Underated musicians!

I thought this might be a cool topic to see if you guys have a list of musicians that you have recordings of so that it might get us to check out and get records that we may not own.

I like Jimmy Earl's solo record.I think this cat is way underated as a bass player

Adam Nitti is another guy.If you own "Balance",then you have a good one.This guy can play bass with best of them!

Nat Janoff's "Looking Through" is a great record to own.I am not sure if this guy is well known in the fusion world,but check him out.

Vic Stevens record "No Curb Ahead" has some heavy fusion happening.This drummer can flat out play!

Do you guys have a list of records for others to check out?

Right now I'm listening to a band called "SIXUN", from France, with the great Paco Serry on drums... It's like Weather Report on steroids. Any album of this band is a must have for fussion lovers. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

The drummer for Kimo Williams is Tom Hipskind. It's this cat's drums that Vinnie borrowed, including ride cymbal for the "Tracking" recording. Tom is a fantastic drummer.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

PS: Hey, Pedro! You're another unsung hero!

Pete [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]
I'd invite you a real one if you were a little bit closer [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Somebody I really like that you don't hear about too often is Cliff Almond. His playing on Michel Camilo's One More Once is excellent.
Also, the new Youssou N'Dour disc has some great playing from Alain Berge. I'd never heard of him before this, and he's not on any of the other Youssou CDs I have.

Yeah! SIXUN!! Haven't heard of them for a long time. Killer band!

I agree for Cliff Almond. He smokes even more on Camilo's "On the other hand" and "Thru my eyes".

Also for hot brazilian drumming check out Duduka Da Fonseca. His band "Trio da Paz" just burns. He also played with A.C. Jobim and Astrud Gilberto.

Trio Da Paz

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 24, 2004 09:24 AM: Message edited by: Tombo 7/4 ]</font>

Steve Jansen (Japan, David Sylvian)
Charlie Morgan
Tony Beard
Carlos Vega, I still feel he never got what he fully deserved in the press for his incredible playing.

Todd Sucherman
Brian MacCloud (Kevin Gilbert, Tears for Fears)

...some GREAT players & suggestions, guys.

Peter, my sentiments exactly; i fully agree w you about Pedro [img]wink.gif[/img] ...hey Pedro, will ya' get me a brewski too, bro'?! [img]tongue.gif[/img] [After I get YOU TWO!] ;c)

Quote:

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Pedro G
Right now I'm listening to a band called "SIXUN", from France, with the great Paco Sery on drums... It's like Weather Report on steroids. Any album of this band is a must have for fusion lovers.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Anything that's like "Weather Report on steroids" is fine in my book!

Quote:

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Randy Walker
Carlos Vega, I still feel he never got what he fully deserved in the press for his incredible playing.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Also my sent's, exactly. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 24, 2004 04:03 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Agree with Randy and Fuse
on the unsung Carlos Vega.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

Check this guy out, he's currently playing with 'Jean-Luc Ponty', and he'll be playing the 'Montreal Drumfest' this coming November:

www.thierryarpino.com
(clic on '4U' then on the bottom left picture)

I can't remember the amount of times I've been asked who's been the main inspiration behind my music only to be asked "WHO?" when I've mentioned Carlos...

He truely was my total drum hero! The reason I started, the reason I still play.

For God's sake, even the Grease soundtrack! Do the millions of girls the world over who get ready to go out by listening to the Grease album even realise it's Carlos that's responsible for much of the groove! Just listen to Matt Rollings album "Balconies", his playing is just off the wall... THE SINGLE most underrated drummer that ever blessed this earth...

Also, my sleve notes to Michel Camillo's Once More Once say that Dave Weckl played on that album...

MP

Tony beard is a great drummer. I used to go watch him with a british jazz funk band called morrisey-mullen years ago, and I've got him on one of their albums. At the time I was having lessons with gavin harrison who said tony was a bit of a gadd clone. Well, tony certainly had all the gadd chops down, but he played really great. He then joined 'Go West' and I never heard anything more from him. Oh yeah, I also remember him doing a clinic at a local venue which was actually a pub with a stage, and no other than akira jimbo joined tony for a double drum clinic. Was amazing. This is going back to the late 80's. I believe tony is in LA or new york? What's he up to? Sessions, touring bands?

Anyway, I nominate gavin harrison, tony, and also neil wilkinson. Neil is another amazing ex morrisey mullen uk player who now goes between USA and UK, doing the michael ball gig, and also recording. He also did a stint with the average white band.

Tony lives in New York, met him just recently. He was auditioning for Spyro Gyra the sametime I was.

Balconies is such great CV playing.

Groovemeister, there's surely an error on your liner notes. Weckl is not on "One more Once". Cliff and Smitty share the skins.

I don't know much about Gavin Harrison but I just read that he's about to release his 2nd DVD. It might interest some of you.

