[Dixielandjazz] Another drumming movie

[Charles Suhor]

If you disliked the drumming in "Whiplash," you'll probably hate it in "Birdman." To me the best jazz drumming in the former was the hip solo that ran with the credits at the end, if you sat through them--great jazz phrases, not "hit everything in sight as fast as you can." 

In "Birdman," the drumming is about 2/3 of the background track. But it's is highly sonic, and so, tuneful in a percussive way. It's intended to impressionistically reflect the mood of the events and/or the psychological state of the characters. Caveat: It's about the least far-out aspect of the movie, which is rife with symbolism and insiders' references to literature and other films. 

As a drummer I loved the expressiveness of the largely improvised drumming. Chops, feeling, and a high degree of relevance to the action and characters.The main drummer was Mexican-born Antonio Sanchez, with extra drumming by Nate Smith and Brian Blade. Blade is best known for his marvelous work with modern jazz groups in New Orleans. I'll brag without shame that I have a grandparental place in his jazz lineage. He studied with Johnny Vidacovich, whom I taught for for four years in N.O. The Daddy of us all is the unheralded Lou Dillon, my big-hearted teacher in the early 50s. 

The movie is self-consciously "literary"--"magical realism," maybe--therefore the kind of film that critics, intellectuals, and film buffs love, and others feel that they should love it because it's "deep." Which it is. As an English teacher, I enjoyed deciphering the puzzle and thinking well of myself for "getting" a lot of its profundity, while acknowledging its pretentiousness (and mine. A little self-irony never hurt anybody.) One thing for sure, the acting is brilliant--worth the price of a ticket. 

Charlie