SKF NOTE: For Steve Gadd fans, this is a 1972 Down Beat record review of Chuck Mangione’s Alive! album. Not available in MP3 (Rats!). But this is some great Steve Gadd, in concert on a four-piece Gretsch drumset. Check out St. Thomas. “Fleet of beat,” indeed.
1972 Down Beat Record Review
“Alive!” LP Front Cover
“Alive!” LP Back Cover
SKF NOTE: Looking at this interview last night for the first time in probably 30 years, I am surprised to see Gary Chester’s feature interview fourth in line in the April 1983 Modern Drummer, behind Jack DeJohnette, Artimus Pyle, and The Pros: On Bass Drums. Today, because of his subsequent popularity as a drum teacher, Gary Chester certainly would have been the second feature. He might even have given Jack DeJohnette a run for the Modern Drummer cover.
In my August 19, 2014 Life Beyond the Cymbals post, Meeting Gary Chester, I explain how I met Gary and how this interview came to pass. He was a character for sure. But he left behind a great legacy of recordings, drum teaching methods, and an untold number of students. I’ve spoken with a few of Gary’s students. They all loved studying with him.
MD Features Editor Rick Mattingly took most of the photos here at Gary’s home. Rick edited, and Modern Drummer published, Gary’s New Breed method book. I’m guessing these photos were taken during one of their sessions working on Gary’s book.
One more point: A good place to learn more about Gary Chester is the Gary Chester the Drummer Facebook page.
Here then, is the April 1983 Modern Drummer Gary Chester interview.
[SKF NOTE: 6/17/17 – Gary Chester’s full interview is now available on MD‘s Archive Page.]
SKF NOTE: If you’re reading this interview, chances are you know Paul English is Willie Nelson‘s longtime friend and drummer. This was a phone interview, but I did get to meet Paul a short time later when Willie performed at Town Hall in New York City.
I’ve always seen a similarity with the Paul English/Willie Nelson relationship and the Duke Ellington/Sonny Greer relationship. Both for their longevity, as well as their musical relationships. Neither Greer or English are go-to drummers for anyone looking for monster chops. But they were exactly right for Ellington’s and Nelson’s music.
As Paul English explains it in this interview, “That’s one thing about playing country music or the old songs. We’re not playin’ what we heard. We’re playin’ what we lived a long time ago.”
[SKF NOTE: 6/17/17 – Paul English’s full interview is now available on MD‘s Archive Page.]
SKF NOTE: My James Black interview appeared in the December 1982 Modern Drummer. The first person to get me excited about James Black’s drumming was Jaimoe. We were listening to records and Jaimoe asked me if I’d ever heard James Black. I said, “No.” He pulled out an old Riverside record of the Adderley Brothers, placed it on the turntable, put the needle on the record and said, “Listen to this!”
Jaimoe also raved about James Black’s drumming on Yusef Lateef‘s Live at Pep’s album.
Many months later, Jim Keltner called me from New Orleans where he was touring with Bob Dylan. One of the first people Jim called when he was there was James Black. James came to the Dylan concert and he and Jim stayed up until the wee hours talking drums.
And in an MD interview (Colloquim III) with Freddie Waits, Billy Hart and Horacee Arnold, Billy Hart said, “I don’t care who goes to New Orleans, they’re in for a shock as long as James Black is there.”
The challenge for me at the time was I couldn’t find any of the James Black albums drummers were raving about. They were out-of-print and iTunes and Amazon weren’t invented. Outside of the albums I heard at Jaimoe’s house, the only James Black album I could get my hands on and study was Wynton Marsalis‘s Fathers and Sons album. Why the producers put James on a heavily muffled drumset is a mystery and a disappointment. He plays well, but to my ears he sounds as if he’s uncomfortable, forced to compensate for the deadened drums. As if, in split second timing, Mr. Black is hearing open drum sounds, creating open drum sounds; then compensating when his drumset doesn’t sound or respond the way he’s hearing.
A couple of caveats to the 1982 interview. Jaimoe’s name is spelled “Jaimoe Johanson” because that was his preference at the time I wrote the introduction to this interview. Jaimoe no longer uses a last name.
This was the first (and only?) time I worked with New Orleans based photographer Pat Jolly. She did a very good job.
This interview was done in two phone sessions. I was in my MD office. James Black was home, I believe, in New Orleans.
[SKF NOTE: 6/17/17 – James Black’s full interview is now available on MD‘s Archive Page.]
SKF NOTE: This week I came across this 8×10 glossy of a smiling Steve Gadd given to me by Rick Mattingly circa 1982. Rick took a number of good photos when he was Features Editor at Modern Drummer. I remember admiring this one and Rick giving me a copy. Thank you, Rick.
Steve Gadd (Photo by Rick Mattingly)
Life Beyond the Cymbals
A Blog about Music and Popular Culture
Online Drum Tracks | Drum Recording | Remote Session Drumming | Pro Session Drummer
Life Beyond the Cymbals
Writing About and Reviewing Classical Music and Jazz
Life Beyond the Cymbals
A Drummer's Look at Drums and Drumming
Scott K Fish 
You must be logged in to post a comment.