Here are a couple of things I was listening to when I was at USC, which used to get me in trouble with some of the other students, for playing too… aggressively, let’s say. One bass clarinet player really hated my playing— I did two rehearsals in a row with him one time, and between sessions he started complaining loudly about the drummer he just played with— me— spacing out on the fact that I was still in the room and was standing right there. I’m curious whatever happened to that guy. He was probably not wrong; my playing (and personality) were in kind of an obnoxious state, and I think there was a consensus that my playing was very undeveloped, but that I had a lot of intensity that the other players wished they had. I don’t think a lot of them had a real urgent need to express anything in particular.
Anyway, I was listening to nothing but the kind of thing that really get you excited to kick some weak-tea musician ass. Like this: Roy Haynes playing with McCoy Tyner on a late-80s John Coltrane tribute album. Bob Thiele, who produced the album, was apparently really getting off on the bass drum that day, because it’s way up there in the mix:
Then Afro Blue, from Coltrane’s own Live At Birdland. I used to listen to this before every combo and big band rehearsal, and as a result probably overplayed my cymbal a bit.
oh hell yeah! Afro-Blue from Birdland used to give me consistent chills, man. Sounds like our school experience was very similar, by the way. I started listening to Paul Motian before sitting down at combo and people were really not into what I was bringing. hehehehe…don't regret it one bit.