Steve Gadd Discusses Playing On Steely Dan's "Aja"
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- čas přidán 5. 10. 2023
- In this clip, prolific session drummer Steve Gadd discusses playing on the Steely Dan track "Aja", as well as his warm-up routine, and where he gets ideas for grooves.
Full Video: • Steve Gadd: Interviewi...
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Full Interview Here: czcams.com/video/j8762lBtu9A/video.htmlsi=1V09AbTgEYkuVxnx
Great inspiration for learning an instrument.
He's not even on the same set as Gadd!
Photo shopped!
The King!
Great one w a truly amazing legend! The artists he has played with and the songs he has played on is really epic. And what feel!
That section at the end of Aja is one of the best minute on a record I’ve heard.
The last minute feels exquisite.
Let’s not forget about the drum fills and simultaneous Wayne Shorter solo
From the mouth of the master. The simplicity of displacement! Pure genius!
@@genewilliams617 Simple yet unthinkable to execute such a complex part with a displaced downbeat - and he improvised that. Sublime mastery.
@@mattdelany6799 Tory Slusher is great, but I don’t think she played on Aja lol
I'm a bassist, not a drummer, but Steve Gadd & "Aja" rewrote some of my brain wiring.
I was named after this song this Album and it’s so interesting. I feel so connected to the music.
Give me regards to your brother next time you see him... He's a lovely guy is Pretzel Logic...!?! 😉
Or sister Katy. 😅
There was an embarrassment of riches in the 70s with Aja topping the list, and at the time it seemed completely normal to have classic albums drop one after the other. And now 46 years later we know the sad truth that hit me hard listening to Gadd’s drumming and Wayne Shorter’s sublime counterpoint of a sax solo: it was a minor miracle something like that was put on record, and I will always treasure it.
Cream always rises to the top.
God, you are so right! That period was giving us so much wonderful music. Not just simple chords but complex feels. Taking ideas from 50's and early 60's jazz, the growing ideas from pop music, using other genres, then mixing it with their own original ideas. Not just the Dan but so many other groups and artists. We were so fortunate in the 70's -- early 80's...
I don't even understand how people can drum like that. It blows my mind.
Mr. Gadd is a very nice person. Very humble. Met him in Rochester. Insane drummer.
I sold him and his wife a "Bose Wave System" at Eastview Mall!!! Great guy.
Aja is on an entirely different plane. For me, I think it's the most well produced album I've ever heard.
Agree. My Jenson 6X9”coaxial speakers wore themselves out playing it back when.
I have always regarded Aja as the pinnacle of 70’s rock music. So good that it is really jazz
I would add 90125 by YES on there as well :)
@@melodymakermark Yes! My Jensen 6x9's were on the rear deck of my 1972 Maverick Grabber.
‘73 Gran Torino, I had. With which receiver did you power the Jenson’s? I had a Craig “road rated”.
I went to MI in ‘88-‘89, the drummers all called him “Steve God”. Couldn’t disagree.
Steve Gadd??? Holy shit, Rick! This channel just keeps getting better and better. How is that even possible?? Nice work, my friend. 👊
How can it get better? I'm from the future to say that it does indeed just keep getting better. Gotta go.
Steve Gadd work on Stanley Clarke "School Days" 1976 and "Aja" 1977 was the most talked about drum playing those 2 years. The 70's with Steve Gadd playing was unbelievable! Awesome drummer! A legend!!
Steve on Stanley's Silly Putty and "Concerto for Jazz/Rock Orchestra, Parts 1-4" both from Journey to Love. Killer groove and dynamics.
I believe that Greg Brown played drums on track 1 of "School Days".
@@skineyemin4276Gerry Brown
@@skineyemin4276yeah, it was Gerry Brown on "School Days" and "The Dancer" Steve G. was on "Quiet Afternoon" and "Hot Fun"
When I bought "Aja" many moons ago, I remember being awed by Steve's drumming. I looked on the jacket and instantly committed Steve's name to memory. What an outstanding moment in musical time. Thank you for the memorable performance. 🙂
Steely Dan. Always the best musicians.
I had CTI records before I had Dan records LOL I came in the side door to the pop world, kinda following where Gadd went I was such a die hard got me into drumming.
Gadd had been a first call studio musician for decades before Aja.
Same here! I remember poring over the liner notes in the album.
