Steve Gadd waited over 10 minutes before he hit his snare head for the first time at the 2019 North Sea Jazz festival.
Timing is everything, and in this 10-minute close-up Steve Gadd shows why his magnificence makes him one of the godfathers of drums of the past 50 years.
In this video, you see Dr. Gadd playing so clean, so tight, and at such a high level of groove and ghost note-finesse that it is a great lesson on how to play small and still have that open sound. Perhaps with insights on how to save the fills for when it really counts.
Steve Gadd opened the festival on Friday on the Hudson stage, and he got the place packed. Needless to say, the room had a lot of drummers eager to see Steve play.
Watch it all here, and please note that at minute 3 The Long Way Home starts, and around minute 8 he plays some incredible fills!
The Steve Gadd Band at North Sea Jazz 2019
Walt Fowler - trumpet, flugelhorn (Ray Charles, Toto)
David Spinozza - guitar (Paul McCartney and John Lennon)
Kevin Hays - keyboards (Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman)
Jimmy Johnson - bass (James Taylor, Lee Ritenour)
David Spinozza subbed for Michael Landau, who is actually the guitarist in the Steve Gadd Band, and wrote The Long Way Home in the video above.
Steve Gadd For drummers, Steve Gadd is the shining example of a tasteful and technically versatile drummer. He has recorded countless jazz classics and has performed with Al Di Meola, Tom Scott, Stanley Clark and so many others. He made name with super stars like Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and Steely Dan.
Steve Gadd solo albums We've added many album links to the article. Check out Steve's artist page to see and listen to more of his work.