One More Once is mostly Clif Almond, Smitty plays on a couple too.

Balconies is awesome. (Thanks RW)

I love Ponty's stuff. I have a great CD of his called Tchokola which has Brice Wassy on drums.

No one seems to know him. Alex
Sanguinetti is one of the best
drummers that still is not known.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

Love all of Ponty's stuff, Brice Wassey kills it on that cd Roy.

Great topic!

As I've posted previously, Danny Seraphine is IMO the most underrated/overlooked drummer ever. Great groove, pocket, and chops. He was my original drumming influence when I was about four years old. He owns the six-stroke roll...both on the snare and around the toms. His drums always had a cool and unique sound. If you listen to some of the more obscure Chicago records, you would hear him playing a lot of stuff that we didn't hear some other big name guys do until several years later. I've got some live tapes of Chicago from the late '70's and early '80's where he's really pulling out all the stops. Hell, Bissonette and Mangini list him as one of their major influences!

I also think that Peter Cetera was a terrific bass player, especially on the first 10 or 12 albums, in spite of his success as just a pop singer. I'll also throw in Terry Kath as one of the greatest blues/rock guitarists. Jimi Hendrix and Steve Lukather even said so! It's a shame we hear 100 times more about Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Sheppard than Terry Kath.

I'll admit I'm a big fan of Chicago ("no shit!?!?!"), but I name these guys based only upon their playing, not because they happened to be in a band that I like. Chicago has been a train wreck the last 15 years, thanks mostly to Tris "The Statue" Imboden, Jason "Kermit the Frog" Scheff, and the now out-of-control Bill Champlin. It wouldn't hurt Lee Loughnane and Walt Parazaider to take the socks out of their horns before the show, either, but I digress....

Anyways....a while back I posted about a local jazz drummer, but couldn't recall his name...........it's Joel W. Spencer. He's playing with Steve Smith at the Chicago Custom and Vintage Drum Show (see the back of the May 2004 MD) this month. That guy cooks in a small trio setting. Fantastic control and dynamics. He's underrated and undiscovered, and really deserves a feature in MD.

Jim Peterick (from The Ides of March, co-wrote "Eye of the Tiger" and "Hold on Loosely") is a tremendous songwriter, guitarist, and singer. He's got a following here in Chicago, but never seemed to hit it big nationally. It's cool that I can still see him play a few times a year at "summerfest" type gigs. I'm impressed with how well he sings live night after night, after over 30 years of it.

I always thought Bill Gibson from Huey Lewis and the News was solid. Great groove with extra chops and swing in reserve.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 26, 2004 11:03 AM: Message edited by: mja61 ]</font>

Danny is one of the greats, for sure.

I remember Buddy talking about him on
the a talk show, along with Gadd...

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I maintain that Pete Townsend has never got the credit he deserves for all the classic Who tracks. Think about all the dozens of songs he has writtend along with the simply amazing rock opera Tommy and the Quadrophenia sound track.
His writing is great, his arranging skills are very underated - his use of french horns and bizarre instrumentation and his songs will stand the test of time for sure.
People mention Lennon, Hendrix, Clapton etc and seem to miss out Pete Townsend. I could listen to Tommy every day for ever - great stuff!

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 26, 2004 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Dazzler ]</font>

Quote:

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...who said tony was a bit of a gadd clone. Well, tony certainly had all the gadd chops down, but he played really great...

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">["Not that there's anything wrong with that"] [img]wink.gif[/img] ...

I agree with you guys on all. [Thx 4 the heads up on "Balconies," I haven't heard this & will look 4 it]...
I had heard of & heard Thierry b4...good player...I've always loved JLP's band line-ups; have seen him w Casey, Rayford, & Sonny [now w EW&F]...
You are right, Roy, about Tchokola w Wassy...& if you liked that one, get JLP's "No Absolute Time," w another fine player named Moktar Samba on drums...these 2 albums are very diff in sound than the JLP music/bands of the late '70s-80s, when it was more classical-meets-prog/rock/fusion [w a little jazz thrown in]...it has more of an "ethnic, world sound" [for lack of better], w a lot of African type rhythmic influence...

Agreed, pete c, Alex Sanguinetti is a FINE drummer, as is Pedro, Stv, Tombo, DDF, Roy, yourself;...i could go on & on [sorry if i left any1 out, but list is too long ;c) ]...there are a lot of guys in here that are really good players... [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Saw Chicago last year w Tris on kit...despite not having Ceterra, they sound fantastic live...as good or better than they've ever sounded...they haven't missed a beat...& the harmonies are still there, w the lead-vox still hot as ever...

