Musical influence other than guitar players?

[SlyFoxx]

Ok we all have our favorite guitar influences. (I'm partial to Gilmour, May, VH, Glenn & KK, & Lifeson) But who else do you admire? Who else when you hear them makes you want to go and practice? Could be a singer, drummer or horn player etc.

 

For me it would be (Rush drummer)Neil Peart and (Queen singer) Freddie Mercury.

 

I've seen about 16 or 17 Rush shows over the years and in all that time I only saw Neal make one obvious mistake. He just forgot to come in on "Closer to the Heart" Caught napping I guess. The amount of skill and pure stamina that man has is just astounding. It's almost like he can play a melody with those skins!

 

As for Freddie...the range of material he wrote and his ability to sing in just about any style, combined with a larger than life stage presence.

[comacoda]

Spooky cool vibraphone. Upright bass and snare played with brushes... thick envelope filters and oscillators doing simple octave up and back down droning... Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming, or his band the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.

[Eric VB]

Good question, SlyFoxx!

 

I remember attending a jazz clinic and someone asked the drummer who his influences were. In his list he mentioned trumpeter Louis Armstrong. When asked about such a "strange" influence for a drummer he explained that it was Louis's phrasing that he admired, among other things.

[Billster]

Thelonius Monk for composition.

 

Miles Davis for phrasing and use of open space (Open space is also a great skill of Monk).

 

Duke Ellington for obvious musical reasons, plus a sense of dignity in life. And you can't mention Ellington without also mentioning Billy Strayhorn.

 

Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea for their synth playing. Zawinul in particular I think gets overlooked when people talk about influential keyboard artists. He's right up there with Corea and Herbie Hancock.

 

Charles Mingus.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Paul Rogers - Vocal influence.

[Eric Iverson]

Miles for saying a lot with few notes.

 

Mozart (especially his woodwind concertos) for saying a lot with a LOT of notes! (Very fluid and melodic!)

 

Lots of good violinists and mandolinists. And harmonica players! And I try to play along with good cellists doing simple classical melodies because they are so expressive!

 

Actually I try to learn a little from everybody, even guys who aren't that good - "hey cool, that's an example of how NOT to do it!"

[ihategarybettman]

I tend to listen to bands as a whole unit and not focus on individual parts, and I also play drums and a little harmonica, so it's not surprising that I am influenced by many musicians other than guitarists. I'm also a less is more kind of guy so, once again, I tend to be attracted to players who serve the song rather than virtuosos who serve themselves.

 

While I appreciate guys with a lot of chops, my favorite drummers include Al Jackson, Jr., Phil Rudd, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, and Stan Lynch.

 

My favorite guitarists usually play down the flash and/or have a strong rhythmic base to their playing such as Steve Cropper, Malcolm Young, Jimmie Vaughan, James Hetfield (his rhythm playing), Pete Townshend, Buddy Holly, Keith Richards, and Hubert Sumlin.

 

However, I like a little flash in my piano players. I love the way Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis attack the keyboard; I have a similarly aggressive approach to my drumming and guitar playing.

[GuitarWolf]

Jordan Rudess - I find his ideas and riffs are easily transferable to guitar and offer me new ways of thinking when writing material.

 

Mike Portnoy - I find that even subconsciously I write riffs around beats similar to his own, theres just something about his style that rubs me the right way.

 

Jaco Pastorius - What can I say the guy knows his Jazz

[miroslav]

For influences...just about anything that you could find on the radio from the early '60s to date.

 

I've never had very specific "heroes".

There were never any musicians that influenced me to some "life changing" degree, forever molding my tastes and ideas about music.

I find a certain flavor for awhile...then I move off in another direction.

 

Beatles to Bach...

...R&R, Classical, Country, New Wave, Punk, Pop, R&B, World Ethnic...etc...

...all influence me to a degree.

 

I could be doing Country music as easily and as enjoyably as I could Punk or Blues...etc.

 

It's all good....well, almost.

There may be a few styles I'm not that much into.

[the stranger]

Originally posted by Billster:

Thelonius Monk for composition.

 

Miles Davis for phrasing and use of open space (Open space is also a great skill of Monk).

