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The Advantage of Jazz Versatility

by Danny Gottlieb

Having been a professional jazz and studio musician for over 30 years, I have come to realize the value of having such a diverse background. For whatever reason, I seem to be the type of drummer that enjoys playing in almost any situation, if the music is good, and with conscientious and accomplished musicians. I feel lucky to have had this type of musical experience, and the good fortune to be enjoy the company of great players. And, as a result, these experiences allow me to offer a wide range of diversity to a band leader, when looking for a drummer for hire. I was thinking about this recently, as I just performed for a week in Switzerland and Germany with the George Gruntz Big Band. I was reflecting on exactly why I would get called to do this gig, and I realized that it was probably my ability to cover a wide range of styles adequately, as every single tune that we played covered a different style. Here is a description of some of the players, and music that I just experienced with these players. I hope that readers will find this interesting, and hopefully this article will be of assistance when looking for information on how particular groups around the world operate.

George Gruntz is an amazing Swiss pianist, arranger, composer and band leader. He has had touring and recording big bands for more than 25 years, and the thing that makes his bands interesting, is that he hires soloists to fill each chair. At a performance, he designates at least two solos per night to each player, which avoids the boredom of just sitting in a section. He has had quite a few famous musicians in his bands–drummers have included Daniel Humair, Elvin Jones, Adam Nussbaum, John Riley, and myself. I have been playing off and on with his band for over 15 years, and have recorded on 3-4 cd's. I also toured China two different times with the band in 1993 and 1998.

This recent tour consisted of 4 days of rehearsal in Basel, Switzerland, and then 3 Swiss gigs and one in Karlsruhe, Germany. As I list some of the material, and the style of drumming used for each piece, you can see the diversity involved.

The first piece performed was "Loose Cannon", a composition by the great guitarist John Scofiled, and featured a trumpet solo, a sax solo, and a piano solo by George. It was a three bar rhythm phrase, with a loose jazz-rock triplet feel. It got very intense in the middle of the piece, and at one point went into hard swing. so the type of playing I needed to perform for this piece was a loose triplet jazz-rock-Scofield feel, with enough excitement to induce interplay with the soloists, but musical enough to let the horn backgrounds and melodies shine through.

The second piece was a combination of a rumba and a double time samba. It was called Valencia, and was written by the great trombonist and tuba master, Dave Bargeron, arranged by George. I needed to play latin, samba, bolero, and jazz in this piece. There were tempo changes, changes for double time to half time, interplay with the band, and with the soloists.

The third piece was straight ahead jazz, and featured saxophonist Larry Schneider and bassist Herbie Kopf. For this I needed straight ahead jazz experience. The fourth piece featured funky sax payer Nils Landgren. He himself has a hit recording on the market, playing funky versions of ABBA songs. He goes wild on the trombone, and this was a funky, Weather Report type song written by master trombonist and composer Ray Anderson. I had to funk and rock out on this one, and play free at a point as well.

The last piece of the first set was a jazz composition, "I Mean You", by Thelonious Monk, although this feel featured a funky New Orleans snare drum groove. It also featured the great trombonist Earl McIntyre, as a soloist–it was an honor, as Earl had played with the Mel Lewis' Big Band for over 20 years. And... I got be featured as a soloist for a few choruses.

The second half of the program featured a really diverse set of pieces, taken from George's jazz Opera., "The Magic of a Flute", which was loosely based on Mozart's "The Magic Flute". I had rehearsed and recorded it last year, with the NDR Big Band in Hamburg, and as a result I was somewhat familiar with it. It featured a jazz waltz that eventually speeds up as fast as you can go; a jazz-rock ballad with 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 measures; A wild "Rape" scene where you play free and hit intense sounds, and then play off the vocal, along with an improvising, intense, free trombone soloist the great Gary Valente, another New Orleans second line groove, another slow jazz waltz, a funky tune, a jazz ballad, a fast jazz song, and a typical swing tune. All in one concert!!!!

So you can see that from a concert experience like this, the drummer needs to be very experienced in a wide range of styles, with a basis in the jazz tradition. It is not unlike a broadway show, although here you need to be a good jazz rhythm section team, as well. You need to be able to play as an accompanist with a soloist, and as the driving force and pulse with a big band.

How do you prepare for such a situation? My advice is to learn by listening. When I first started visiting Mel lewis, at his house, when I was in high school, he played me recordings and tapes. He played every style well, and I would study the entire lineage of jazz drumming during the past 100 years. There is so much information available via the internet, and you can compile an archive of study material like never before. I also suggest my 6 Mel Bay DVD's the upcoming Joe Morello DVD, and many of the other drummer study sources available.

Here is a quick jazz overview:
1) Early Drummers of the 20's- Baby Dodds, Kaiser Marshall, Ben Pollack, etc.
2) Chick Webb and drummers of the 30's, including Zutty Singelton.
3) Gene Krupa breaks drumming visibility wide open.
4) Buddy Rich takes it to new heights
5) Jo Jones illustrates a new swing with Basie
6) Sid Catlett grooves and establishes himself as a master
7) Davey Togh sets new standards with Woody Herman
8) Don Lamond adds a new dimension to drum ensemble playing, with incredible
individuality
10) Shelly Mann adds new musicality
11) Kenny Clarke helps invent be-bop drumming
12) Max Roach plays with new musicality
13) Roy Haynes paves the way for the modern jazz drummer
14) Philly Joe Jones illustrates a new style with Miles Davis
15) Jimmy Cobb plays incredibly musically with Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery
16) Tony Williams changes drumming with Miles Davis
17) Elvin Jones Changes Drumming with John Coltrane
18) Paul Motian establishes a ne style with Bill Evans
19) Morello innovates with Brubeck
20) Ringo establishes new rock drumming with beatles
21) Billy Cobham changes drumming with Mahavishnu Orchestra
22) Jack De Johnette changes drumming with Miles Davis
and on it goes...

Good luck in your quest for creativity and personal growth.
Danny