Packing Heat: Whatever happened to drum and bass? The heady UK based electronic style drew on music as disparate as Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and the Winstons' "Amen, Brother" as well as Neu! and Kraftwerk--it was all the rage for a minute. But before the style could mature and grow (as it eventually did in the hands of mighty punters like drummer Jojo Mayer) it was gobbled up and spewed back at us in slick car commercials and sports broadcasting jingles, drum and bass's rapidfire rhythms and otherworldly tones perfectly suited to mindless action programming. In years to come drum and bass will be reevaluated for its true worth: groundbreaking music that challenged the status quo (house, disco) while spreading its invigorating possibilities to unlikely genres (jazz, funk, ambient) but which ultimately couldn't handle its delirious energy overload. For now we've got experimentation in the shape of multiple drummers and guitarists pushing the edge, down on the corner, up from the skies.

Guitarists like Wayne Krantz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Rez Abassi and of course, Pat Metheny, continue to go where no guitarist has gone before. Drummers--as always--are matching the guitarists, going toe-to-toe for speed, power, finesse and rhythmic invention. Metal heads will cite Dream Theater's John Petrucci as perhaps the ultimate plectrum animal, but with no jazz or blues influence to speak of, metal guitarists (Petrucci included) can only offer dead end, sterile solutions. Jazz is the ultimate art form for creative musicians, be it big band for drummers (Keith Moon and John Bonham worshipped Gene Krupa) or space jazz (and blues) for guitarists (Allan Holdsworth = Eddie Van Halen, Robert Johnson = Eric Clapton, Pete Cosey = Wayne Krantz). This metal/classical confusion has also influenced drummers. Thomas Lang, Mike Mangini, and Derek Roddy all possess tremendous speed and technique, but like the sound of one hand clapping, their efforts eventually fall flat. Jojo Mayer, Vinnie Colaiuta, Antonio Sanchez and Dafnis Prieto (to name a few) use jazz, Latin and electronic music as their jumping off point, and man, do they jump. Guitarist Carl Filipiak and drummer Tyshawn Sorey are two more musicians pushing the edge of possibility.

"Dedicated to Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and the spirit of the 60's," Filipiak's I Got Your Mantra is a psychedelic tribute to 1960s style. Playing like a cross between Jeff Beck and Hendrix, Filipak leads his band through clever covers of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" and Hendrix's "Bold As Love" while altering other well known '60s artifacts for contemporary musical consumption. Sure, this guy is total old school, but his grasp on turning 40 year old music into something akin to modern blues is revelatory. "Waken Tanka" recalls Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Filipak captures the late master's genius--cold. The dreamlike "Into the Sea" was inspired by two Hendrix tunes, to my ear, "Little Wing" for one. Filipak claims "14-15-16" was inspired by The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and too much Persian food.

Carl Filipiak and the Jimi Jazz Band
"Into the Sea" (mp3)
from "I Got Your Mantra"
(Art of Life Records)

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Carl Filipiak and the Jimi Jazz Band
"14-15-16" (mp3)
from "I Got Your Mantra"
(Art of Life Records)

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Carl Filipiak and the Jimi Jazz Band
"Wakan Tanka" (mp3)
from "I Got Your Mantra"
(Art of Life Records)

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 Big drummer, subtle sound:Tyshawn Sorey can produce math-like, seemingly computer generated rhythms from his drums, as heard on recent recordings by guitarist Steve Lehman. But for his debut as a leader, Sorey favored subtle swishes over brutal brawn, intellectual thought over pure drumming prowess.

Drummers always try to avoid the ghastly "drummer's record" label, but Sorey's goal goes beyond that on That/Not. Compiling music "that compels us to examine our intentions and helps us understand what we need to DO with our lives in order to improve," Sorey comes off as philosopher/drummer, a humanistic man machine who wants you to know that he is a drummer, but more importantly, a human being!

Disc one (That) finds Sorey tinkling cymbals or gently rolling mallets as the other musicians hum and coo like sleepy lovers. "Permutations For Solo Piano" simply presents subtle chord variations for 42 minutes straight. Disc two (Not) matches this same idea, Sorey only playing constant rhythms when totally needed. Sorey insists that he has "no desire to prove anything." After this he can now rest comfortably and eventually get back to what he really does best, scaring a drum set for all its worth.

Tyshawn Sorey
"Template I" (mp3)
from "That / Not"
(Firehouse 12)

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