Jeff Ballard: DRUMS at Stephan's basement

Provided to Drummerworld by Stephan Diethelm - Thanks a lot Stephan!
Jeff Ballard @ stephan's basement
a project by musig im pflegidach, powered by MURIKULTUR, Muri, Switzerland
Stephan’s Basement presents the leading drummers of our time, each performing a short, but
profound solo in Stephan Diethelm’s rehearsal room in Muri, Switzerland. The podcasts, as
work in progress, will create an expanding archive of modern drumming in all its fascinating
diversity. Watch and listen!
live recorded 7. March 2022
sound - Simon Huber
gimbal - Samuel Bitz
color grading - Christian Kaufmann
editing & concept - Stephan Diethelm
with the support of the
Josef Müller Stiftung
Bundesamt für Kultur
Kanton Aargau
Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Rhythms upon rhythms
Jeff Ballard's way of playing the drums could be called semantic drumming. Simply put: He tells stories with his playing. He weaves carpets in which patterns appear, in which there are breaks, in which one semiotic system merges seamlessly into the next, as it were. Colors appear and disappear, on the canvas of the infallible beat he orbits around. Seen in this light, Jeff is the ideal first soloist for Stephan's basement. For he is much more than an sideman who lays the foundation for the music of the others. His solo performance here shows that perfectly: he is not only a musical drummer, he is a storyteller on his instrument. In this way he stands for the emancipation of the drums from the role as a mere part of the rhythm section. And in his playing you can hear echoes of many other drummers cut from the same “musical” cloth. Above all, Max Roach: perhaps the most intellectual of the bop drummers, he has always played "rhythms upon rhythms". What does that mean? Polyrhythms first, but also a kind of meta-drumming, that is, drumming that comments on drumming of the past and present. A historical commentary and at the same time gripping music - simply semantic drumming. In fact, if Max Roach's art has lasted long enough to resound in today's drummers, just as the pioneers, Panama Francis or Buddy Rich, echo in his (Roach), then the same can be expected from Jeff Ballard. Many years from now, drummers will still refer to him. This recording bears striking testimony to that as well.
Text: Michel Mettler

[@davidlewis8814]

Shenaniganery of the highest order - what a friggin blast! This is a man who is never bored. Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished

[@ifgwelf]

Very musical solo

[@rubenojeda86]

thanks for the trip!💯💯

[@urbulibaba]

at times almost Paul Motian-esque in its rawness and minimalism! wonderful!!