Take the intro to Fred. The single hi hat mote at the end of it, why did he do that? Different timbre, it's like a tag, but it also connotes a feeling, a suggestion...
It tells me something...but it's obviously non-verbal. And no special coordination or left hand wankery...nothing of the sort. But it kills and is drumming as marvelous as any pyrotechnic display that you could watch on youtube. The middle snare drum break...why in the world did he play what he played there? Where did that expression come from?
The metaphysics of Tony's playing, maybe even the molecularization of his playing, alright, are to me, the highest form of musical performance that I've ever heard.
It's beyond any technique, it is more intellectual than merely playing harder and faster. It's elemental to the human spirit...it is hard to put into words but I know it's there.
I watched the movie Altered States the other day, it's like that. A window of perception to the mind, after all, that's what language is, as well as non-verbal communication.
Could be why he hit so hard and played so loud, it might have been the only way he could deliver his message, by forcing it out of his body in that mode.
Could be that more musicians need to be freer and more open with smoking pot.
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