Up to 1977 and the release of Aja I thought drummers were just percussionists laying down the rhythm. Gadd's work opened my eyes to the fact that drummers had individual and charismatic voices. That solo is still one of the best even nearly 45 years later.
Only Steve Gadd could make playing a coffee table sound so good.
Haha, I was just thinking that, listening to him!
Super talented drummer.
I would buy his record even if it was just him playing a counter. His feel is so natural.
He replaced the coffee table.
That solo always moves me. Like hes playing a different structure with every arm and leg. Just blows me away every time.
“I was letting the MUSIC DICTATE WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO”. A lesson many musicians need to learn (myself included) 👍👍
And that's exactly what Ringo Starr did. Played to the song. And got crapped on for it.
Both Gadd and Starr are geniuses.
@@jmamarq Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been drumming for 3 + decades, and when people ask me my favorite drummer, I say Ringo for PRECISELY that reason! Plus I fucking love The Beatles.
Play to the song, not the formula.
I bought Aja album when I was 14. Love it as much now as I did then. Steve Gadd - what an incredible drummer. His feel for whatever he's playing is astounding.
Steve Gadd is a legend. Such a master, surely one of the greatest.
Paul Simon’s “Late In The Evening” introduced me to Steve Gadd’s drumming. He uses two sticks in each hand and it’s so great.
Love you Steve!
The greatest feel in the drum business in my humble opinion
Been waiting for this interview for 40 years. Thank you Rick for asking these questions that have been on my mind for so long.
There's one key to his playing on Aja that I've never heard or seen discussed: It's the fact that the primary band kicks come in threes and twos, but Gadd hits twos and ones and then begins his fills on the third and second hits respectively. This is musical brilliance and a huge part of the flow of the track.
There are drummers and then there's Steve Gadd. 🙏
I first heard AJA on a cassette and was blown away. I was 17. 4 years later I bought the album. It's 2023 now and AJA is my favorite album of all time for the last 46 years. Deacon Blues is my favorite song. What an album. What genius. Thank you God for making these guys come up with it.
Named my daughter after it! Born also on my birthday, 47yrs later. 2-16-1963 2-16-2010.
@@mikeruane2121 That's wonderful. Hope she grows to love SD as we all do.
This is pure gold! I’ve loved Gadd’s playing for decades!
Such a legend. I just turned 44 and have been drumming for about 25 years and I’ve really started to appreciate Steve as a drummer these last couple years, he is just so incredibly talented. his drums have such an iconic sound to them, his snare drum and tom’s are perfect.
Steve Gadd is my favorite drummer ever, an absolute legend!
I'll never get tired of hearing about Abby Road, Blow by blow or Aja! Thank you for this.
He plays an 8min drum solo.
One of my favorite drummers.
The perfection of his work in that song,no one else is able to get it so right.
I have been playing drums for almost 50 years and remember when this album came out,. I still have the original ABC Records vinyl. Whenever and wherever I am, when I have hear the song Aja and the middle and end drum parts kick in, I just stop what I am doing and take it all in. It was incredible then and still is. The next generations have picked this up too and you can find younger people on CZcams playing along to this song
The drums for the Aja session were a Ludwig Red Sparkle set with a 12, 13 and 16" set of toms and a 22" Bass drum. Steve used his new 21" Rock Ride and all cracked crash cymbals . The snare was his Ludwig chrome 14" x 5 1/2 " Super Sensitive. I delivered the drum set . It was a rental from SIR where I worked as the head of the Drum Department in 1976 and 1977. The studio was the Producer's Workshop in Hollywood.
When this came out in '77, it was at the time, the greatest thing I ever heard. I still listen to that album regularly and always look forward to hearing his solo.
The drumming was great of course but the entire song was epic. Just a very well made song.
You know how good Steve Gadd is when you sit and watch him play a table for 10 minutes! He was one of the drummers for Simon and Garfunkel live in Central Park. Just wonderful to watch play
I've been listening to Steve Gadd and trying to emulate his playing for well over 40 years. He's a drum god among gods.
😊
I first heard the Aja track on the radio as a teen when it first came out. I was in bed in the dark and half a century later I still clearly remember how utterly astonished and mesmerised I was. Many years later I found myself playing this track in a UK Steely Dan tribute band…. Sweet!
The stuff about displacement is genius... one of the best demonstrations of what you have to be able to do to be a drummer that I've ever seen.
