Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "moosetication" 
<moosetication@y...> wrote:
> > ... Stewart Copeland...
> 
> Often criminally overlooked, in my view. I remember seeing him 
with 
> his missus, Sonja Kristina, in Curved Air (Liverpool University, 
> 1970-something). Damn good polo player too.
> 

Stewart,

I saw him in Boston before and during the height of the Police's 
popularity. He is a case study in magnificent personal style. It is 
so difficult to play like him, even if you understand what he does 
and how his kit is arrayed. Only someone as talented as Vinnie 
Colaiuta can take a bit of Copeland and make it seem effortless and 
natural, as he did when he played with Sting. Even the venerable 
Peter Erskine, as a member of Weather Report, had complimentary 
things to say about Copeland, even doing a "Copelandist" turn on a 
one of WR's compositions. Anyway, I consider it a privilege to have 
heard Copeland play in the Police's early days, when the band had to 
extend its songs because it didn't have much material. His power and 
invention within the confines of the Police rhythmic structure was 
staggering. What he could do with a basic beat! He insists that his 
most revered value is simplicity, but his undeniable complexity is 
in the details, like the devil's. In the early days, the Police 
interacted like an improvisational jazz combo, only louder.

Just for the halibut, to see what people think, despite their widely 
differing approaches, Copeland and Ringo are similar in the almost 
mystifying uniqueness of their styles. Can anyone think of other 
drummers who seem to defy duplication in touch and intuition, 
regardless of how well you seem to know them, or how simple their 
groove is?

Ed