UNICO

REVIEWS
Music
A different
drummer
by David Witter
He may not be as famous as the solo
artists and front men of his generation,
but many within the music industry will
point to Steve Gadd as the best all-round
drummer of his era. A master of rock,
jazz, pop and blues for more than five
decades, his resume includes touring
and recording with the likes of Frank
Sinatra, Paul McCartney, B.B. King,
Chick Corea, The Bee Gees, Chet Baker,
Frank Zappa, Al DiMeola and James
Brown. Gadd’s percussion has appeared,
in one form or another,
on almost 800
recordings.
Born in 1945 in
Rochester, N.Y.,
Gadd is of Sicilian
background. He
grew up in a closeknit,
extended family,
all of whom took
an active part in his
musical upbringing.
“They saw interest,
which guided
me,” Gadd told The Dishmaster. “My
uncle gave me drumsticks before we had
television, and my grandmother used to
take me for lessons. I lived with my parents,
my grandparents and my father’s
brother. My uncle and I would put on
records and the whole family would listen.
We’d put on John Phillip Sousa
marches and I would play on little
round pieces of wood. It was a family affair.”
Like most great musicians, Gadd
was a prodigy. When he was 9 years old,
he met Gene Krupa, and at 11, he appeared
on stage with Dizzy Gillespie. As
a young man, he honed his skills in the
U.S. Army Stage Band and at the Manhattan
and Eastman school of music.
Gadd also began playing in a band that
included of childhood friends Chuck
and Gap Mangione.
Between 1967 and 1973, Gadd
recorded six albums with the Mangiones,
while working other sessions. In 1974,
his recordings increased to 19. During the
following years, he worked with artists as
varied as Chet Baker, Frankie Valli,
George Benson, Bette Midler and
Stephane Grapelli. He is best known for
creating the drum intro for Paul Simon’s
No. 1 hit, “Fifty Ways to Leave Your
Lover,” and the backbeat on Steely Dan’s
“Aja.” The former is a tight snare roll
with a distinctly military rhythm. On
“Aja,” Gadd turns
octopus, throwing
down crashing
cymbal and tomtom
runs that
combine jazz,
rock and funk.
The ultimate
team player, Gadd
continues to regularly
tour with the
likes of Eric Clapton
and James
Taylor, in part because
of his technical skills, but also his
willingness to forgo them. Gadd takes as
much joy in playing a simple pocket
groove as he does a 10-minute solo, whatever
it takes to make a great record.
“There’s a lot of jazz drummers back
in the day who weren’t inspired by
groove or pop kinds of music,” Gadd told
The Dishmaster. “At a certain point, I
went to New York and I heard some guys
play very simply and the groove was
deep. You’d think it’s a simple, less technical
approach, but it’s not. It’s not an
easy thing to do. It’s just as challenging as
playing very busy, but in another way.
The drummer I heard do it the first time
was Rick Marotta, and that’s what inspired
me. To play less notes and make it
feel the best it could feel, and to record
where you start with the minimal amount
to make it feel musical and then add as
you go, it gives you somewhere to go.”
▼
IN THE SPOTLIGHT ▼
STEVE GADD AND FRIENDS,
LIVE AT VOCE
featuring Joey De Franceso
Steve Gadd has played in every
genre imaginable short of classical. On
this CD, he combines swing, blues and
funk in a downhome version of the
Great American Songbook. Like all of
his CDs, it is not a venue to showcase
Gadd’s tremendous chops. Instead, he
lays down a broad rhythmic canvas
upon which his collaborators — which
include Joey De Francesco, Ronnie
Cuber, Paul Bollenbeck and Edie Brickell
— paint.
The CD opens with the Bob Dylan
standard, “Watching the River Flow.”
De Francesco’s Hammond B-3, Gadd’s
pocket drumming and Bollenbeck’s
guitar give it a jazzy, bluesy feel that
sets the tone for the album. The cool
swing continues on “Way Back Home,”
with De Francesco and Bollenbeck
adding a funk feel. “Undecided” and
“Bye Bye Blackbird” are more in a
bebop vein, and feature Cuber’s baritone
sax.
The baritone sax and Hammond B-
3 take the group to church with their
rendition of “Georgia on My Mind.” But
the highlight of the CD is the old juke
joint standard, “Back at the Chicken
Shack.” The CD ends with two “bonus”
tracks, with Edie Brickell’s vocals
adding an odd bit of jazzy, street-smart
folk. If you like deep, soulful jazz and
downhome bluesy sax and organ that
swings with a mellow soul, this is the
CD for you.
Available at www.amazon.com
Want more? Visit italianamericanvoice.com.
FRA NOI for ComUNICO September 2015 57