Introduction and Recommendations?

Just wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone for their thoughts. I've been visiting the site because of the VC cult following (well-deserved), great players, and nice people.
I e-mailed Randy Walker, who I saw lived in my area, and met with him the other day. Very nice guy who immediately picked up on some of my technique problems I've been having lately and is the most knowledgeable drum guy in town (at least)
I've been playing since I was about 12, I'm now 27 and I'm working on putting together a fusion combo because my last original group just split up. Just as well because I've wanted to change styles for awhile now.
Any recommended listening? Remember I can appreciate VC but I sure as hell am nowhere near his level. Please don't recommend any Dave Weckl band either (personal reasons). I'm looking for stuff to cover that will not only impress but make people listen.
Thanks and Cheers.
Kaleb

Weather Report........... Procession and Domino Theory with Omar on drums are good, any WR with Peter Erskine
John Scofield, Still Warm, Blue Matter
Los Lobotomys
Karizma any
Jeff Beck There and Back, Guitar Shop
Any Simon Phillips solo work
Eddie Jobson The Green Album
Steps Ahead Any

if you go thru Zappa's "shut up & play your guitar" there are a few songs that work with a fusion band like 'the deathless horsie' a fav of mine. of course the vocal Zappa stuff as well...'dong work for yuda' is pretty bitchin' to play.

Hello, K, & welcome!
That's a tough one, depending on your [self-admitted] "level"...
...& fret not; to try to play something like a Vinnie or Weckl is impossible because, well, none of us are Vinnie or Weckl [besides, no one can play like those two guys anyway! [img]wink.gif[/img] ]...
I started the fusion scene w bands like the Dregs, Jean-Luc Ponty, Al DiMeola, Gino Vanelli, & Return to 4ever after I'd already been in the rock & prog-rock scene for awhile [Kansas, Rush, Genesis, Yes, ELP, Tull, early Crimson, i'll even throw Van Halen into that pot, etc]...
You might want to take some standard or popular rock, funk, or jazz tunes & cover 'em, spicing 'em up to your groups' members' tastes... stuff like "The Chicken" is always a good, "basic" one, for example; or, say, something like off of Stanley Clarke's earlier stuff, like School Days or something off I Wanna Play For You live; or Jeff Beck - something that will let band members shine in solo sections [both while everyone is playing/comping the tune AND when just indiv by each one], & yet still which has a 'catchy' melodic [& harmonic [img]wink.gif[/img] ] hook to latch onto... stuff that can have a little 'broader' or 'looser' interpretation, if you get my drift... blues-based/laced fusion, jazz, & funk generally seems to "crowd-please;" & even country & classical laced tunes [a' la' the Dregs/Stv Morse Band] seems to go over [all this also depends upon your demographic, which can have an influence in determining your band's 'success' as well]... experiment w/ arrangements, & sometimes segue into different parts of these types of tunes to make it fresh... i don't know if that was a good response or not, as i read back over it [it's late - gettin tired... good excuse to use!] [img]eek.gif[/img] - hope i "read" your post right .... "Good luck" w the 'fusion' thing, because it's a touchy, hit-or-miss genre that's sometimes not necessarily an easy road to hoe, locally speaking [depending on your demographic], monetarily [img]eek.gif[/img] ... just whatever u do, play the SNOT outta what you're playing ["mean it!" - but then again, that's a given!] - & hopefully people will catch on in due time....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 05, 2003 01:11 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

...cuz Dave's a door-to-door hara-krishna [in his spare time, & strictly a red-meat eater, to boot]... didn't u know that, Louie? [img]wink.gif[/img]
[OKAY, okay; maybe sneaks a veggie in here & there]...

No, really, it's prob cuz he's soooo bad-a**....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 05, 2003 02:35 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Yeah, I was also going to ask why no Dave Weckl?
Oh well, get ready

My listening list would be:
1. Any Vital Information with Steve Smith
2. Any Allan Holdsworth (Gary Husband, Chad W.)
3. Any Chad Wackerman solo stuff (sounds kinda like Holdsworth)
4. Simon's solo stuff.

5. Pat Metheny, more from a compositional standpoint, than blazing drumming. (You ARE a musician before a drummer, right?)
However, a young Danny Gottlieb kicks ass on Metheny's "American Garage" from '79.

6. Chuck Mangione - James Bradley Jr. kicked it pretty good back in the day.

7. Tony Williams Lifetime - The precursor of alot of Vinnie's and Steve Smith's playing.

8. Steps Ahead - Peter Erskine, and Steve Smith on NYC.

9. Mahavishnu - Two time periods here - Back in the Doves of Fire and Inner Mounting Flame periods with Billy, BUT also during the mid-80's. The album Mahavishnu with Billy Cobham, and Adventures in Radioland with Danny Gottlieb are some of my favorites.

10. Weather Report - Randy covered the Omar/Victor Bailey period, but I'll ring the bell for the Jaco/Chester Thompson/Alex Acuna albums. (I seem to be pushing Jaco alot, eh? Sorry I cant help it.) Black Market (Chester Thompson), Mr. Gone (Peter Erskine, Steve Gadd), Heavy Weather (Alex Acuna)

See the other thread about Chester, listening to Jaco's phrasing/ideas WILL make you a better drummer, and I think that Alex Acuna's drumset playing on Heavy Weather is what alot of the El Negro critics are looking for, but not getting from him.

