Prince has been blessed to have five drummers in his bands that have really helped shaped his sound.

Question: Who are some of the better drummers out there today, in your opinion?

One that comes to mind for me is Tim Alexander, drummer for the prog. rock group Primus. That boy can really get his groove on when he's in the pocket. Songs like Too Many Puppies, Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers, and Puddin' Taine are funk-da-fied like a mug.

Anyone else?

Always been a fan of Dave Grohl.

Vinnie Paul

Dave Lombardo

Carter Beauford

Mick Fleetwood

Jimmy Chamberlain

Matt Chamberlain

STOKELY (of Mint Condition)!!! The man is like an octopus & never misses a beat.

poetbear68 said:

Prog rock????? Don't let Les Claypool hear it, they're downright alternative!

Stephen Morris

some of my past and current favorites:


Dennis Chambers- (drummer for P-funk , Niacin, Mike Stern, Steely Dan, John Mclaughlin, etc.)
Rodney Holmes-(Santana, Steve Kimmock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Gilmore, Jean Paul Bourelly, etc.
Vinnie Colaiuta(Frank Zappa, Sting, Seal, Tori Amos, George Benson, Madonna, Herbie Hancock, Jing-Chi, etc.)
Omar Hakim(drummer for Weather Report, Sting, Madonna, Marcus Miller)
Manu Katche(drummer for Peter Gabriel, Sting, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Youssou N'dour, Tears for Fears, Dire Straits, etc.)
Chester Thompson ( Genesis, Weather Report, Brand X, etc.)
Lenny White (Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke, Twennynine, etc.)
Dave Weckl
Stewart Copeland (Police, Animal Logic, Stanley Clarke,Jeff Beck, Adam Ant, Simple Minds, etc.)
Peter Erskine
Marcus Baylor
Longineu Parsons- drummer for Yellowcard (ask theAudience about this dude!)
Narada Michael Walden(John Mclaughlin, Santana, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Rick James, Jaco Pastorius,Stanley Clarke,Aretha Franklin, Tommy Bolin, Stacy Lattisaw, Sister Sledge, etc.)
Dave Garibaldi (Tower of Power)
Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, Stanley Clarke, etc.
William Kennedy (Yellowjackets, Jimmy Haslip, etc.)
Alfredo Alias (Jean Paul Bourelly, Defunkt, etc.)
Gary Husband (Allan Holdsworth, Level 42, etc.)
Bill Berg
Jerome Brailey( P-funk, Buckethead, Mutiny, etc.)
Bernard Purdie(everybody)
Steve Gadd(everybody else)
Phil Collins( Genesis, Brand X, Eric Clapton, himself, etc.)
Andy Newmark(Sly Stone, David Bowie, Roxy Music,Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Bob James, etc.)
Charlie Drayton(David Bowie, Family Stand, B-52's, Nile Rodgers, Ryuichi Sakamoto)
Tony Thompson(R.I.P.)( Chic, Power Station, David Bowie, Nile Rodgers, Robert Palmer, etc.)


...
[Edited 12/10/04 8:28am]

I don't know his name but the drummer from Clutch is incredible.

And of course I gotta give props to my boy Tommy Lee

Rikki Rocket

paligap said:

Great picks.
(LP will appreciate the props)

A few others that are not already on your list...

Ricky Lawson (Yellowjackets, Steely Dan, MJ, Stevie Wonder, etc)
Steve Jordan (original Letterman Band, Keith Richards, etc)
Mike Clark (Headhunters)
Harvey Mason (Headhunters, Fourplay, George Benson)
Alphonse Mouzon (Larry Coryell, Weather Report, McCoy Tyner, etc)
Al Jackson Jr. (Booker T. & The MGs, Stax sessions)
Earl Palmer (Fats Domino, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Little Richard, Frank Sinatra, Beach Boys, etc)
Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu, solo)
Terry Bozzio (Zappa, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck)
Chad Wackerman (Zappa, Allan Holdsworth)
Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Santana, etc)
Jeff "Tain" Watts (Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Stanley Jordan)


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Steward Copeland - Police
Neil Peart - Rush
John Blackwell - NPG
Alex Van Halen - Van Halen
Dave Grohl - Nirvana

many good mentions, but haven't seen this name mentioned yet...

Jason Marsalis

In addition to several names mentioned by paligap and theAudience... I'd like to add


and despite being recognized mostly for synth/key and harmonica work, this guy was pretty kick ass on the skins as well...

[Edited 12/9/04 18:06pm]

With many of the above mentioned...I think as far as a stylish drummer...I enjoyed Patty Schmel of Hole.

chickengrease said:

Actually I think Stevie is pretty widely regarded as a great drummer. Other people who are out there today? hmmmm. Can't think of too many I'm a real big fan of. One of my favorite drummers of all time is Elvin Jones.

i don't know anybody who can beat Neil Peart. The man is amazing.

JonSnow said:

I've watched some Rush concert footage and yes he's a damn good drummer. However, I've been more impressed by a few almost unheard of jazz drummers who've performed in my area (most famous of them probably Louis Nash).

paligap said:

Just a few of your favorites, eh? LOL

How about Cindy Blackmon (think that's her last name) - she was Lenny Kravitz drummer for the longest.

poetbear68 said:

Oh Yeah! I forgot Cindy! She's cool, 'cause she's always ways done both the Bebop drumming with some of the top jazz artists, while doing the rock drumming with Lenny at the same time(she also put out a couple of albums on her own, but I think they may be out of print now)...

I also forgot(along with theAudience and Chickengrease's additions):

Steve Smith (Journey/ Victor Wooten/Vital Information/Scott Henderson, etc.)
and
Terri Lynne Carrington (John Scofield, Wayne shorter, Patrice Rushen,
etc.)

Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste (The Meters, Pointer Sisters, Neville Brothers, Robert Palmer, etc.)

...
[Edited 12/10/04 11:55am]

the drummer for Tool is pretty intense.

(even though he turned out to be a huge asshole)Lars Ulrich is an excellent drummer.

I have to disagree with Lars. He was a decent drummer and peaked on Justice, however he has made no improvements over the years.

If you saw the MTV ICON, he could barely play battery in time. He was one of the first to do the double bass metal thing, but now every drummer who picks up sticks can do it better.

My favorites:

Vinnie Coliauta
Stewart Copeland
Jim Loughlin now percussionist with MOE>formerly one hell of a drummer
Terry Bozzio

jacktheimprovident said:

No, he's not.

Supernova said:

You know I left quite a few cats out because I read poetbear68's statement "better drummers out there today" as meaning living drummers.

If wasn't for that, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams would have definitely made my list.

(couldn't remember if the James Brown drummers were still alive)

I purposely left Bonham off to raise the ire of you and you know who.

Regarding Max Roach, if you can get your hands on this...



...snag it!

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Supernova said:

RIP :

Elvin Jones
Tony Thompson
John Bonham
Tony Williams

While we're on the subject, does anybody know why Mitch Mitchell virtually stopped recording after Jimi? he was one of the baddest on the planet...

theAudience said:

Ahh. Blame the medicine, not me. I didn't read it well enough.

Besides, my ire doesn't get raised by such things.

poetbear68 said:

Now that I do read it...I don't think most of Prince's drummers have shaped his sound nearly as much as Prince's programming has.

And I'll never understand why he didn't use Blackwell for the Musicology album, because Blackwell's style can't help but influence his sound at this point in his career.

Supernova said:

Just get the Clifford Brown/Max Roach record. Better than meds.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm