Peart's reflections on Burning for Buddy drummers |
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In 1995 Modern Drummer interview about the making of Burning for Buddy, Neil Peart commented on all the drummers who had participated in the project.
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As the main instigator and producer of Burning For Buddy, Neil Peart had the unique position of being "behind the glass" while several of today's finest drummers recorded for him. Here are his thoughts on their musical contributions.
Simon Phillips
"Simon was incredibly meticulous, very professional, and prepared. He came in with his own charts, and he had his own ideas of how the songs should be performed. He introduced dynamics in to the arrangements that weren't there previously, which was also a nice touch.Dave Weckl
"I requested that he do 'Dancing Men' because I knew he'd do a great job with it, and it was the track I wanted to open the album with. He nailed it almost immediately — and that arrangement is challenging. Simon wanted to record 'Good-Bye Yesterday,' so be did that, too.
"Simon had also prepared 'Norwegian Wood,' so even though it was late in the day, we thought we'd try to get a take. I was concerned because most of the guys in the band had gigs at night — doing Broadway shows like Damn Yankees, Crazy For You, and Kiss Of The Spider Woman. So at the very last point of a very tiring day, Simon and the whole band did a beautiful job on 'Norwegian Wood.' Simon played brilliantly. He's known for his tremendous technique, but he actually impressed me even more with his musicality. I can understand why he's achieved the high status he has."
"Dave has a very methodical way of working, and he's very self critical. He knew when he had to pull back the tempo or push it a bit. He had beautiful-sounding drums and cymbals and a very musical approach to his instrument.Steve Gadd
"Dave told me a good story about one of the tunes he recorded. 'Time Check.' When he was sixteen years old he used to play along with that song. He used to take his parents' stereo and slow the turntable down to learn the part, so the song had a special emotional appeal for him. He gave a knockout performance on it. Although it isn't on the first release, it will be on the next. But 'Time Check' was the song that had a special place in his heart, and that's such a common image for any drummer to take a turntable or tape player and slow down the tune to figure out what's being played. I think everybody's been through that."
"A lot of people might be surprised to hear that he was nervous about the session. I greeted him and asked how he was, and he said, 'I'll be so glad when this is over.' I thought to myself, why should you be nervous? You're Steve Gadd! His version of 'Love For Sale' has become my favorite of everything we recorded. I just loved the feel he created. Plus, the solos that the different musicians played on it were superb.Steve Smith
Steve was self-critical in the same way that Dave was. He was very critical of what he was doing and how it should be, and he wanted to go back and do it again — I had to stop him and say, 'Look, it's beautiful. Stop now.' He was someone who exemplifies the quote I once heard, 'No art is ever finished, it's only abandoned.' He demands so much of himself, and consequently was tending to sense flaws when there were none, where the time was perfect and his execution flawless."
"Steve was one of the few guys who I had met before. I've known him for a few years now, and it's been a thrill to see how he's developed as a player. He just knocked all of us over with his musicality, his precision, and just how far he has taken his craft over the years. He is a master drummer. It's a beautiful thing to see someone in possession of such a high level of mastery that he is enjoying right now. He's earned it. It's just inspirational to see what he has done.Matt Sorum
"I think what is really astounding about Steve is that his abilities go a lot deeper than sheer technique. He has a musical sense to his playing that really elevates the music. You can certainly hear it on the track on the first release, 'Nutville.' Steve played great with the band, and he certainly inspired me!"
"Matt was just a total joy to work with. As far as I'm concerned he's a prince among men. Matt was so excited to be there, and he seemed so thrilled to hear himself with that band — he really kicked them. After one of the takes one of the horn players called out, "Hey, who is this guy?" And Matt stood up, struck a pose, and said, 'I'm the heavy-metal guy.' He had a great sense of humor.Manu Katché
"The following day he sent over three big trays of fruit and cheese, two cases of Heineken for the band, a bottle of scotch for me, and a bottle of champagne for Cathy Rich, plus he sent notes to everybody. He was just so grateful and he expressed his gratefulness so beautifully. It was a really nice thing to do."
"Manu surprised me. I've always loved his playing, and he was somebody I really wanted to have for this project. I think he's a real ground-breaker. I thought I had a pretty good idea how he played, but I was wrong! You should hear the drum solo that he played on 'No Jive' — it's insane. I couldn't believe it. It's weird and yet it's perfect. When he's playing for someone else he plays in supportive and very fluid way. So when he played this solo he surprised me.Billy Cobham
"Manu played on the session with percussionist Mino Cinelu. They knew each other and had worked together before; they did a lot of their conversing in French. They were both just so personable and so soulful as people and as players. Everybody remarked that there seemed to be a warm glow in the room while those two were working. In both of their cases their playing is certainly very warm, and their hearts are too."
"Bill is such a consummate professional, and I have to say I'm indebted to him. He recorded on one of the last days of the session. At that point there were a few tunes that I really wanted to have recorded, and without even knowing the arrangements he came in and did them. In Buddy's band, as you know, there were no drum charts, so Bill used the lead trumpet part as his guide, and he sight-read the tracks. Everyone thinks of him as a great technician, but he's also a skilled reader. I joked with him that I really appreciated his 'taking requests.'Rod Morgenstein
"Bill was very interpretive in his style, which really interests me. His style is so seemingly unstructured. It's so contrary to the way that I think. He's happy to try any number of different ways of approaching a tune. I found that to be very interesting."
"I've known Rod for years, and he's a favorite of mine as a player and as a person. He was nervous about doing it, like the rest of us were, but he came in and did a good job very quickly. He was really well-prepared.Max Roach
"The tune we originally sent him. 'Good News,' is a really long piece. After he received it he called me up and said, "This piece is eleven minutes long. Are you sure you want me to do this one?' I got worried, but I had the record of Buddy's version, so I listened to it. I felt it was such a great piece of music that I had to say to Rod, 'Go ahead, but we'll have to record something shorter too.' I got him to do 'Machine' as well, which is another tune that I really liked. And as expected, he did a great job."
"Max didn't want to record with the band, so we thought that we'd have him play some of his solo pieces. I told him the story about 'The Drum Also Waltzes,' that it had been passed on to me by another drummer. I was doing it in my current solo and Steve Smith was using it as a clinic exercise to teach people. It seemed to please Max that an idea of his had survived and continued to instruct new generations of drummers.Kenny Aronoff
"When he recorded he was the only one there; the band wasn't around. We had the lights softened. Before he began his piece he would wait for our cue. He'd have his sticks raised, and after we gave him the go-ahead, he'd take a few more seconds and then begin. It was a beautiful moment and Max approached his playing with so much dignity. I was very impressed with his respect for the drums.
"The hard thing for me was choosing how to present these solo pieces on the album. I didn't want this to be a totally drum-focused record with lots of solos because I didn't want to alienate any listeners. But I actually got the idea for the solution from a Brazilian record I have that has a little percussion interlude that just weaves in and out from time to time. I always thought that was a nice idea.
"The piece creates a very hypnotic feel — just a quiet, repetitive pattern. It's almost like a heartbeat. And due to a slight accident that happened during the mixing stages - where a lengthy delay was applied to the solo — the hypnotic effect is even enhanced. The effect worked so well, we ended up keeping it. I was very happy with the way it turned out."
"Kenny is such an energetic person, and he came in and just delivered on his two tunes. He and I had a bit in common because we're both known as rock drummers, and while he has training in other areas of percussion, he makes his living playing rock 'n' roll drums. We both challenged ourselves by playing tunes that were more jazz-leaning, and I was really thrilled to hear how Kenny interpreted his tunes.Omar Hakim
"I love the job he did on 'Straight No Chaser.' It is so powerful and punchy. To me it's obviously a rock drummer playing in terms of its weight and even some of the figures he used, but it worked. We kidded each other when we were listening back to the tracks, pointing and shouting 'Rock! Rock!' when we heard a fill or figure that was more like something a rock drummer would play.
"Kenny also helped me add percussion to one of the other tracks, 'Pick Up The Pieces.' That happened when I was mixing the track in Montreal and Kenny just happened to be in town doing some session work. He called to say he was in the area, so I invited him over. We had a lot of fun overdubbing the percussion parts during the drum break in 'Pieces.' It was actually a great opportunity for the two of us to work together as drummers with nobody else there. That was a particularly enjoyable experience for me. We called ourselves the 'bald bongo brothers.'"
