I’ve been a drummer for over thirty years. Once a week throughout fifth and sixth grade I would carry a snare drum that probably weighed as much as I did a good eight blocks to a different school for lessons. In high school I worked my way up to being the section leader in my senior year (after all the really good drummers had graduated). I did well in a couple of solo/ensemble competitions, I played in an honor band or two, and I played in the high school jazz band. Then I stopped for a couple of decades, with my only drumming outlet being the hyperactive way I’d tap my fingers and bounce my feet at school, until either a student would comment on it or one of my teacher friends would gently reach over and hold my hand to keep it still when they couldn’t stand it anymore.
A few years ago I traded my treadmill away to my sister for my nephew’s electronic drum set, since he didn’t use it much anymore. (For the record, I didn’t need the treadmill anymore because I was getting use out of my Y membership, and I still am.) There was a slight learning curve in coming back to playing, but after I set up the drums in my office I’m now back to where I can at least keep a reasonably steady beat and occasionally toss in a rudimentary fill when I play along with iTunes or jam with my cousins a couple of times each year. Playing along with iTunes is easy to do: I’ve arranged my office so the drums are a 90-degree spin to the right from my computer work station.
All of this is to say that when it comes to listening to music, I tend to notice the drumming probably more than other people do, and I’ve developed a list of favorite drummers over the years. Tonight I’m presenting the ones who would currently make my top 10. To clarify, these aren’t necessarily the most skilled drummers out there and I’m sure there are many out there I’m not aware of who would blow my mind if I knew their work, but for the time being these are the ones I enjoy listening to. In no particular order:
Butch Vig of Garbage - He might be better known as a producer and arguably so, and since Garbage can be heavily dependent on an electronic sound it’s difficult to say exactly how much actual drumming factors into the music. But I really like how Garbage plays with so many varied rhythms and percussive sounds, and I have to believe the drummer would play a big part in creating that.
Sonny Emory of Bruce Hornsby’s band, The Noisemakers - I’ve seen him play live a few times. It astonishes me how he can play with such mastery and make it seem effortless. Just a plug: If only know Bruce Hornsby’s work through his handful of late 80s/early 90s hits, you are really missing out on an incredible live band playing with throwaway virtuosity.
Nick D’Virgilio, formerly of Spock’s Beard - A very tight and reliably in-the-pocket player, he was chosen to drum for Genesis once Phil Collins quit the band for good. Nick also makes the list for his pivotal role in completing one of my favorite albums, “The Shaming of the True” by Kevin Gilbert, after Gilbert’s premature death.
Patrick Carney of The Black Keys - He has a stead workmanlike approach to his playing, and the band’s music doesn’t ask for much more. He’s on my list for two reasons: The deep, meaty tone he plays with, and his tendency to play at the back end of the beat as if he’s just a fraction of a second away from dragging but never does.
Roger Taylor of Queen - He really makes the list because he’s Roger Taylor of Queen.
Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters - A very solid player, and I love watching the hyperactive way he just attacks his drums. He’s a funny and engaging guy in interviews, and know for a fact if he had been one of my students back in his elementary school days, he would have driven me completely up the wall.
Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree - Because of the truly progressive and almost jazz-like nature of the band’s music, very little of his drumming is just straightforward rock playing. He was actually featured on The Late Show with David Letterman a few years ago as one of the guests during Drum Solo Week. I’m sure when he was introduced there were a lot of people who thought, “What was the band name? Porcupine Tree?!” And then they saw him play.
Mike Portnoy formerly of Dream Theater and currently of Transatlantic, Flying Colors, The Winery Dogs, and probably eight or nine other bands - For the longest time Mike was my top player, but the way he left Dream Theater didn’t happen well and added some unnecessary degrees of turbulence to one of my favorite bands. He’s doubtlessly one of the best drummers out there and by a wide, wide, wide margin, but I’d still like him more if his exit had gone differently.
Mike Mangini of Dream Theater - I would have thought Portnoy was irreplaceable, but not the case at all. Mike M. came into Dream Theater as a respected journeyman drummer who’d played with several other bands and musicians. He had held the world speed record for drumming (I’ve seen him play an extended drum roll one-handed, which I can’t even fathom), and he was a professor at the Berklee College of Music before joining Dream Theater. I watched a short instructional video he put together a few months ago to explain what he was doing on a song from the most recent album, and he spoke about playing in two different time signatures on opposite sides of his body like it was an afterthought. He doesn’t just think about building a foundation for the rest of the song but plays in ways that will compliment the other musicians. It’s really quite something.
Neil Peart of Rush - You know the name or you don’t. If you don’t, it’d be hard to explain his place in drumming without the proper context, outside of the standard “widely considered to be the best drummer in popular music” cliché. But just because it’s a cliché doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.
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