Nothing equals a willingness to listen is extremely true and very important in music. I believe 99% of the drummers in groups never hear anything to soloist is playing. How can they work with them?
Now that the bass players including upright players all bring amps, they tend to pay too loud.
I can’t tell you the number of groups I have gone to listen to and could not hear the solo player because of the loud rhythm section, and many of the soloist were the stars, the players we paid to hear play! EXAMPLE: I went to the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis to hear Mindi Abair and hardly heard a thing she played because of the volume of the rhythm section. The only time they got quit was when she sang.
I am not sure exactly when loud became the most important thing in music. Or when rhythm section players became the most important part of a group including the soloist. I always thought it was the working together of the groups players and the music that was important. I always thought that loud was used by musicians that could not really play very well. They used the volume to cover up the fact that they could not really play.
This has become very prominent in modern groups. The joy of music is being able to hear instrument and exciting moments in the music orchestras are playing or hear every note a great soloist plays with a drummer that can burn like hell softly and work with the soloist.
Loud groups remind me of college bands that play very loud and with a lot of notes to impress the audience and each other with what they can do. This BS does not impress a decerning audience of true musicians, music students and music lovers.
Music needs a great balance among the players and how do we get this? Of course, by listening to each other. I remember listening to Cannonball’s group when Nat would end a solo with a lick and Cannonball would start his solo with that lick, they listened to each other.
Again, nothing equals a willingness to listen to make great music.
Nothing in music equals a willingness to listen by Rheuben Allen