 

Duke Ellington for obvious musical reasons, plus a sense of dignity in life. And you can't mention Ellington without also mentioning Billy Strayhorn.

 

Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea for their synth playing. Zawinul in particular I think gets overlooked when people talk about influential keyboard artists. He's right up there with Corea and Herbie Hancock.

 

Charles Mingus.

I'm just listening to my first HH album right now!

Headhunters. Great stuff.

 

And yeah, it's all in the phrasing. Charles Earland's smokin' B3 playing has been a big influence lately. When he plays a lead, it makes me think of Jimi!

 

I'll have to check out some of that Joe and Chick stuff. I'm currently on s serious jazz/funk kick these days. When I'm not absorbing the various classics of Disco.

Seriously. I can't seem to get enough disco lately!

 

When it gets down to it, jazz horn players are the place to go for phrasing. My playing has made some serious improvements just from listening to excessive amounts of jazz and funk.

[the stranger]

And yeah, I have a list of drummers I consider to be big influences. Most music I really like has drumming that is critical to the whole package.

[the stranger]

Originally posted by miroslav:

There were never any musicians that influenced me to some "life changing" degree, forever molding my tastes and ideas about music.

I find a certain flavor for awhile...then I move off in another direction.

Hmmm..maybe I'm prone to drama or something, because when I find some new stuff it is usually a "life changing" experience.

But, I do the same thing..just wander from one thing to the next in search of that next "life changing" experience.

[miroslav]

Well yeah...when I was a kid...and the first time I heard."She Loves You"...or some Motown...

...or when I got older and heard Pink Floyd or Hendrix for the first time...etc...etc...etc

 

But I would not call any of them "life changing".they were just indirect influences.

And thinking back know, I can't pinpoint any 2-3 that were individually THAT influential on everything I do musically, now

.though Im sure there may be some subliminal stuff going on that I havent bothered to analyze. I just play and writewhatever comes out, its menot so-n-so

 

As another exampleI cant recall of a single guitar lick from the greats that I ever really committed to memorythough I have listened to, played and enjoyed many of themfrom Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, Page,etcetc.

Im sure my playing has some element of one or the otherbut againnone to any life changing degree.

I could not list just a handful of artists that were MORE influential on me.than any of the rest.

[Pappy P]

Carla Bley and Dave Brubeck (Take Five Fame) for piano.

 

Jackson Browne and Sheryl Crow for Song Writing.

 

Brahms and Beethoven for power and emotion.

 

King David for fortitude and humility.

 

Ghandi for perseverance.

 

etc. etc.

[Eric Iverson]

King David was a pretty good songwriter, too - at least the lyrics (see book of Psalms).

 

And he was known for playing well, too - a harp player if I recall.

[Mudcat]

Ringo, Macca & Jamerson for their "groove-ability." (OK - I made that word up, but I think you know what I mean.

 

Pat Dinizio from the Smithereens for confirming that some who sings in the same vocal register as me can actually pull-off poppy-rock-n-roll. (Now if only I could write some material in that vein )

[comacoda]

John Williams. I once wrote a 10 minute epic finger plucked piece inspired by the Episode 1 score..... I love big beatiful themes and he has written a number of them. I saw him conduct once and was really charged when I heard the star wars stuff performed live. COOL!

[Funk Jazz]

jaco pastorius

john bonham

medeski, martin & wood

oscar peterson (piano)

freddie hubbard (trumpet/cornet)

herbie hancock

bill evans

stephane grappelli

larry golding

jimmy smith

yuval gabay (drummer for soul coughing)

 

what about authors/poets/painters?

 

tom robbins

ts eliot

pablo neruda

cseslaw milosz

matisse

[Hardtail]

I like the attitude in Coltrane's playing and the elegance in Stan Getz's playing. I try to be something in the middle.

[Bluesape]

Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Doc Severinson, Miles Davis, Isaac Stern...

[rw2003]

Louis Armstrong

Doc Sevrinson and the drummer from the Tonight Show... Ed Shaugnhassy???

Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Buddy Rich, Harry James...

[the stranger]

Originally posted by miroslav:

 

And thinking back know, I can't pinpoint any 2-3 that were individually THAT influential on everything I do musically, now

Wow. I can break my style down to a list that pretty much sums it up. I'm pretty absorbent.

