thoughts from the bridge...

[gcom007]

here's what a poster at the bridge posted today, I enjoyed it...

Arthur Vandelay
gps

Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Norleans
Posts: 9962
Comments on DMB by the man I most respect
My jazz teacher a few years ago finally sent me his opinion on DMB. This guy's in his mid-70s, and has played with everyone from Brubeck to Coltrane to Parker to Davis. Not to mention, I've never met a person with 1/100th his understanding of music. And he's no ordinary 76 year-old...he owns every Radiohead album on vinyl.

Here's the general gist:

He likens them to a Keith Jarrett-influenced The Band. He said that "they'd be a complete mess if it weren't for the rhythm section." And that "what the bassist lacks in talent, he makes up for with taste" and that "while the drummer is a bit too busy for my taste, he's clearly the class of the group." He wasn't too complimentary towards Roi, saying that, "he might serve to introduce the masses to truly skilled saxophonists" and he called Boyd "a complete joke...a player whose presence significantly brings down the overall musicianship of the band." Strangely enough, he only mentioned Dave in passing, saying that "the lead singer should not attempt falsetto, but his technique has improved considerably from the first to the second album that you sent" and that "the songs are much more intelligently written than the 'violinist' would lead you to believe."

His conclusion: a good band (he loves #41, The Last Stop, and The Stone) that has an absolutely world-class rhythm section and could be a great band if some of the songs' arrangements were changed (i.e. see ya Boyd).

Anyway, I thought that you might be interested in this because while most jazz musicians despise DMB with a passion (sans Carter), here's a 70-something guy with more musical knowledge in his fingernail than I can possibly imagine who enjoyed some of their stuff.

[MattyTrane]

great reading, very interesting.

[jpittman]

I think that's a very fair assessment.