drummers

[NicoMK]

DANNY CUMMINGS !!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry I can't write it in bigger fonts

[dmg]

Oh yeah, forgot about CE back in '96 with Chad Nico.  Rubbish.

[Knopflerfan]

For me my favourite has to be DANNY CUMMINGS by a fair mile purely for being in the background where the drums should be and also adding 'nice touches' to various tunes.
To be fair Ian sounded good live in Bournemouth last year on the BD/MK tour, so will be very open minded next year.
 
Chris Whitten/Chad/Terry reminded me of  'Animal' from the muppets in the way they played espeically!
I really don't like Chads drums on 'A night in London' they sound awful!
Not at all Dire Straits for me!

[Eddie Fox]

My opinion on Mark's drummers:

PW: Genius... Mark was so lucky to find that guy. Shame he left.
TW: Great feeling, lots of energy, charisma... However, in terms of technique he's the weakest one so far.
CW: As everyone says, sounds and looks like a robot. Of course he's a great drummer (he must be) but never got it with DS.
CC: IMHO the best one since Mark launched his solo career. His depart is still unclear though.
DC: Great guy but to me it always felt like the rest of the band were another league.
IT: Still adapting. I think we are yet to witness what the man is capable of. Promissing.

Again, it's just my opinion...

[NicoMK]

DC: Great guy but to me it always felt like the rest of the band were another league.
Again, it's just my opinion...

And everyone is entitled to it of course

[nababo]

My opinion on Mark's drummers:

PW: Genius... Mark was so lucky to find that guy. Shame he left.
TW: Great feeling, lots of energy, charisma... However, in terms of technique he's the weakest one so far.
CW: As everyone says, sounds and looks like a robot. Of course he's a great drummer (he must be) but never got it with DS.
CC: IMHO the best one since Mark launched his solo career. His depart is still unclear though.
DC: Great guy but to me it always felt like the rest of the band were another league.
IT: Still adapting. I think we are yet to witness what the man is capable of. Promissing.

Again, it's just my opinion...

I agree with you in every comment, except for Danny Cummings. I think DC was able to capture the needing of a laid-back aproach in some songs.

As for Chris Whitten, it's impressive how he could manage to do a great, great job on McCartneys's "Flowers in the dirt" (one of the few PM's albums I do own), fitting amazingly with the amazingly enough Paul and Costello's compositions, or before, in Paul's intergalactic tour from the very ending of the 80's, but couldn't reproduce it a couple of years latter on OES tour. "My brave face", for instance, is pure Beatles, much of it for the chorus but also because of the drumming jog he did.

[vgonis]

Hey how about Ed? He played with the Notting Hillbillies and he did a fine job. 
I never liked CW, even with McCartney. His sound was hallow and cheap, like a drum machine.
PW is by far my favourite. I miss his playing.
TW was great, but fitted in a rock'n'roll band.

But, I think that since MK is moving around the music idiom (folk, rock, jazz, country etc), he has to either chose different drummers for each recording and live, or take a good steady one, to cover all bases. So this is the reason nobody is happy with the latest drummers. And from the last three I much prefer DC. I don't know about his league but he fitted better and played with heart and soul.

[dmg]

Hey how about Ed? He played with the Notting Hillbillies and he did a fine job. 
I never liked CW, even with McCartney. His sound was hallow and cheap, like a drum machine.
PW is by far my favourite. I miss his playing.
TW was great, but fitted in a rock'n'roll band.

But, I think that since MK is moving around the music idiom (folk, rock, jazz, country etc), he has to either chose different drummers for each recording and live, or take a good steady one, to cover all bases. So this is the reason nobody is happy with the latest drummers. And from the last three I much prefer DC. I don't know about his league but he fitted better and played with heart and soul.

That's a good point there;  we often forget that Mark's music covers so many different fields these days, some of them never before ventured!  This represents a problem for a drummer who plays in all songs where other instruments can come in and out.  Danny was pretty good at this due to his great percussion experience - maybe it would be better to have Danny on percussion with a drummer like on the OES tour to cover the wide range of Mark's music.  They needn't play together all the time like they did back then but drift in and out as required.

[TJ]

I've often thought that it is hard to compare all the drummers, because they haven't all had the same opportunity to play the same kind of material, and some played mostly or only live (Terry Williams, Chris Whitten), and some played mostly or only in the studio (Omar Hakim, Jeff Porcaro). 

Personally I like Pick best, but I think Omar and Jeff are probably the best drummers MK has played with.  I think Danny did a great job, and wish he would have gotten more of a chance to show his chops on the two albums he played on. 

A year from now we'll all have a clear opinion of Ian, I'm sure!

[NicoMK]

Tell me, who does better than this man ?

 


No one. And Speedway is an example among others of course.

(In Jack Bauer's style) : CALL HIM BACK NOW !! That's what I decided to name "The Ice Field Effect"

[dmg]

I've often thought that it is hard to compare all the drummers, because they haven't all had the same opportunity to play the same kind of material, and some played mostly or only live (Terry Williams, Chris Whitten), and some played mostly or only in the studio (Omar Hakim, Jeff Porcaro). 

Personally I like Pick best, but I think Omar and Jeff are probably the best drummers MK has played with.  I think Danny did a great job, and wish he would have gotten more of a chance to show his chops on the two albums he played on. 

A year from now we'll all have a clear opinion of Ian, I'm sure!

I think the drums at the end of Why Bother on the album are great.

[Love Expresso]

I love Ian Thomas' drumming on the new album very much. Don't Forget Your Hat, I Used To Could, and above all Today Is Okay are all great. Only failure is the "drumming" on the song Privateering itself. That's just a joke compared to the live versions from 2011... Just listen to Hannover 2011 for example and you know what I mean.

LE

[xxFordiexx]

I've always enjoyed how all the drummers have brought something different to the table. They each have their own unique way of playing and their styles make the songs sound totally different. I personally really loved Whitten and his style was so good on Sultans. I also thought Cummings was brilliant at the start but tailed off a little on his last tour with MK. The cream of the crop for me most definitely would be Terry Williams..... he is just outstanding as a drummer. His energy and style on stage was unparalleled in my opinion

As always, each to their own.

[xxFordiexx]

I'll also add that Thomas is very promising....... just listen to him on Privateering. Excellent. Can't wait to hear him unleash himself live

[Eddie Fox]

Tell me, who does better than this man ?

 


No one. And Speedway is an example among others of course.

(In Jack Bauer's style) : CALL HIM BACK NOW !! That's what I decided to name "The Ice Field Effect"