Steve Gadd

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steve Gadd 2007

Steve Gadd (born April 9, 1945 in Rochester / New York ) is one of the most influential and renowned drummers in the music business. He had a lasting impact on the world of drums, as many new grooves and figures can be traced back to him, such as the rhythm from Paul Simon's “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”. He became known through his work with artists such as Paul Simon, Steely Dan , Joe Cocker , Bob James , Chick Corea , Eric Clapton , Randy Crawford , Eddie Gomez , Manhattan Transfer , Michal Urbaniak , Steps , Frank Sinatra , Paul McCartney , Ringo Starr , Barbra Streisand or Peter Gabriel .

Live and act

Steve Gadd began his career as a drummer at the age of three. His uncle, an Army drummer, encouraged him to take drum lessons. Already at the age of eleven, Gadd was playing in various clubs in his hometown with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Gene Krupa , but also drumming in the drum corps of his school. After high school he attended the Manhattan School of Music. There he studied classical drums with John Beck. He then moved to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. During this time he regularly played concerts in clubs with young musicians such as Chick Corea, Tony Levin and Chuck Mangione . After graduating, he was one of the two drummers in the "US Army Stage Band" for three years during his army service.

After serving in the army, Gadd formed a trio with Tony Levin and Mike Holmes in 1972 and returned to New York. One of his most important first gigs in New York was with Mike Mainieri's White Elephant (with Michael Brecker , Randy Brecker and Warren Bernhardt ). Gadd began his studio work for Creed Taylor's CTI Records , playing for Hubert Laws , Joe Farrell , George Benson , Jim Hall, and Paul Desmond and Chet Baker .

Gadd's big breakthrough came almost overnight with the recording of the Paul Simon album “Still Crazy After All These Years” in 1975. His rhythms for “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” (or later for “Late in the Evening “) Set standards for song accompaniment and are still considered milestones today. With his first studio work in the same year for Chick Corea's album “The Leprechaun”, he gained high recognition.

In the late 1970s, Gadd was one of the busiest and most influential drummers in the world. His great stylistic range as well as his precise playing with absolute rhythmic security in every tempo contributed significantly to his success. At the same time he influenced a whole generation of drummers with his unmistakable feeling for the groove and his transparent, extraordinarily creative and musical playing. His influence on drummers like Dave Weckl and Vinnie Colaiuta is unmistakable.

Transcriptions of his drum grooves and solos were on sale in Japan, and almost all of the leading Japanese drummers sounded like him. Chick Corea said of Gadd, "Every drummer wants to play like Steve Gadd because he plays perfectly ... He has brought orchestral and compositional thinking into drumming while also having great musical imagination and the ability to swing ."

His drum solo in the final part of "Aja" (1977), Steely Dan's album of the same name, is still considered a classic today and is repeatedly cited by drummers as a major influence. Corea's albums “Friends” (1978) and “Three Quartets” (1982) as well as the live album from “Steps - Smokin 'In The Pit” are good examples of Gadd's virtuoso jazz drumming.

In 1983 the world's first drummer instructional video "Up Close" was released, which is considered a classic of the genre. Subsequently, in 1985, another instructional video Gadds appeared under the name "In Session".

Between 1985 and 1989 Gadd concentrated on his own band "The Gadd Gang", toured with them around the world and released four albums. During this time he was also a permanent member of David Matthews' band "Manhattan Jazz Quintet" and celebrated great success with tours and albums in Japan. After advances in studio technology ensured that the number of interesting jobs on offer decreased noticeably, since the nineties he has been working as a live drummer in the bands of Carly Simon , Al Jarreau , Tânia Maria , James Taylor and Paul Simon , in addition to selected studio sessions , Michel Petrucciani , Eric Clapton ( Riding with the King ) and Chick Corea. In addition, he continues to record with the Manhattan Jazz Quintet and musicians such as Tom Scott , Bob Mintzer , David Sanborn , Bob James , Al Di Meola and Hermine Deurloo .

In 2005 he held drum clinics in the USA again. The "Mission from Gadd" tour was a great success and experienced its third edition in June 2006. In 2010 Gadd successfully continued his "Mission from Gadd" tour in Europe.

  • Steve Gadd in Karlsruhe 2010 - As part of his "Mission to Gadd" Clinic Tour.

  • Steve Gadd in Karlsruhe 2010 - As part of his "Mission to Gadd" Clinic Tour.

Some of Gadd's favorite drummers are Elvin Jones , Tony Williams , Jack DeJohnette , Buddy Rich, and Louie Bellson . Gadd is considered one of the most recorded drummers in history , alongside Bernard Purdie , Hal Blaine , John JR Robinson , Peter Erskine and Jeff Porcaro . The list of releases includes more than 750 albums.

Gadd is married and has four children.

Honourings and prices

On September 13, 2003, Gadd was honored and recognized by the “Avedis Zildjian Company” at the second “American Drummers Achievement Awards” (ADAA) at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. On September 23, 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Berklee College of Music .

In 2016, Rolling Stone listed Steve Gadd 24th of the 100 best drummers of all time .

Equipment

Gadd has been playing Yamaha drums since 1976 . The endorsement agreement between Yamaha and Steve Gadd helped make the Recording Custom Kit (RC9000) one of the most popular professional kits around the world in the 1980s. Steve popularized small 10 "toms and introduced floor tom stands. He plays Yamaha signature snares. Yamaha now has five Steve Gadd Signature Snares on offer. Gadd plays Zildjian cymbals. A separate pool line - the "K Custom Session" pools - was introduced in 2004. Gadd plays Vic Firth's signature sticks and brooms .

Recordings (selection)

  • Gaddabout - 1984
  • The Gadd Gang - 1986
  • The Gadd Gang - Here & Now - 1988
  • The Gadd Gang - Live at the Bottom Line - 1988

DVD

  • Paul Simon - One Trick Pony - 1978
  • Paul Simon - Live at the Tower Theater - 1980
  • Grover Washington, Jr. - In Concert - 1981
  • Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park - 1982
  • Up Close, Steve Gadd - 1983
  • In Session, Steve Gadd - 1985
  • The Gadd Gang - Live - 1988
  • Paul Simon - Concert in the Park - 1991 (VHS)
  • Eric Clapton - Live At Hyde Park - 1996
  • Eric Clapton, Steve Gadd, Marcus Miller , Joe Sample, David Sanborn * Legends - 1997
  • Michel Petrucciani Trio - Live in Concert - 1998
  • Eric Clapton and Friends - 1999
  • Paul Simon - You're the One (In Concert from Paris) - 2001
  • Michael McDonald - A Gathering of Friends - 2001
  • Chick Corea - Three Quartets Band Live - 2001
  • Drummers Collective - 25th Anniversary - 2002
  • Eric Clapton - One More Car, One More Rider - 2002
  • The American Drummers Achievement Awards - 2003
  • Eric Clapton - Sessions For Robert J. - 2004
  • Musicares - Tribute To James Taylor - 2006
  • Paul Simon and Friends - Gershwin Prize for Popular Song - 2007
  • Steve Gadd - Master Series by Hudson Music - 2008
  • Stuff - Stuff Live at Montreux 1976 - 2008
  • Eric Clapton - Planes, Trains and Eric - 2014

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The DRUM SOLO That Changed Popular Music. Retrieved June 13, 2020 .
  2. ↑ 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. Rolling Stone , March 31, 2016, accessed August 6, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Gadd, Steve
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American drummer
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Rochester (New York) , USA