Pete T has def carved his niche in rock & pop...& he didn't go wrong when he recruited Simon for his gigs, either [img]wink.gif[/img] ...case in point, "Give Blood"...& while I'm here; what the heck is the name of the PT tune [w Simon] where a line in it says something like "the sea refuses no river, & the river is where i am," or some she-ite like that?! [Dazz?] ;c)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 26, 2004 05:25 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

I think that Bill Stewart is amazing, in style concept, interpretation, touch, and individualistic spirit. he's definitely unique / special. just like Brian Blade on the the board up here! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Fuse, if you like Moktar Samba, look for a CD called "African Dreams" (88) from ONJ, a big band also from France.
This CD is really energetic with a mix of jazz, fussion, and african rhythms. Moktar shines in every song [img]eek.gif[/img] .

http://www.label-bleu.com/artist.php?artist_id=89&c=d

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 26, 2004 10:02 PM: Message edited by: Pedro G ]</font>

Wow, thx a lot for that heads-up, PG...that must really mean something about Moktar, coming from you [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]
That JLP album [NAT] also had some nice playing from him....

...And, like Blade & Joey Barron, Bill Stewart is an
excellent jazz drummer - or, drummer, period. Has his own unique style & touch.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 29, 2004 01:37 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

I agree with Da Chuch about Bill Stewart. He has an incredible touch and sound. Does anyone know of any vid's out with Bill playing brushes. I've got the MD video w/just his trio, but he's not doing any brush stuff there. I play matched grip and am looking for video on any players (Stewart, Will Kennedy) who are playing matched technique. Any ideas or leads are appreciated.

Thanks!

Mike

Have to mention Bill Maxwell here.

Listen to some of the Koinonia Records. His Groove is so unique.

He played alot with Abe Laboriel in the 80's early 90's.

drumgod1, do you mean drummers who play brushes w/ matched grip in a jazz context? if that's the case i think the only vid that i'd seen was with billy cobham in zildjian day in new york? it's been a while so i'm hazy on wether his grip was matched or not.

if i may recommend other matched grip drummers who haven't been mentioned (at least on this board) a while are:

kirk covington - tribal tech

- saw danny carey just shaking his head in disbelief when he was playing at la velee a few years back. i presume they're buds. man, can this guy sing! he's got a real cool, raspy rock/blues voice AND he sings at same time! i mean having vocal / rythmic independance like say - mark king of level 42!xtremely underrated.
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frank briggs - was his band 805 back in jersey?

this guy's right there in terms of just having it all together. he was the precursor to the monsters of contemporary progressive rock today! xtremely humble person and educator as well
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mike kenealy - tony mc alpine; beers for dolphins

what can i say? another monster who deserves even more ups.

i hope this helps, drumgod1 [img]smile.gif[/img]

Frank Briggs, very underrated. 805 was his baby indeed.

Completely agree, Chuch, on -

kirk covington, frank briggs, & mike keneally.

Kirk is a really ballsy monster fusion drummer, with indeed a great "raspy rock/blues voice AND he sings & drums at same time" [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

I've seen TT but just ONCE & they were absolutely smokin - ON FIRE. [Scott H & K, Kirk, & Gary]

& some of those live Tech boots [such as "from Minneapolis" & "the Maxx" (DC/VA?!)] are "really killer live/in the moment/in your face spontaneous drumming," NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. [img]eek.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 30, 2004 11:18 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Bill Maxwell, Frank Briggs...cool! Bill's a great producer as well. Brigg's instructional video is insane...the guy's a drum machine. He has a pristine technique I like to watch. I find it fascinating comparing great facility rooted in different techniques. I dug the way Frank rolled around his kit from the video.

Right on, Frank Briggs is brilliant. Also worthy of mentionning are 'Toss Panos' and 'Joey Heredia'.
Hey Fuse, i would love to get my hands on a few 'Tribal Tech' shows that i may not have, would you consider a trade? Please PM me if so,
Thanks and Cheers.

Totally agree w/ pocketplayer on both counts. bill maxwell is such an awesome musician. he creates such a great undertow of a groove in any context.

and i really dig the way frank briggs programmed his video. my only comment was when the camera was doing this psychedelic thing. i don't know if that was conducive to an instructional video but i guess i'm selfish in that i just wanted to know what the heck he was doing in that particular musical context! http://www.hostboard.com/forums/

if i may also add another, it's gotta be LIBERTY DEVITTO, STEVE JORDAN. these guys are some seriously 'hooky' drummers. i understand that drums are the only instruments that aren't entitled to residuals on recordings (because they're not melodic instruments) but if they did, these two would be gazillionaires!

Thank you to all the ones that included my name in the list.

Of course we all know that this forum is crowded with fantastic drummers.

It's very much a reality also, that everywhere I go, small or big town (and it doesn't matter the nation), I always find a lot of talented people dedicating with passion to drumming.

My best regards for the hours of joy I spent listening to them and you.

Alex Sanguinetti