Most Under-rated Drummers

Dave Douglas; was the drummer for Reliant K, for a good while but left about a year ago I believe. There isn't much info on him on the web either, which I don't like. But I love to play with the former songs he did.
 
I listen to a boat load of jazz music. Here are my picks for underrated jazz drummers. Sorry if any of these are repeats -

Donald Bailey
Ed Blackwell
John Riley
Paul Motian
Jerry Granelli
Shadow Wilson
Jimmy Cobb
Jeff Ballard
Earl Carter
Joey Baron
Gene Lake
Colin Bailey
Albert Tootie Heath
Matt Wilson
Shelly Manne
Kenny Clarke
Joe Dukes

Man I could go on and on. Another drummer who I think is so underrated is Raymond Pounds. His stick work with Stevie Wonder on "Songs in the Key of Life" and with the band Afrique was supremely funky.
I agree with a lot of these guys, especially Donald Bailey and Ed Blackwell, but Im gonna say that in the jazz world, jeff ballard is not underrated, I go to a jazz school and he is ALL the rage, to the point where Ive heard so much of him, honestly it doesnt do much for me anymore, hes a great player, but definitely not underrated.
 
Adam Deitch
Daddy Dave
Eric Harland
TOM LENARDO
 
Tommy Lee.
Rick Allen.
Joey Kramer.
Matt Sorum.
 
Pat wilson from weezer.
Oh, and how is Tommy Lee Under-rated?
 
No way is Matt Cameron under rated!! Not where I come from anyway. A fair few of my friends are heavily influenced by him. Including myself to some degree.

QUOTE]

For me, the people I know don't have a clue who Matt is. You don't really hear or read about him. But it's good to hear he influenced you and your pals.
 
Pat wilson from weezer.
Oh, and how is Tommy Lee Under-rated?

People don't rave about tommys playing as much as they do about his personal life. His set ups are chessy but the man can play. Seing him play the first time gave me a whole lot of encouragement to keep on going.
 
Sorry if this's a repeat. Prairy Prince, drummer with The Tubes probably tops my list of underrated drummers. Paul Kersey from Canadian rock band, Max Webster, comes in a close second. Played a great drum "duet" with Neil Peart live on the Max Webster track, Battlescar. Both Prairy and Paul are my kind of quietly innovative drummers offering real power and a funk edge to their rock playing. And yes, they usually "Keep It Simple"!!
 
Forgive me if I posted this again, but in my humble opinion,Frank Beard of ZZ Top is very underrated. But maybe he just doesn't seek all the publicity others do. Not sure.

The guy went to high school about an hour away from me in the 60's and cut his drumming teeth in a strip club in Dallas playing drums. He was in several bands with Dusty Hill then they teamed up with the Rev. Willie G. and the rest, they say, is history. His shuffle is legendary around these parts. LOL

Just the group's longevity is amazing. They've been at it for over 35 years. Back in the day, in 1976 or 77 they played an arena in my home town and had live cattle onstage! I was 15 and was sitting in the balcony with a friend and my ears were still ringing the next day they were so loud. The first set Billy and Dusty wore white rhinestone suits and white hats. Second set they came out wearing blue jeans, worn boots, and straws. My friend and I sat back and enjoyed the bottle of rum we snuck in and eyeballed the chicks! Good times!!
 
man i don't normally mark out to anyone but i have to throw casey grillo in this mix !
unfortunatly most will never see him do more than what hes does in kamelot . but during this clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si8_M1bgO4g he did so much more including some latin beats . also can lay down some nice big band sound ! also an all-a - round nice guy and patient teacher to my daughter .
if you watch the video you can see my daughter at the end of the isle with the green shirt . this clinic is what got her started .
 
i know there are a lot of Gary Husband fans here (and DESERVEDLY so), but Phil Gould also did some great stuff with Level 42.
 
Patrick Keeler, of The Greenhornes and The Raconteurs.

I completely agree with this. He has a really cool style that I'm yet to hear anywhere else.

My addition would be Kris Myers from Umphrey's McGee. Perfect parts, seamless execution, perfect groove, great chops and use of them... He's probably what I would call the perfect drummer.
 
I just watched the Casey Grillo vid. Man, that was impressive on the double bass. Thanks for posting that.
 
I think that the Staus Quo-drummer, Matt Letley is a very under-rated drummer.

The beats he play is simple but he always adds some little things to it, to spice it all upp.

I have seen him live 4 times and the solo he does in the middle of the concert is always of very high quality.

Here is a sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M-JLTXbHlM
 
Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie. I just watched him on DVD at a 2006 drum convention (can't remember name of the DVD), but the dude was on stage doing increadible things.

He started off on just a snare drum doing rudiments and flam combinations. A bit later his tech brought out the bass drum. He did a snare / bass combo thing which was amazing. A bit later the tech brought out the hats. Then the floor tom and a ride cymbal, followed by the ride tom, and another cymbal. McGerr is incredible!

After showing his diversity, he stepped off the kit and simply talked a bit about his philosophy to drumming which made perfect sense.

What amazed me about his technique was it's foundation in traditional rumimental drumming, covering flams, paradiddles, etc. I looked him up today on Wikipedia and learned he taught at the Seattle Drum school, which now makes perfect sense and helps explain his traditonal approach.

Next paycheck I have to buy some Death Cab for Cutie CDs just to hear him play.
 
Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie. I just watched him on DVD at a 2006 drum convention (can't remember name of the DVD), but the dude was on stage doing increadible things.

good one! i almost added him to this thread myself!

he's probably not so well known because he's kind of a quiet, in the background type of drummer, but he does some very rhythmically interesting things with death cab. i love listening to their music and picking out the cool things he does. sometimes you'll hear him reference other drummers by playing things they're famous for. he's super smart and knows everything about the instrument.
 
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