[Dixielandjazz] "Drummerless" bands [was "Turk Murphy"]

[Paul Edgerton]

The old line is: "It takes a very good drummer to be better than no drummer
at all!" Of course, the same can be said about any instrument.

It's true that a poor drummer is a detriment to the ensemble, but a good
one does much more than just keep time. He sets the prevailing dynamic
level. Along with the bass, he defines the feel. He highlights the
structure of the music by changing color, density, and dynamics. He listens
to, interacts with and lights a fire under a soloist. A good drummer knows
when to stay out of the way, and when to kick it up. (Hal Smith, I'm
looking at you.)

Importantly, the 'he' I referred to above needn't be male -- Beth
Goodfellow being Exhibit A.

There have have been numerous poor drummers in my musical history, but more
than few really great ones too, like Wayne Jones, Bert Dahlander, Jeff
Hamilton, Eddie Metz, and many others. I enjoy playing in "drummerless"
bands, but I'll take a good drummer every time I can get one.




On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 5:27 PM, Anton Crouch
<anton.crouch at optusnet.com.au>wrote:

> Good to see that DJML is back on line.
>
> Hello all
>
> The issue of pulse is an important one but the degree to which drummers
> contribute to it is controversial. Think of the (drummerless) Louis
> Armstrong Hot Five.
>
> On the matter of drummers, it might be time to resurrect the golden oldie
> of why a drum machine is superior to a drummer. A drum machine
> 1. keeps time
> 2. doesn't play solos
> 3. can be turned off
>
> :-)
>
> Anton
>
> On 15/04/2013 06:15, Bert Thompson wrote:
>
>> In a short piece I wrote on "drumerless" bands some time back, this was
>> the closing paragraph:       A jazz band without a (good) drummer is like a
>> creature without a
>> pulse, or at best a weak one, as far as I am concerned.
>>
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