One of the all time great drummers. Thank you Rick, for so many great interviews of so many unsung heroes.
Amazing how someone like Steve Gadd can have a whole new line of inspiration by syncopating what he already knows. Brilliant!
Not syncopating, displacing. He's taking the downbeat and changing it places, but it makes a lot more sense to "move" whatever you're doing an 1/8th to the right, if you would - or 1/16th. When he's gonna start displacing in triplets I'll lose my mind.
@@jas_bataille you just defined syncopation. To take a phrase and place it over onto the “e” and “a” in a phrase is syncopation. Same thing, different name.
Steely Dan always puts together the most amazing troupe of studio musicians.
Wonderful that he mentioned John Tropea as I went to school with his daughter and was in a band briefly with her in high school years. One time we had all gone to her Dad's place and sitting there was Steve Gadd who couldn't have been nicer to me. I think he was having some personal issues of his own at the time (1986-67 or so), but I wish I had the maturity then to have a solid conversation with him. I think I mumbled something about loving "50 Ways...."
Great memory…
@@annanikia7949 : It was. Hadn't thought about that in decades until I watched this. Actually, one time John Tropea was coming to the bass player's house to pick up his daughter after our rehearsal and we knew John was a big deal and I think we played either "Rock & Roll" or "Sunshine Of Your Love" for him. He did single me out saying I sounded like Ginger Baker!! I wasn't huge on Ginger, but it was a great compliment and I happily took it. A compliment or a word of acknowledgement can last years and cover many miles.
A high school alumnus, six years senior to my class. Mr Castle's pride and joy; a product of a good musical tradition at our school that seems to still live on.
Steely Dan definitely were jazz buffs. The opening eight bars of "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" were taken from the opening four bars of jazz pianist Horace Silver's 1964 composition, "Song For My Father".
Autumn Leaves and Aja……
The fact one of the greatest drummers in the world can sit down and study rudiments and learn new rythems and concepts only proves his infinite wisdom and expertise on the drums. A legend.
What a phenomenal album. It was musical perfection. So many talented musicians in one place.
I saw him with a group called Stomo Yomashita and Go. He's amazing.
His bit about displacement is just brilliant. That’s the type of thing that comes to you when you are deep in focus and completely open-minded when practicing. Finding a new frontier of playing is extremely gratifying.
Rick... you pull the best interviews, this is a really remarkable chapter in your career and for your channel
The full album is one of my faves. The title track…..GOLD!!
Thank you, Rick. Steve is such a treasure. No words really. Just thank you....
I dropped out of college as a music major, and drummer, joined the navy. A year later I was standing lower level aux machinery space watch on a frigate after picking up this album on cassette and absolutely wore it out! It was transformational!🙌🙌
Hands down the most influential drummer in my lifetime. Thank you for the interview and thank you Steve Gadd for your career.
Aja came out when Disco was really beating us up and Aja saved our brains from melting into the Abyss. What a refreshing piece of work that pushed millions of Musicians all over the World to explore the basic fundamentals of rhythm and Jazz. Steve was part of this wonderful time that still effects us all.
Yes! The interplay with Wayne Shorter was epic
Thank you for this! Always a pleasure to hear Mr. Gadd speak on drumming and his (sizable) contribution to music history.
And there's the key to being a great musician: being a lifelong student.
Rick. I just watched your full session with Steve Gadd. I don’t know anything I’ve ever watched here on CZcams that was as compelling, thoughtful and we learned so much about the man. To hear his excitement about new learning that is going on in his craft now, how humble and refreshing he is. There is no ego interfering with his quest to try new things, to go from being uncomfortable to comfortable at least eventually with what he is discovering. I suspect this session has inspired many of us. Thank you Rick
Once again, not the usual interview with Rick. He dives deeper and speaks from the “day in the life”aspect of the musician. You feel like you were there, which is what we all want to feel.
The drums r a composition of their own!
Rhythmic displacement does have brain-based mechanisms for the difference in perception that the listener experiences, as Rick alludes to here. One of these mechanisms relates to how the left and right cerebral hemispheres manage auditory temporal dynamics. I've always loved good examples of rhythmic displacement. Cool to see Steve being into this phenomenon. 🧠
Hm. There are some who dismiss popular brain hemisphere memes as pseudoscience.
