 And, you know, I think the original recording of Ravel's Bolero, probably whoever played percussion on that, will never have It played better than that. |
| I play a percussion instrument, not a musical saw; it needs no amplification. Where it's needed, they put a microphone in front of the bass drum. But, I don't think it's necessary to play that way every night. |
| I can't sit down long enough to absorb any kind of learning. |
| I mean, I think I liked every band I ever played in because each band was different, each band had a different concept, and each band leader was different... different personalities and musical tastes. |
| I think the drummer should sit back there and play some drums, and never mind about the tunes. Just get up there and wail behind whoever is sitting up there playing the solo. And this is what is lacking, definitely lacking in music today. |
| Almost everything I've done, I've done through my own creativity. I don't think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers. |
| So, practice, particularly after you've attained a job, any kind of job, like playing with a four piece band, that's... an opportunity to develop. |
| It takes us about four or five days to get an album out. |
| But, I don't think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can't create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that's written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom. |
| They're simply following what was laid down in front and they play the same thing. So, there's no great challenge In being a classical drummer. |
| I think it's a fallacy that the harder you practice the better you get. |
| As far as music school goes. I walked through Berkeley one time to visit with some people I know. |
| So, to come In with a set routine it's something I've never believed in. It should depend on how you feel, because you play what you feel. |
| Every drummer that had a name, had a name because of his individual playing. He didn't sound like anybody else, So everybody that I ever listened to, in some form, influenced my taste. |
| And, well of course, Count Basie, and I think all of the black bands of the late thirties and early forties, bands with real players. They had an influence on everybody, not just drummers. |
| To have everything written for you... It's not really creating. That's why I think symphony drummers are so limited. They 're limited to exactly what was played a hundred years before them by a thousand other drummers. |
| You only get better by playing. |
| But primarily, the drummer's supposed to sit back there and swing the band. |
| Well, I never really practiced because I never had the opportunity to practice. |
| If he's a true symphony artist, he knows better than that because he knows that the only truly creative musician is the jazz musician. |
