Playing charisma

Charisma: Compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.  

- some dictionary

In becoming better drummers and musicians— and in being lovers of music, and of percussion in music— I think, finally, we're looking for charisma. In the music itself— not stage presence, bravura, or manner in performing. Whatever our abilities, whether we're playing busy, simple, whatever. It's an energetic thing, an immediate sense that this is a thing. A feeling of real substance, personality, presence, and likability. A sense that you're hearing a living event, even on a decades old recording. 

It's Brad Pitt vs. Ben Affleck. You know it when you see it, or hear it. Think John Bonham playing Black Dog, vs. whatever recording with Carmine Appice you may have checked out and immediately forgotten (sorry Carmine!). 

Non-charisma feels flat, colorless, lacking in impact— even when it's loud and busy. It's hard to stay interested in it, and hard to remember it. It may feel generic, over-correct, unsurprising, non-specific. Whatever emotion it inspires is non-durable. Like daytime television.

 
I don't want to get into “rating” famous drummers; that is not what this is about— but let's look at some familiar examples illustrating the quality, and its relative presence— I think if you know these players, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not judging anyone's artistry or greatness at their job, I'm talking only about what gives me joy, what attracts me to percussion.

Roy Haynes and Brian Blade are both hugely charismatic— very flamboyant, dramatic. Charli Persip, Dannie Richmond and Pete La Roca had some of that same very bright edge. 

Philly Joe Jones, Jeff Watts, Al Foster, Vernel Fournier, Ed Blackwell, all have a feeling of massive substance, they sound grounded. And Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, Greg Errico. Mickey Roker is seemingly a workhorse kind of persona, but he sounds substantive. Grady Tate also. 

Billy Higgins is quietly charismatic, musical, strikingly unpretentious. Paul Motian is different— he's often not quiet— but similar. Mel Lewis is maybe the ultimate pure working musician, but he doesn't make the strong impression Higgins does— on me. 

Elvin Jones and Ed Blackwell have such substance they seem to be speaking for history, speaking for Africa. People write about them that way. You have to remind yourself that they're just individual guys with the same amount of time on the planet as the rest of us, who played a lot, hung around with musicians, listened to Max Roach records, practiced their Haskell Harr, and did a lot of gigs.  

Tony Williams in the 60s had massive playing charisma, that was later replaced by pure power, and some not very nice drum sounds. His cymbal beat that everyone loved was replaced by a quarter note pulse that was like getting a refrigerator dropped on your head. Terry Bozzio in the 70s was in a similar bag, but is much more likable— hear him on the Brecker Brothers' Heavy Metal Bebop. 

Buddy Rich is a titanic presence; he demands to be perceived as charismatic, but I don't find his playing attractive or likable. He's like watching a Tom Cruise performance— you feel like you're being assaulted. He does have a very big presence.  

Steve Gadd is massively charismatic. Vinnie Colaiuta is the Lamborghini version of Steve Gadd, but Gadd has much greater charisma. Same with Dave Weckl— that is graphically illustrated if you watch their famous three-way drum battle video. Everyone makes the same comment about it:
  

It seems to be hard for supercar-type drummers to make a big impression beyond their obvious titanic technical abilities. Overwhelming in the moment, but ultimately not a real deep experience. Still, Colaiuta and Weckl are both on some recordings that are very attractive in the way I'm talking about. 

Of the famous rock players, Ringo Starr's playing with the Beatles was charismatic; Charlie Watts, God rest him, never made a huge impression on me. Keith Moon: very charismatic for pure energy, despite having kind of a weak sound.

Mitch Mitchell played a lot of notes, but doesn't make a big impression. Bill Ward attempted to be a John Bonham-like presence with Black Sabbath, but he sounds smaller, less interesting. Ginger Baker was the prototype for that role, but compared to Bonham he sounds boxy, abrasive, uninteresting. Later on we have that clown Stewart Copeland, whose playing was very charismatic back when he worked for Sting— people are still trying, and failing, to duplicate his snare sound. They never get the same energy. 

Neil Peart is a giant nerd, but his playing has inspired near religious devotion in millions of fans. Whatever you think about his audience's level of sophistication, they have real musical interest— they're attracted to the way the percussion is featured in the music. He must have done a really great job with those worked-out parts. What other drummer has inspired that level of attention?  

Dave Grohl is a charismatic person, but on the Nirvana records he was not a charismatic drummer. He's loud, but his sound is unpleasant, and whatever playing personality he has is buried under those rigidly composed parts. Paul Rudd and Rick Allen were also heavily produced, but are much more likable on those recordings— maybe that's Mutt Lange's doing. 

I think people who know these players know what I'm talking about. It's not a worked out theory. It may not even be a purely desirable quality, professionally: there are a lot of musicians who are great, very successful players who are relatively uncharismatic in the way I'm talking about. You'll see them play and feel, oh, he's just a guy. They'll sound like a record, like, finished, perfect; but you don't come away from the experience with a creative feeling, excited about percussion. Maybe they excel at making other people's job easier— see Mel Lewis— another subject worth thinking about. 

In fact this entire level of thought isn't really anything we can address directly in our playing life— doing our real job you can't be thinking in grand aesthetic/critical terms, there are more pressing concerns: playing good time and dynamics, playing the arrangement correctly, making everyone happy.  

So on the one hand it's a topic for fans and critics, on the other... I think as an artist you have to keep a basic naive enthusiasm for the pure thing itself, and have an idea of what actually moves you apart from the pure job of it.