Check out two Sly master piece

[Assasin]

two a Sly timeless hits(None reggae)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOBpLJeOb4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHi87vpKASM

[Assasin]

let me take the classics to the top cause nuff man nuh know the calibre hit the genius Sly play on. Playing with Herbie Hancock on "Rock It" was great. That changed the break dancing world. "Genius of Love" is another tune that is sampled by so many in the Hip Hop world.

[Historian]

Assasin, You Have Proven Nothing!

two a Sly timeless hits(None reggae)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOBpLJeOb4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHi87vpKASM

Let me remind you at the outset that these videos you posted were not hits by Sly Dunbar! Rather, Sly was hired in a sideman role (drummer) on these hits by keyboardist Herbie Hancock and by the group Tom Tom Club. Don’t let’s run away with the facts now.

Yesterday I posted a YouTube video link of Jamaica’s jazz guitarist Eugene Grey (I am a huge fan of this truly great Jamaican guitarist!) live at Reggae Sumfest 2005, with the suggestion that we check out the drummer’s solo to understand the context in which I refer to “greatness.” Only poster Karl seemed to have checked out that video. I’m going to post the link a final time. The drum solo starts at around 7.06.

The drummer on this video is Karl Wright. Any drummer who can take a solo like this falls in the category of “Great” in my book any day!! Please take the time and listen to this great man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrDLJ_XkRWo

Assasin, it would have been better if you had not posted those two mindless gimmicks of a recording, as they are perfect examples of the type of simplistic crap that dominated the club scene in North America following the end of the even more musically inane disco era.

Now, before I state my case in response to the above thread-starter, let me engage in a little recap: Yesterday I made reference to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warne’s hit, “Love Lift Us Up.” Just now, I listened to the video of the Tom Tom Club, which has been posted here.

What do all three recordings have in common? The answer is Chris Blackwell’s “Island Records.” I’m making specific reference here to Jamaica-raised Chris Blackwell’s major record label for obvious reasons. You figure out the rest in the context of Gamma’s hyperbolic “well sought after drummer” statement yesterday. (Incidentally, Sly’s prominent role as a sought-after reggae producer should not be confused with Sly’s prominent role as a reggae drummer.)

Also, what several irate posters fail to realize is that I was not attempting a listing of “Top 5 Greatest Reggae Drummers,” but rather, of “Top 5 Greatest Jamaican Drummers”!! There is a major difference here!!

Now to my response to this desperate thread (Assasin, it is becoming increasingly clear to me, is not as widely exposed to Jamaican musicians as I had first thought).

First, what is there about the drumming in Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love” that led you to post that video in response to my suggestion that Sly Dunbar is not Jamaica’s greatest drummer?! This Tom Tom Club recording proves exactly what I have been trying to show all along, and this is that I cannot satisfactorily evaluate Sly’s abilities as a diverse drummer based on what I have heard from him over the past many years!!

In the early 1980s Sly was doing some really interesting, creative stuff with syn-drums, and his work fitted in perfectly with the electronic dance music during that era, so it was no surprise that he got invited to sessions by Herbie hancock and by the Tom Tom Club. These musicians were moving in similar experimental directions with dance music.

Do you really listen keenly to music, boss? If you did, then surely you would have realized that, aside from the synthetic sound, there is nothing about this drumming on “Genius of Love” that is different from that of any A-List studio drummer in Kingston, Bridgetown, Port of Spain, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, London, Paris, etc.!!

Listen to Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love” once again and then explain what is special about this typical 1980s synthesized dance number and the drummer’s role there! This is clearly the anti-thesis of cerebral music; the type of music where, after a long stressful week, you go to a nightclub, lock your mind away, get drunk and dance to mindlessly. But this recording is typical of the immediate post-disco era, and reflects the same mindless arrangement.

To be more specific, what I hear is the usual 4/4 with the accent on the 2nd and 4th beats, the type of beat that every drummer on the planet plays most often. In any case, what on earth is special about playing a Tom Tom Club composition? This is not exactly a challenging group for any musician.

Secondly, I’m a bit surprised that you included Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”!! Don’t you realize that the rhythm section was assisted by a plethora of synthesized studio sounds?! Boss, I had this LP back in the 1980s when keyboard player Herbie Hancock was focusing on the commercial (as opposed to his previous primary focus, the world of jazz).

But tell me, Assasin, forget for a minute that Sly Dunbar palyed on this recording. Now, if it were, say, a drummer from Chicago, would you call this great drumming? If yes, what on earth is there in the rather straightforward 4/4 drumming here that makes this drummer great? The double bass drum (what Sly was apparently using on this recording) was a common feature of the jazz, funk and rock world during the late 1970s and through much of the 1980s. Many drummes were using double bass drums in that era. Even the drummer for the soul group Jackson 5 played a double bass drum during the live performances by the Jackson 5.

“Rockit” was composed by several persons, including the well-known synthesizer and drum machine programmer Michael Beinhorn. In addition, this recording featured unprecedented turntable techniques (scratching, etc.). Didn’t you hear all those overlapping techniques?

Incidentally, the Jamaican drummer Carl Ayton also did similar experiments with synthesized drums before his untimely death from a heart attack. Listen to some of the 1980s stuff from Bloodfire Posse, like “Get Flat.”

Assasin, once again I strongly suggest that you listen to Jamaica’s contemporary drummers, and not only the very eclectic Desi Jones (who is a far more brilliant drummer than you obviously realize since you last listened to him more than 20 years ago).

In a post a couple of days ago, Sickko mentioned a Montego Bay native, Tony “Ruption” Williams. I strongly suggest that you listen to this guy, as he is an awesome drummer!! Then, go back in time to the 1970s and listen to the young Calvin McKenzie (he worked then with other young jazz greats like keyboard player Harold Butler and lead guitarist Lennox Gordon). McKenzie, in my opinion, could have evolved into Jamaica’s all-time greatest drummer if it was not for that extremely unfortunate freak accident!

Boss, Jamaica is blessed with numerous world-class musicians and songwriters, and I could go on and on, but what’s the point? I didn’t come on this site to teach music appreciation!

[Assasin]

you posted a few second snipet of Carl doing a good job, for the rest of the time he was just drumming on linstead Market, which is very simple. Nothing complex in that.

It doesn't matter who composed "Rock It" or what they did on it, it is very good drumming. Yes with all the scratching and turntable, Herbie and Sly did a very good job.

Genius of love is not execptional drumming but it is a classic like so many other that Sly played on which none of these other drummers couldn't walk through the door to play on. Sly was very good before techno and still very good.

Same thing you talk about same thing you doing, was Bloodfire posse a minor or a major? Did they do any complex drumming? No you going to tell he Carl has improved tremendously since then.

Ah well enjoy your music.

[Peter R]

unuh sih musik yah! enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqaadTlATqk

[Assasin]

don't mek Mdmex see this all all. Her favorite friend Errol Flynn wife a step to the music inna it. LOL