problem. The distortion is REALLY bad and very noticable. I don't know if it was like that live but on the DVD it's a big problem. No sign of this for the other performances so it doesn't hurt the whole disc, but it happens OFTEN in Victor and Felix's performances.

Overall, I'd still rate it a must buy if you're into Weckl, Horacio or Smith. I think this is probably Horacio's best video performance and one of Weckl's best. (better than the Australian Drum Day or his own vids to me) Smith's is pretty different than his previous ones so I recommend it for that as well.

The rest is just filler. I don't see myself watching the rest of it much.

Thank god the day has arrived where we have Companies like Hudson releasing such quality products. They're really doing a service to the entire music community by undertaking these projects so my hat's off to them. REALLY looking forward to the Lang disc.

If I think of something else, I'll post it.

Thanks Louie, excellent stuff. I'm still drooling over the first vinnie and dave review that was kindly posted. *phew*

I'd wait 4hrs for Gadd and wipe his bottom for him as well. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
Steves just phenominal without him, what influence would there have been on weckl, jimbo and a host of others of reaching their respectives statuses. Who would have influenced them instead..... I wonder?

It was a priveledge to see steve do that uk clinic at short notice.
5/8 was right though when he said he hasn't really done anything of note(technically) for years but..... his 2&4 just floor me.
He's a master, and of that there is no doubt.


cheers louie. (cant wait for that lang Dvd either)

Thanks Louie and Derek for the informative reviews. It sounds like I will be adding another DVD to my collection soon.

I'll have to check the DVD out. As far as Steve Gadd goes, I think you have to view his performance with the following perspective - that this is a guy that was doing some amazing stuff back in the mid seventies, when NO ONE else was playing like that. He definitely blazed a path for a whole generation of drummers (Weckl, Vinnie, Steve Smith, et al). Just like alot of regular folks today can play Bonzo's bass drum licks on Zeppelin's Good Times, Bad Times, that doesnt mean that AT THAT TIME, it wasn't some amazing, creative playing. Same with Tony's blushda licks on the Lifetime albums. Thanks to HOD, there are probably alot of guys now who shedded that lick as presented in Steve's video clip, and can play it. But in the late 60's early 70's when Tony came up with that stuff, he was a pioneer.

As Vinnie said of Gadd in a MD interview one time, (paraphrasing) "... Here's a guy who can play his ass off on 3 Quartets, then turn around and do a pop album, and you still know it's him...." What he did at the Drummers Collective show may not have been so technically amazing, but he is still one of the trail blazers, and I would imagine that once you've been in the business for that long, the pressure to keep on being the "Chops Master" would get to be a real drag. Thus, as far as his performance goes, I would be inclined to look for the musical qualities that makes him Gadd, and appreciate him for that.

As far as him being 4 hours late, and them making everyone wait 4 hours, that's bullshit. They should have let y'all in, and hear his sound check.

Thanks for the review, and your insight!

The soundcheck of the Gadd Gang is carzy, Gadd getting pissed at Rob Wallis and others over his monitor mix, the guitar playing and Eddie Gomez and the bari sax player arguing over the key of a tune, B flat or G.
This DVD is killer...........

Every time I see Gadd he has more tatoos.......On the arms, back of the neck. What's the deal.
Check his snare in this DVD, he's now using black wood hoops on his signature snare.

Ditto Dave [img]wink.gif[/img]

Had a chance to check this out recently. I would say it's a must have for Weckl fans for sure. The Gadd stuff is enjoyable as well.

I was slightly bugged by the DWB playing the Chicken of all tunes. I've seen them play it a lot now and I think it's silly because it's written in the context of, and best played (in my opinion) as a groove-pocket tune. The composer played with James Brown so you know where he was coming from. Sure its jazz and they can play whatever tune they want. In fact no matter what tune they play, you know the solos are going to be amazing. They could blow over Happy Birthday and it would be amazing.

I just think that tune sounds best when not turned into a note fest. My favorite version by far is on Jaco's live "Invitation" (Erskine laying it DOWN something fierce). If you don't have that CD stop what you're doing and get it.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 19, 2003 02:39 PM: Message edited by: Steve Holmes ]</font>

Here here Steve. Invitation is a MUST and the version of Da Cheeken [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]confused.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] is slamming! Sorry about that. I had a [Fuse] moment! [img]wink.gif[/img]