@@IAm-qf2xb Yes, the left and the right hemispheres are not actually a thing. However, they are still correct about how the brain perceive those dynamics.
fascinating concept!
Gavin Harrison is brilliant at this.
Aja and 50 Ways…..
Man!! No Words!
What an inspiring musician! Finding new ideas 💡 following his muse. 💜
Oh man, love his playing
Man, what a talent.
Aja is a masterpiece in producing, recording, playing. The album sounds so good after so many years. What more can we say about the track Aja? Pure perfection, pure bliss. The music of Becker and Fagen introduced me to jazz.
I don’t think there are too many people that could interview, appreciate and connect with an artist as creative and talented as Steve Gadd, like Rick did. All is well with the universe ❤
I have all of Steely Dan's records. Love it.
When he demonstrated displacement of a riff was amazing!
Gadd is from a different planet 🤘🏾
I love this guy.
The most musical best drummer on the planet! My dream band drummer! Love you Steve!! Sincerely, Cameron Caton 👍👍😎
Steve Gadd is still picking up new beats that he hasn't thought of before! That's incredible!
I wish I could be in a mind like that for just one day. What a gift. Thankfully he's good enough to share it with everyone.
Absolute legendary talent
I could happily spend an evening watching Steve Gadd drum on a table.
One of my FAVORITE songs and albums!
What a drummer
The Anthony Jackson/Steve Gadd combo was the star on the classic Al Di Meola records
I love how he is answering the questions so gracefully and thoughfully even though hes probably been asked about Aja hundreds and hundreds of times. Dude is a class act
Steve Gadd… Stewart Copeland… Ritchie Heywood from Little Feat and of course that Ringo chap. Love ‘em to bits
78 years old , an effin’ drum legend and he is still learning, honing and perfecting his craft. I’ve been perfecting and practicing my mid-day naps. I love the inner view these interviews provide. I’m desperately hoping for a chance to see Steve play . Thank you Rick…..again.
Those beautiful hands. That beautiful feel.
Damned good music back then, the stuff of legend these days. Top tier musicians all.
The absolute tops as a drummer and a person is Steve. Long live Steve.
Fantastico! Gadd + Beato, amazing conversation amongst great people.
As an avid student/ amateur drummer, Gadd is my hero. I bought a pair of Zildjean K's that he developed w/ the company. When I started taking lessons, I knew from the get go I'd found the right teacher, because he has a Gadd poster in the studio. Lot of great drummers I love in rock, jazz and fusion, but something about Steve's playing just does it for me.
PURE GENIUS
I sawe Steve Gadd play at Love Rocks concert last night. Amazing drummer.
I met Steve Gadd back in 1992 when he was playing in London at The Royal Festival Hall with Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez and Bob Berg...wow! I was doing my own Jazz Fusion show on a small radio station in Coventry. I'd met Chick Corea before (one of the nicest, most humble people I've ever met!) and his then manager, Ron Moss invited me to the gig. Well I was in heaven as I was also a drummer and Steve Gadd obviously was my hero. So like a complete fan boy I took my vinyl copy of Aja with me. 34 years later its still in my collection signed by Mr Gadd. He was an absolutely delightful gentleman and even kindly showed me how to play the opening to 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover on the table in the dressing room! Absolute legend!
What a legend. Great to hear him talking about the masterpiece that is Aja.
And that was deep, from a legendary drummer. Mr. Steve Gadd.
Steve Gadd is still picking up new beats! That's incredible!
Gadd's first real work as a drummer was in the Army. I love that Gadd's drum foundation is marching snare. You can even hear it in his warmup. He pops those accents like drum line marches. That kind of musicality is designed to move people into action.
@cirenosnor5768
0 seconds ago
Can definitely hear the marching band influence with that warmup and his playing in general. Paul Simeon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover and so on
@@cirenosnor5768
As a former member of our Drill team in High School, I recognized it instantly.
As a drummer, I think I need that. Any particular name for the warm-ups you’re thinking of?
@@davefiano4172 nope. Marching snare line cadences, I guess.
Dude is a Legend 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽
He made that table sound like a masterpiece with his rudiments.
Displacement! Perfectly said
The album cover is a stroke of genius.
"Just the rudiments " loved the little demonstrations. Awesome! 😎🤓
When Steve talks about displacement, it is a concept which seems alien at first. But, when you start thinking about it when you listen to these tracks, you realize what a difference it makes.