Neal Wilkinson talks the “masters” of drumming and Carole King musical Beautiful
By Rhythm magazine
“The thing I find most challenging…on…every gig, is to play creatively in a song setting. Rather than playing millions of notes, …I’ve always been focused on…the flow, the groove, the choices of things you play and the palette you choose from. Even my sound, drum sizes, tuning, it all goes together to make it work.
“It’s what makes Purdie different to Gadd. It can be the simplest thing but often it’s…that you’ve chosen to…play [or not play] something. I think your…choice of what you play, or don’t play.., defines you as a player.”
“…I love Tony [Williams] and Elvin [Jones] because when you hear them play behind Miles or Coltrane the time is so strong [and] undeniable, but people tend to forget about that in those guys, they tend to think of them as these monster drummers that always played millions of notes.
Scott K Fish 