 

I just play and writewhatever comes out, its menot so-n-so

I do that, too. It's usually not hard to tell the primary influence, though.

 

As another exampleI cant recall of a single guitar lick from the greats that I ever really committed to memorythough I have listened to, played and enjoyed many of themfrom Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, Page,etcetc.

Im sure my playing has some element of one or the otherbut againnone to any life changing degree.

I could not list just a handful of artists that were MORE influential on me.than any of the rest.

Again, that's pretty much me, too. I know very few

complete songs. I know a lot of riffs, but I never really have had the patience (or the desire, for that matter) to figure out whole songs. I'd rather

just play what comes natural. And why figure out a whole catalog of material when you can write your own? I'm actually just lazy and that's the story I made up.

What makes me say this? Some of my favorite songs are covers...and I love standards...and the few songs I have taken a stab at turned out pretty good because they were filtered through my interpretation.

None the less, I'd rather just improvise for a few hours than learn some song. And most of my songs were concieved while improvising.

 

I think I had a point, but I'm not sure.

[the stranger]

Originally posted by Pappadopalus:

Ghandi for perseverance.

 

etc. etc.

[the stranger]

Originally posted by Funk Jazz:

jaco pastorius

john bonham

medeski, martin & wood

oscar peterson (piano)

freddie hubbard (trumpet/cornet)

herbie hancock

bill evans

stephane grappelli

larry golding

jimmy smith

yuval gabay (drummer for soul coughing)

Thanks for the list!

 

what about authors/poets/painters?

 

The authors of The United States Constitution and The Bill Of Rights.

[Gifthorse]

ALex VH, Stewart Copeland, Stevie Wonder, Bela Fleck, KD Lang, Bill Bruford, Geddy Lee, John Bonham, Dave Grohl to name a few.

[Tone Taster]

The First notable ones where Weather Report band and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.

 

Then i guess it was Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Thelonius Monk big time

 

RE: On Bela Fleck and Stevie wonder -- No doubt

 

All of the above, too. I 've definitley been influenced by about 95% of everything already posted, I was just naming the ones that came first on.

[EmptinesOf Youth]

Originally posted by comacoda:

Spooky cool vibraphone. Upright bass and snare played with brushes... thick envelope filters and oscillators doing simple octave up and back down droning... Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming, or his band the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.

while i havent heard his new stuff yet, heard good things, he always did do a fantastic job with the pumpkins. Has to be one of the most accomplished drummer of today

[miroslav]

Originally posted by the stranger:

Originally posted by miroslav:

I just play and writewhatever comes out, its menot so-n-so

I do that, too. It's usually not hard to tell the primary influence, though.

"Primary influence"...?

 

Blues.

 

Though I still couldn't narrow it down to 2-3 people.

 

I think I had a point, but I'm not sure.

Makes two of us!

[fantasticsound]

Wow. This could go on forever.

 

 

Off the top of my head:

 

• Billy Joel
  
• Randy Newman
  
• Jimmy Johnson (bass player, Flim & The BB's, James Taylor),
  
• Howard Levy (harmonica)
  
• The Saturday Night Live house band
  
• Bela Fleck (banjo)
  
• Jerry Douglas
  
• Stewart Copeland
  
• Omar Hakim
  
• Benny Goodman
  
• Mark O'Connor
  

 

Then there's the vocalists..

 

• Nat King Cole
  
• Ray Charles
  
• Ella Fitzgerald
  
• k.d. lang
  
• Tony Bennett
  
• many, many more!
  

[comacoda]

Originally posted by Scatterbrain:

...Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.

while i havent heard his new stuff yet, heard good things, he always did do a fantastic job with the pumpkins. Has to be one of the most accomplished drummer of today [/QB]

It will rock your world, it's smart, it's got vibe, you can give it a quick listen here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=4024194

Most of the album cuts are instrumental, they have a couple of guest vocalists on the album... Listen to 'Street Crawler', it will give you a taste of what the band is about.

 

Check out the bands official web page for live recordings and studio sessions with Mike Garson.

 

They were one of the best experimental live acts I've seen...