{ Gadd - Zooks! } ~ The incredible Steve Gadd

Quick drawing in charcoal of Steve Gadd on his birthday.

Gadd's mastery of Second Line Drumming, Latin-Afro beats, Jazz and other musical genres make him the consummate Studio Session musician. He has played with a who's-who of the very best musicians in the last half century: Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Chick Corea, Steely Dan, BB King to name just a few.  He is renowned for his taste, feel, and 'groove'- that unquantifiable standard whereby two drummers can play the exact same sequence in perfect time but the end result has your foot tapping and the other comes across as 'overly spiced'.   A great example is Gadd's drumming on the iconic Paul Simon song "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover".

Perhaps Chick Corea summed it up best for all when he noted:  "Every drummer wants to play like Gadd because he's perfect...He has brought orchestral and compositional thinking to the drum kit while at the same time having a great imagination and a great ability to swing."