Rich Aquilone - Top 5 Funk Drummers
Published on Nov 18, 2015
Rich Aquilone's review of the Top 5 Funk Drummers. For more, check out http://richardaquilone.net
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David Garibaldi, of Tower of Power fame, said that when he heard Zigaboo and The Meters his drumming went “in a different direction”. Zigaboo did for funk drumming what Ringo did for rock. He’s the cornerstone, the inspiration, and the originator of syncopated, groove-based drumming. Some 40+ years after he hit the scene, he’s still making music. In the video below he’s featured playing the seminal “Cissy Strut”.
It’s impossible to have a list about amazing funk drumming without giving some love to “The Funky Drummer” himself, Clyde Stubblefield. Along with Jabbo Starks (the other drummer for James Brown, and “honorable mention”), Clyde’s work with The Godfather of Soul influenced probably 100% of percussionists in the 60s and 70s. Here he is, breaking down each limb for the “most sampled beat of all time.”
David Garibaldi
Photo by Doug Kline
Probably my personal favorite on the list, David Garibaldi is the absolute king of complex, off-beat hand and foot combinations. He loves to take the back beat of the groove off of the traditional 2 and 4 beats and move it to any 16th note he feels like (called permutation) . Add to this the fact that he still manages to keep it so far in the pocket it’s not even funny, and you have a true monster of funk drumming. In the video below, he’s explaining this concept of permutation and then applying it. (Hope you majored in math!)
Stanton Moore
Photo by bigdrumthump.com
Stanton Moore is a huge influence on my drumming. His style mixes the classic funk concept with a New Orleans second-line flair and a little Jazz thrown in for good measure. He’s one of the first drummers I saw live in concert growing up and it changed my playing forever. The video below is him with his trio, recorded live for a radio station in 2010. It has 75,000 views and I probably account for 5,000 of them!
Billy Martin
Photo by Julian Turner
