Drummers that I admire.....
Simon Phillips
http://www.simon-phillips.com/
I watched a video of The Who performing Tommy live and Simon Phillips blew my mind. I am looking forward to seeing him live with Toto when they tour next time. His powerhouse displays are breathtaking, with spot on polyrhythms and an accuracy to die for.
Anton Fig
http://antonfig.com/
The drummer with the house band for The David Letterman Late Show. I watched him and thought he was ok, just a patsy for Letterman. Then one night he backed Ted Nugent and was electric. From then on I watched him closer and realised that here is a drummer who is capable of working with a wide variety of musicians playing a lot of different styles and doing it really well.
Phil Collins
http://www.philcollins.co.uk/
Phil's drumming with Genesis was a major inspiration to me when I started drumming. The variations of timings showed me that not all good tracks are in a rock 4/4 time. The Seconds Out album is my all time favourite album. The interplay between Phil and Bill Bruford or Chester Thompson are amazing. The live shows are (were) superb.
Vinnie Colaiuta
http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/
Sublime. An amazing drummer who plays with the best feel & groove I have ever heard. Ten Summoners tales by Sting is a perfect example of his feel and groove. Also played with DuranDuran and Frank Zappa for lengthy periods of his career.
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Drummers whom I've met.....
Steve Smith
http://www.vitalinformation.com/steve/
A man with an encyclopeadic knowledge of music in the various stages of evolution. A thoroughly decent chap, his clinics are superb. He is an astonishing drummer and the Vital Information cd's are masterpieces. He is also a great bloke to talk to.
Greg Bissonnette (Independent)
http://www.greggbissonette.com/flashhome.html
A very entertaining drummer. He puts on a good clinic and is very informative. He puts over some great points about how to behave when playing in a band, what not to do, what to do, how to deal with anally retentive guitarists all the general stuff on how to get the best from playing the drums.
He is, without doubt, a very good drummer and does the rock stuff very well. His solo album is good and he worships Ringo Starr. I was able to talk to him because I asked him about an album he did with Tab Benoit when everyone else seemed to be boring him with questions about David Lee Roth.
When I spoke to him in July 2003 he told me his website was imminent. I will put the link here when it finally arrives.
Zoro (Independent)
http://www.zorothedrummer.com/
What an immensely talented drummer! I Met him in Manchester. I knew very little about him apart from a lot of people who know about these things raved about him. I downloaded some samples off his website and this really didn't do justice to what an amazing drummer he actually is. He is now gigging with Lenny Kravitz. That should be some show!
He can groove like no one else I have heard. He was really good to talk to, knew his stuff and was fantastic with my son. Zoro has a wonderful book out which will take some working through.
Nicko McBrain
http://www.nickomcbrain.com/
Inimitable drummer with Iron Maiden. I met him before a Premier drum clinic in Wakefield. A genuine and decent bloke. Swore blind he knew me! His clinic was entertaining and his knowledge of tuning was very impressive. He managed to get an amazing sound from his kit. A naturally funny, enthusiastic bloke who happens to be a good drummer.
Ian Mosley (Marillion)
http://www.marillion.com/band/mosley/
A very quiet but profound and warm individual. His drumming is superb, both live and in the studio. He has a wonderful double Bass drum technique and some wonderful chops. Remains rock solid while throwing in stuff to accent things without going over the top as if to say "listen to me, Listen to meeeeee". He is the sort of drummer I would like to be.
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