Zero Mercury Drummer
Senior Member
This Washington Post blogger didn't like the show much..
This is not an invitation to criticize the author, just wondering what the take is on his comments of "indulgence" and BC being too loud.
(I missed the show, but got to see Bozzio solo drumming the night before! DC is busting with drummers this month. Weckl was in town also. )
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...4b1482-3a82-11e4-a023-1d61f7f31a05_story.html
By Michael J. West September 12 at 3:06 PM
Fusion, that “prog” 1970s blending of rock and jazz, means either next-level artistry or next-level self-indulgence, depending on whom you ask. The kit set up on Thursday night for drummer Billy Cobham — 12 pieces, plus five cymbals, a hi-hat and at least three Yamaha octopads — dangerously suggested the latter. Cobham’s Spectrum 40 quartet was at the Howard Theatre in celebration of the drummer’s 1973 album “Spectrum,” a fusion landmark that still retains its experimental edge. This suggested the brighter interpretation. The performance at the Howard took the darker path.
Cobham was the greater part of the problem. Right out of the gate with the opening “Sphere of Influence,” he was deafeningly loud; he often subsumed guitarist Dean Brown and keyboardist Gary Husband. It continued into “Fragolino” as well, raising the question of whether a kit with two bass drums really needed so much amplification. And Cobham used both. Indeed, he often seemed hell-bent on engaging every one of the drums in each tune, playing needlessly busy and cacophonous lines. It worked well in the long break that opened “Stratus,” building a real melodic conception, but as accompaniment did not do any favors to Brown’s intricate fingerwork, or what seemed like sexy fills from Husband’s Nord keyboards.
Perhaps this was why, given solo space, Brown and Husband also went overboard. The keyboardist was a glutton on “Stratus,” Cobham’s signature tune, becoming more excessive as he went. Brown, on the closing funk jam (unnamed but sounding suspiciously like Billy Preston’s 1972 hit “Will It Go Round In Circles”), was not only indulgent but cliche, incorporating simple arpeggios that he layered with distortion to sound more elaborate, along with blues-rock licks that were all the rage in the album-rock era.
On the other hand, Ric Fierabracci held his own on a fretless electric bass. He was always audible and nearly always impressive. He had to be so on “Stratus,” whose bass line is the point (despite Husband). But Fierabracci proved his worth in the opening of “Heaven,” combining low bass throbs with pretty, guitaristic figures. “Heaven,” in fact, was the set’s highlight. Everyone, Cobham included, followed the bass’s lead into a softer, more sumptuous groove than usual, and the improvisations were tasteful and inspired. Brown, in particular, developed his solo beautifully. It was the exception that proved the rule.
Or perhaps not. Context is everything at a concert, and the vast majority of the crowd — which, unlike this writer, was old enough to remember Cobham in his “Spectrum” days — loved the show’s every moment, giving the band ovation after ovation and yelping in joy at the most decadent moments. Maybe you just had to be there.
West is a freelance writer.
This is not an invitation to criticize the author, just wondering what the take is on his comments of "indulgence" and BC being too loud.
(I missed the show, but got to see Bozzio solo drumming the night before! DC is busting with drummers this month. Weckl was in town also. )
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...4b1482-3a82-11e4-a023-1d61f7f31a05_story.html
By Michael J. West September 12 at 3:06 PM
Fusion, that “prog” 1970s blending of rock and jazz, means either next-level artistry or next-level self-indulgence, depending on whom you ask. The kit set up on Thursday night for drummer Billy Cobham — 12 pieces, plus five cymbals, a hi-hat and at least three Yamaha octopads — dangerously suggested the latter. Cobham’s Spectrum 40 quartet was at the Howard Theatre in celebration of the drummer’s 1973 album “Spectrum,” a fusion landmark that still retains its experimental edge. This suggested the brighter interpretation. The performance at the Howard took the darker path.
Cobham was the greater part of the problem. Right out of the gate with the opening “Sphere of Influence,” he was deafeningly loud; he often subsumed guitarist Dean Brown and keyboardist Gary Husband. It continued into “Fragolino” as well, raising the question of whether a kit with two bass drums really needed so much amplification. And Cobham used both. Indeed, he often seemed hell-bent on engaging every one of the drums in each tune, playing needlessly busy and cacophonous lines. It worked well in the long break that opened “Stratus,” building a real melodic conception, but as accompaniment did not do any favors to Brown’s intricate fingerwork, or what seemed like sexy fills from Husband’s Nord keyboards.
Perhaps this was why, given solo space, Brown and Husband also went overboard. The keyboardist was a glutton on “Stratus,” Cobham’s signature tune, becoming more excessive as he went. Brown, on the closing funk jam (unnamed but sounding suspiciously like Billy Preston’s 1972 hit “Will It Go Round In Circles”), was not only indulgent but cliche, incorporating simple arpeggios that he layered with distortion to sound more elaborate, along with blues-rock licks that were all the rage in the album-rock era.
On the other hand, Ric Fierabracci held his own on a fretless electric bass. He was always audible and nearly always impressive. He had to be so on “Stratus,” whose bass line is the point (despite Husband). But Fierabracci proved his worth in the opening of “Heaven,” combining low bass throbs with pretty, guitaristic figures. “Heaven,” in fact, was the set’s highlight. Everyone, Cobham included, followed the bass’s lead into a softer, more sumptuous groove than usual, and the improvisations were tasteful and inspired. Brown, in particular, developed his solo beautifully. It was the exception that proved the rule.
Or perhaps not. Context is everything at a concert, and the vast majority of the crowd — which, unlike this writer, was old enough to remember Cobham in his “Spectrum” days — loved the show’s every moment, giving the band ovation after ovation and yelping in joy at the most decadent moments. Maybe you just had to be there.
West is a freelance writer.