Re: Concert Review: Terry Bozzio

["Ken Robarge" <kenrobarge@att.net>]

Greg,
Thanks very much for the most excellent report! I loved Terry's work with 
Jeff Beck; the Guitar Shop album is one of my faves. I also remember Terry 
and his wife had a band in LA in the 80s, even had a couple of "hits." I 
think they were called Missing Persons.  Anyway, sounds like you had a 
terrific exhibition by a master virtuoso.  I'm envious!

Regards,
Ken
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "greg williams" <gregorwilliams@comcast.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 10:20 AM
Subject: Concert Review: Terry Bozzio


> Hello folks,
>
> I had the great pleasure of attending an inspiring Terry Bozzio solo 
> drumset
> performance/clinic last night at CSU Sacramento as part of the schools
> annual "day of percussion" event.
>
> I assume most of you are aware who Terry is and some of the people he has
> played with, including Zappa, Jeff Beck, etc.
>
> I watched his crew setting up his kit (which took three hours!), and if 
> you
> haven't seen it, this thing is a monstrous mutant alien creation 
> consisting
> of chromatically and diatonically tuned toms, 8 diatonically tuned bass
> drums (going down I believe to a low E three octaves below middle C), 
> gongs,
> various world percussion stuff, and tons of stacked cymbals, sorta 
> pitched,
> in layers from low in pitch to high in pitch. Oh, and a snare drum 
>thrown 
> in
> for good measure.
>
> He played pitched solo compositions (with perhaps a little improv) that 
> were
> virtuosic and orchestral in nature, with thought to form, harmony, 
>melody,
> texture, drama and dynamics. At first I looked at the kit and thought, 
> "wow,
> this is overkill", but by the end of his first orchestration, I changed 
> that
> view completely.
>
> It was totally inspiring, and I got a lot of great ideas from both his
> performance and his "chat" with the audience. Something he does is that 
> when
> he wants a sustained note, he rolls the tom very fast. That sounds like a
> normal human thing to do, but in addition, he also performs sustained 
> slurs
> between specific notes in a melody by overlapping his rolls on two 
> different
> toms when transitioning between those specific notes. He also performs
> harmony (four notes total, plus a hi-hat, as he has pedals set up which
> simultaneously play a bass drum AND hi-hat). He does all kinds of
> polyrhythmic stuff with ostinatos, and to boot he is a very dynamic,
> enthralling performer. I caught a couple of Stravinsky and Zappa quotes, 
> and
> he played an excellent orchestration of Ravel's main "Bolero" theme - on 
>a
> freaking drum set!
>
> The concert was totally packed and the buzz afterward was positive in the
> extreme. Check his stuff out when you get a chance. Apparently, he has an
> instructional DVD with the whole shebang included.
>
> Oh, by the way, I am not a drummer.
>
> ~Greg
>