Letterman drum solo week II

[Clint Hopkins]

GO GAVIN!!

Yeah! I'm staying up for this one!!

[MRhet]

keep in mind...Letterman isn't having drummers on so drummers will tune in . They're on this week to entertain his normal viewers .
some dude and his old lady at home aren't nit-picking Royster's performance . they're saying wow that guy was amazing just like Dave had hoped they would and will hopefully tune in again tonight .

Yes -- that's basically what I meant about our trained incapacity to enjoy. Time/Place/Occasion are cornerstones for us.

[Andrew<3'sVinnie]

Can we all at least agree on this negative viewpoint: The backing band sucked! My god those horns were terrible. Maybe it was the mix?

[gretsch-o-rama]

Can we all at least agree on this negative viewpoint: The backing band sucked! My god those horns were terrible. Maybe it was the mix?

Yeah I thought something was off too. Honestly, my thought was they were doing it intentionally but idk...

[Gavin Harrison]

OK Guys - I've done it. For better or worse it's done. That is a really high pressure situation - (I just saw Tony Royster in the hotel and he felt the same) and for me being someone who NEVER plays solos - it was a real challenge too.
I tried to get the mix guy to put some reverb on the drums - but there's only so much meddling you can do.

I'm too tired to stay up and watch it tonight. I'll see it on YouTube tomorrow with all the comments like "drummer X" is so much better - why didn't they get "drummer Y" instead. My favourite is "drummer Z" and this guy sucks ass etc etc.

Hope you enjoy it
Gavin

[Terry Branam]

Can't wait, Gav.

Congrats!! I can only imagine the pressure...

Playing a freaking extended drum solo in front of millions of viewers on TV. Unreal!!

I know it'll be great!

[Spagnuolo]

None of these guys should be criticised... they are all great and tony roysters solo i thought was very cool and powerful! Hey come on guys now that the DRUMS are centre stage finally, why are we criticizing>???? Thanks to Letterman!!!! a great idea man!

ok now get Colaiuta.

[Andrew<3'sVinnie]

OK Guys - I've done it. For better or worse it's done. That is a really high pressure situation - (I just saw Tony Royster in the hotel and he felt the same) and for me being someone who NEVER plays solos - it was a real challenge too.
I tried to get the mix guy to put some reverb on the drums - but there's only so much meddling you can do.

I'm too tired to stay up and watch it tonight. I'll see it on YouTube tomorrow with all the comments like "drummer X" is so much better - why didn't they get "drummer Y" instead. My favourite is "drummer Z" and this guy sucks ass etc etc.

Hope you enjoy it
Gavin

Haha Gavin I'm sure you killed it.

Did it feel more high pressure than playing an MD Fest or something like that? I'd maybe assume you'd feel like you are under less critical eye.

[Riddim]

Yea, no disrespect. Tony is a monster player in this new fusion approach to gospel and r+b that has been going on for years. IMO his drums sound flabby and dead.( I agree with Frank about DW's). I also don't for the life of me understand the style and song choice. Swing is not Tony's strength and you can tell. To top it off, IMO that solo said nothing to me. I can appreciate the cross over licks, fast hands, and double bass drumming, but not when it's used like that. Why can't music be played? Play a phrase and build on it. I've heard other fusion type "gospel chops" players say more in 4 bars. Maybe I'm too critical and maybe he was nervous. It just seems like with all of those accolades, he should have been more prepared. He's better than this, I've seen it.

I thought he did a great job at getting over in this sort of context .

He picked a tune everyone knew, and associated drum solos with. Right there he had the audience. Then he built from there. Yes, he didn't play the form all the way through and you wouldn't get away with that at Small's, but this isn't Smalls. He played the gig, played well, and kept the crowd. I'm guessing there wasn't a whole lot of channel switching then.

[Rafael Dolinski]

I liked Tony's performance, waiting for Gavin's video!!