In no particular order:
Terry Bozzio (I lied. He's number 1)
Neil Peart
Jimmy Chamberlin
Stewart Copeland
Phil Collins
Also, "top" lists are always bait- The list would be endless.
Drummers: The percussion might seem secondary when it comes to a song/composition as a whole, but the drummer, the beat, the rhythm (even the absence of said bangery) is so utterly foundational when it comes to a piece of music, that you immediately notice its absence (or hollow yet commanding solo presence). The first musical instruments are widely considered percussion... being obviously the most intuitive/practical. I'll give a brief nod to include the bass section here as well, since that often functions as percussion, or its stand-in.
My friend Alex (a *truly gifted* piano player since childhood) and I had a conversation years ago where I mentioned jazz-based drummers being superior in their training to all others. "If you can play jazz, you can play anything," he said. I agree, with one caveat: this is ONLY as far as percussionists are concerned. Jazz-based drummers are ABSOLUTE FUCKING BEASTS. I want a jazz drummer for anything I'm playing. Notably live. ANY DAY. With all other musicians, I don't care about the background depending on what they're contributing. Ad-libs, style, raw talent, what they've composed... It doesn't matter. Training or no training, and the best are often UNTRAINED. Untainted by training and technique (I'm a little biased). I think kids should develop their ears, first and foremost, and everyone has their own musical "language." Moving along... The drummer, the foundation? Give me jazz, give me the chaos, or give me death. I do not necessarily agree that jazz musicians in general can play anything, and I don't think that's a particularly controversial take either. Classical musicians? Maybe. Musicians with perfect ears? Again, I might be a little biased there, but...
Btw, Alex, I hope you're doing well if you're reading this. Shoot me a message.
Why Terry Bozzio is my first pick:
I wish I'd been able to catch Missing Persons when I still lived in Los Angeles. "Nobody walks in LA," my ass. I walked EVERYWHERE. That city is beautiful, warts and all, and the people who don't walk it are truly missing out. Some Australian guy once shouted that line at me and then said "Hey, you wanna ride babay?!" as I left a Del Taco (my former LA happy place. I no longer eat carbs or fast food) and walked past the gas station where he was filling up. If LA is "God's toilet," that also means it's God's Golden Shower State. That's me. Always trying to see the golden lining... so to speak.
I don't consider myself a "drummer." I don't consider myself an exclusive "anything" though I'm more than proficient (whatever that means) at many instruments. All instruments are tools that I use to write (even virtual ones), and I happen to apply the skills from the ones I already know intimately, to any that I continue to pickup- Isn't that how it's supposed to work?
My first continued exposure to consistently playing percussion was being part of an African drum ensemble for two years as a kid, run by a Ghanaian man named Sowah Mensah. I know it heavily influenced my developing brain and my music, and I'm deeply thankful for that. What I didn't fully realize until much later was how naturally that tradition baked in unusual time signatures and polyrhythm. You're not counting 4/4 like a metronome when you're in that circle. You're locking into something... living, something that shifts and breathes and lands somewhere most Western ears aren't trained to expect. 7/8, 12/8, patterns that stack on top of each other until the whole thing becomes its own organism. That got into me early before I even had my own musical language, and never left- STOP DEFUNDING THE ARTS FOR OUR KIDS, YOU FLAT FUCKING KILLJOYS. GIVE THEM BACK THEIR CREATIVITY AND DEVELOPING BRILLIANCE!!!!! *Pukes in mouth* *Spontaneously combusts* This blog post would go on for a week if I said all that I wanted to say, and included my additional goofy rants.
Later in high school, finally getting time on V drums with a pro showing me actual technique was genuinely helpful. But honestly? Sowah had already done the real damage. When I actually started recording music, drum "programming"/recording sounds from any and every source, is where I really started bringing all the pent up madness into focus. The grid was never just a grid to me. It was always something you could push against, play inside of, or blow up entirely if the moment called for it- That's what I want from a drummer. Not just someone who keeps time. Someone who understands that time is a suggestion and a conversation, not a cage- A human drum machine, and a drum circle with tap dancers if necessary.
Thank you for the read.
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