Drummer Joke of the Day…”So Many Drummers, So Little Time” Budda Boom!
Here are a couple of releases by drummers who go back to an era when drummers had one job: DRIVE THE BAND! Why do so few guys understand that these days? Not every song needs a solo underneath the sax player! Jimmy Cobb made his name as riding that high hat for Miles Davis for years, while Louis Hayes sizzled with a gospel groove for Cannonball Adderley’s classic Quintet when jazz was actually on the am airwaves! Here are two recent gigs recorded for the hot Smoke Sessions at the Smoke Jazz Club. I gotta get there some time!!
Cobb leads a highly hip team of Peter Bernstein/g, Brad Mehldau/p and John Webber/b and lemme tell you, this band sounds like Wes Montgomery’s band with Cobb has come back as the Ghost of Christmas Past. This is a reunion of sorts of Cobb’s Mob back before Brad Mehldau became the superstar that he is today, and Mehldau is reveling in his return to a sideman role, tapping into his inner Wynton Kelly on a funky “Old Devil Moon” and samba’d “Unrequited.” Mehldau sounds happy as a clam on “Sunday in New York,” while Bernstein skates like Sonja Henie on “Minor Blues” and bops with a vengeance on “Lickety Split.” And Cobb, he does what only a drummer, and not a President can do-lead from behind. He lays down a groove throughout the set that makes you wonder where he’s hiding his Fountain of Youth. This disc is a BEAUT!!!
On another night at the Smoke Jazz Club, Hayes teams up with Abraham Burton/ts, Steve Nelson/vib, David Bryant/p and Dezron Douglas for some soulful strutting that made modern jazz enjoyable in the first place. A funky gospel of “ Soul-Leo” while have your rolling down the aisle, while Burton’s rich and macho tenor fills the room on “It’s to You.” He goes bel canto as he delivers “Portrait of Jennie” with long, lean and lanky sound reminiscent of Dexter Gordon. Nelson delivers a gracious intro to “Lush Life” while addictive grooves are impossible to break away from on “Simple Pleasures” and “Village Greene.” Bryant does a yeoman’s job churning the butter, and delivers a hip solo on the steadily driving “Lou’s Idea.” All along, Hayes rides the cymbals and hits the snares like he’s leading the wagon train.These guys make jazz enjoyable again!
Smoke Sessions Records