Acuna's playing is explosive, and really comes from the percussion side of the kit, versus the conventional drumming side of it. Check out his playing on Havona, off Heavy Weather. Like a kick boxer..........

Eleventh House, Return To Forever, Dixie Dregs.

Excellent Recommendations...some of this stuff is on emusic.com! Have you guys checked this thing out? Pretty cheap downloads. No Dave Weckl Band because I just can't listen to it. It's too contrived and lacking groove to me. I didn't want to start anything on that topic because I've seen it go on for days here before, right?
Anyway...I'm busy listening and practicing Snap-ups, right Randy? [img]wink.gif[/img]

Oh yeah, Fuse, that's exactly what I was talking about...in your first post. Fusion that is playable and hopefully suited to a wide demographic.
Thanks again.

Anybody ever heard this Abercrombie and Scofield album "Solar"? Just wondering if I should check it out.

victor bailey
jing chi
tom coster
mike stern
CAB

may i ask why no Dave weckl stuff????

i cant even speak....... [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

LOL, Louie ;=) ...
'Contrived?' - as in, the music is predominantly predisposed for Dave's drumistics perhaps [just throwing a wild guess out there?]?! [img]eek.gif[/img]
...PS - careful there... Louie is Weckl's agent/lawyer-moderator.... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 06, 2003 04:16 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Hi Kaleb, that Scofield/Abercrombie record is cool if you are looking for some small group jazz stuff. It has some guitar duos and some nice playing from Peter Donald on drums. It's not the fusion/funk of his later stuff.

Miles Davis-"Live-Evil" w/Jack Dejohnette. "What I Say" off "Live Evil" is an often mentioned influence of Vinnie's. Maybe one of the first recorded examples of beat displacement. The tunes on here are mostly vamps and grooves which are fun to jam on and easy to figure out.

"Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters" w/Harvey Mason. Some 70's funk/fusion for ya. Contains "Chameleon" which is a jam band favorite. It would be easy to find the music and it would be a nice tune for your band to jam on.

Herbie Hancock w/Headhunters-"Flood" and "Thrust" w/Mike Clark. Mike Clark was a big influence on Vinnie's funk/fusion playing. Lots of 16th-ghost note w/ displaced back-beat stuff, just an overall super funky sound. He's also an influence on Gary Novak's playing on Chick Corea Electric Band 2. If I were to pick between the two I would get "Flood" which is live. Clark is killin' on there.

Hope these help.

Hey everyone. I had an epiphany. Dave Weckl does kick ass. (He still may not groove, and DWB may be contrived) I checked out Rhythm of the Soul and I was impressed with his playing much more than anything I've heard of his in the past.

On another note, who is Tom Coster? I checked out Ivory Expeditions and this sh!t jams! Very interesting that is was filed under bebop instead of fusion. Who needs labels anyway.

Also, can anyone recommend Airto Moreira stuff? Is he just a percussionist or a set player also? I've been listening to a ton of new stuff lately and it has really been enjoyable. Is there anything better than finding new music that will become a part of your permanent listening collection?

Tom Coster got his start playing for Santana back in the early years. Ivory Expedition is a great disc with Steve Smith, Randy Jackson and Joaquin Levano. The first Tom Coster cd titled TC is the same linup and just as good.

Yeah, & Tom also played w Stv Smith & Vital Information AW... & those 2 solo discs that some of u guys talk about w/ Dennis Chambers, SSmith on drums, like "From the Street;" & that other 1 I need to get, which it's name escapes me[?]...
...hey, kaleb; i have an epiphany every time i put on any of Weckl's discs [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img] ....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 08, 2003 01:24 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Coster is still a member of Vital Information.

Hey Fuse,the other TC album I think you are referring to is 'Let's set the record straight.' Two Dennis tracks that are killin' are 'Welcome to my "Chambers"'and 'To b or not to b'......some of the best Dennis ever!!!

If you'r going to play out as a cover band that's one thing, but if you want to be different redo songs like some of the guy's said on the cd "LIVE AROUND THE WORLD"VITAL INFORMATION,they redid moby dick.they could of stuck with original but did it in a jazz style jam (oh my god!!)now its always grate to hear asong you know but isnt cool when you hear a band doing a song and you'r like 'i know this song what is it, iknow that riff where is that from it's all in the art of creation.another thing if you make it you'r own noone can tell you you'r doing it wrong ,Try some king crimson in a latin feel!!!Good luck !!peace Dino..

I think u were sayin "it's cool," Dino [img]wink.gif[/img]
I have that track [VI-MD] - "i LLLIIIKE it!"

...& thanx, sashal; "that be da 1"....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 12, 2003 04:22 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Quote:

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Originally posted by sashal3:
Hey Fuse,the other TC album I think you are referring to is 'Let's set the record straight.' Two Dennis tracks that are killin' are 'Welcome to my "Chambers"'and 'To b or not to b'......some of the best Dennis ever!!!

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah those songs are great..I also dig "Carribean Sunset" from the Tom Coster record "Let's set the record Straight".....

It's great all around...

Very cool [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]