"Omar and I first met at the Buddy Rich scholarship concert in '91. He is one of those people who I felt an immediate affinity for. I love his playing — the fluidity of it. It's smooth and yet it has a snappy excitement to it, and he plays with such a good feel.Joe Morello
"'Slo-Funk' was the tune that I think he had done at the scholarship concert and the one so well-suited to his style. He came in and did an excellent job on it. Unfortunately, he was very uncomfortable with the rented drumkit he had sent to the session — he never seemed satisfied with it. He ended up deciding not to record the other track he had prepared, but I was very happy to have him do the one tune."
"I always tried to go out into the room when a drummer first played through a tune with the band, just so I could get an idea what their drums sounded like acoustically. It was very interesting to hear the fire in Joe's playing in the room. When he booted that bass drum, boy, it was booted. His touch and control are such that there is tremendous restraint to his playing — a very refined approach — and the dynamic range of it is generally low, physically low off the head and also low in terms of volume. But when he does give a little snap of the wrist or a little extra 'oomph' on the cymbal, you're aware of it.Bill Bruford
"When he first came in I didn't expect a very energetic performance from him; he was kind of stooped and slow-moving, and he kept saying, 'It's too early in the day to play.' But when he was behind his drums he was committed to his performance. There was so much fire in his playing, and that was inspirational to see a guy just sit down and deliver the goods. We captured a bit of history with him."
"Bill brought in an original piece — 'Lingo' — which was a real challenge for the band, It was a very polyrhythmic piece quite different from what we'd been doing, but I was happy to see the commitment the band put into learning the song quickly. Bill made the remark, 'They could have ruined this for me.' Everyone poured themselves into that piece and made it happen. It's a special piece because it has the flavor of the band, yet it's rhythmically and structurally more adventurous, which goes to Bill's compositional roots. That was an interesting piece to see go down.Marvin "Smitty" Smith
"Bill also came in very well-prepared for 'Willow Crest,' a piece from Buddy's book. He had written out a basic chart of it for himself. Again, like so many of us, he was nervous about it but at the same time very concerned. He came in with a total commitment to make his time there the most valuable it could be for the whole project as well as for himself."
"'Smitty' is a born master drummer — it's unbelievable how good he is. But he's also a great personality — really cheery, sprightly, and happy. He's happy behind his drums, he's happy when he's not behind his drums. He's a good influence and he was actually around for a few of the other days when he wasn't recording; he was always a ray of sunshine to be around.Steve Ferrone
"To give you an idea how impressive his playing was, he recorded both of his songs on first takes. He was obviously very easy for the band to play with because his playing was so smooth, so consistent, so rooted in that style of music — it made it easy for everybody to lock in. So all respect to his ability as a drummer and as a person."
"Steve is a real character. I've admired his work for a long time. I actually met him almost twenty years ago when he was with Brian Auger's group. Rush's tour manager had previously worked with Brian Auger, so we met somewhere socially all that time ago. I followed his work, especially the work he did on the Bryan Ferry record last year, and I've really admired what he's done.Ed Shaughnessy
"I wanted him to come in and play 'Keep The Customer Satisfied,' which he did, but he also brought in an arrangement of 'Pick Up The Pieces,' obviously a tune he's known for from his Average White Band days. It was an arrangement written for full big band by Arif Mardin for a jazz festival Steve played years ago. It really shows Steve's ability to play with a great feel.
"Steve's another one of those drummers who is so casual and so comfortable with what he does — no tension, no self-consciousness — just walks in, sits down, and delivers."
"Ed was kind of a guru figure for me. He's a master at this style of music, and I was very excited to have him play with the band. I learned a lot from watching him work.
'Ed's such a comfortable man — comfortable with himself, comfortable with the world — very easygoing. But when he got down to work he took on a whole different focus — way more serious, more resilient, less humorous, and more demanding. He actually was the first drummer to record for the session, which was fortunate for us because he took control of the band and got things off to an excellent start.
"Ed recorded 'Shawnee' and 'Mr. Humble.' 'Mr. Humble' was a tune I guess he had written for Buddy. Whenever Buddy appeared on the Tonight Show they'd do this thing called 'Mr. Humble,' because Ed always said whenever Buddy came in Johnny Carson would say, 'Here's Mr. Humble.' And Buddy would say, 'Hey, when you're the greatest, what do you have to be humble about?'"