Purely a rhythm player

Jazzaferri

That is sooo true Amigo. I think their styles would have meshed well and they were both real genii at music.

Bones

There are certainly a lot of times when 'less is more'. If it starts to sound too busy and/or not 'grooving' there is probably too much going on in the rhythm section.

AmundLauritzen

Denis mentioned Johnny Rosenberg.

And for good reason! He played rhythm for Jimmy when they played with Rinus Steinbach in the group "Sinti". Already as a teenager, Johnny was a formidable rhythm guitarist.

Love his work with Mozes and Sani in their group "The Rosenbergs".

Johnny is, like Nous'che, steady as a mountain!

kungfumonk007

and the grand conclusion is.... <drumroll>... playing gj rhythm is really freakin' hard! Hardest rhythm style out there, so many subtleties that are so hard to master!

arjr

Hey Kungfumonk how about we don't pass our perceptions of something as truths, which leads to misinformation and not facts. Ever try playing Flamenco in compas, I will agree gj rhythm is hard but far from the hardest rhythmic style.

Angelo

Bones

Hey Kung, yes good GJ rhythm is easy to do poorly and really hard to do well! I would call it deceptively simple and it's the subtleties that make the difference. The devil's in the details as they say...

dennis

i think a better way to put it is "good accompaniment is hard". it doesn t matter which style or instrument, it requires a lot of musical sensibility and experience...

i forget who i was talking to recently, but someone had mentioned that most drummers wouldnt work in an acoustic jam because they re too loud. that s just not true, a real good drummer would know to play much quieter and to adapt to the lead instrument's volume... i m a firm believer that acoustic music can work (in certain settings) without amplification. it s as if one were to say that it s impossible to have a violin concerto because the orchestra would drown out the lead violin; well no, a good conductor/orchestra knows to bring doen the accompaniment so that the lead instrument can shine.

i was really happy last weekend when i backed up kruno spisic in colorado, because we played with vladimir mollov, an accordionist. vlado was concerned that his accordion was too loud and would drown out the lead guitar during harmony parts, so he purposely played as softly as possible, and accompanied as subtly as possible... in the past , when i ve done acoustic jams with accordionists, they d just go all out and completely drown the guitar.

Jazzaferri

Last year I got to play a few jazz tunes with a quartet of the top jazz people in BC. Bass piano drums soprano sax and alto (me). All acoustic ....drummer Damian Graham was never loud ...even during his solo...at times playing with brushes, at times sticks and at times bare fingers. Fabulous sense of rhythm. Never in the way, always sensitive to what was going on, always in the groove.

I am concerned that the GJ Police are starting to form... I hope not ...but?

What I would say about Flamenco and GJ rhythm is they are both physically demanding. Good comping takes good musicianship in any style. Some tunes may be harmonically less complex but often make up for that by being rhythmically more complex.

kevingcox

I keep reading about these GJ police, yet to my knowledge I've never actually seen them in action. Is simply expressing a personal preference considered policing these days?

Jim Kaznosky

I don't see too much policing going on here either. I just know what's kind of working for me and share that.