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Porcaro Lessons
Manipulating the Time Feel:
Part I
Only five years after Jeff entered the recording business, he played on Boz Scaggs' memorable Silk Degrees. Even at that young age Jeff was able to manipulate the time feel in many ways.
1. On "What Can I Say" he lays back, playing well behind the beat.
2. On "Georgia" he's as "on top" as he could be without actually rushing. And in both cases the groove is amazingly comfortable.
3. On "Jumpstreet" Jeff splits the difference, placing the beat absolutely dead center.
4. His cut-time reggae groove on "Love Me Tomorrow" is almost as great as his "Lido Shuffle" beat, a classic groove that every drummer should learn.
By the time of Boz's 1977 recording Down Two, Then Left, Jeff's drumming had changed. Though still young, he had already made many recordings, and, like any great musician, he was constantly evolving and improving. Many people refer to Jeff's "silky" hi-hat work.
Isolate Jeff's hi-hat parts on "A Clue" and "Gimme The Goods", focusing not on the pattern he plays, but on how he varies the part of the stick with which he strikes the cymbals. This technique varies the hi-hat's texture, making it sound more like a maraca, and fills the music with forward motion. Compare this to the more static hi-hat sounds on Silk Degrees, made just the previous year. This is only the beginning of Jeff's unique hi-hat style.
Manipulating the Time Feel:
Part II
Speaking of Jeff's unique hi-hat style on Boz Scaggs’ 1977 recording Down Two, Then Left, notice the absence of it entirely on the shuffle "1993".
In 1980, Jeff recorded Boz Scaggs' Middle Man. On "Angel You" and "JoJo", notice how he places the beat exactly and consistently dead- center, and how on the latter he makes the very difficult hits seem effortless.
On, "You Got Some Imagination" shows Jeff playing more aggressively. Pay special attention to how his busy bass drum locks in perfectly with the bassist.
On, "You Can Have Me Anytime" is one of those "not slow but not fast" in-between tempos. Jeff attacks this difficult gray area, and even gets creative with it. And what can you say about the rockin' "Middle Man" except that it's [perhaps] perfect.
These three great Boz Scaggs tunes provide an ideal study of the evolution of Jeff's style. Jeff also played on Boz's Other Roads, recorded in 1988.
Manipulating the Time Feel:
Part III
A couple notable early recordings Jeff did can be heard from Larry Carlton and Les Dudek . With Carlton Jeff made three recordings:Larry Carlton (check the outstanding Point It Up), Sleepwalk, and Friends. The latter, highly recommended, is a record-long showcase of quintessential Porcaro: wide beat, deep-in-the-pocket drumming.
The three early Les Dudek releases sound similar to Carlton's, but possess more of an edge, like early Little Feat. (You can hear some very distinct Richie Hayward influences both in Jeff's sound and style.) Say No More and Ghost Town Parade are good, but Dudek's self-titled recording is excellent. Jeff shifts beats and sounds very funky on "City Magic", the Zappa-ish "Don't Stop Now" lets him display some early Bernard Purdie influences, and he gets down and swampy with "Take The Time".
Les Dudek's album, Deeper Shades Of Blue, is also outstanding. This recording presents Jeff's many blues shuffle variations and could serve as an encyclopedia of this drumming style.
Manipulating the Time Feel:
Part IV
Steely Dan's entire Katy Lied is a Porcaro masterpiece...and he was only 21 when he recorded that LP in 1975. His uptempo shuffle on "Black Friday" is notable, and the swinging "Your Gold Teeth II" stands out as a drastic departure from the rest of his career. The slower shuffle of "Chain Lightning" is further proof that Jeff owned this style of groove. You can also hear him moving the time feel around from playing on top in "Rose Darling", to slightly behind on "Daddy Don't Live In New York City", to dead center on "Everyone's Gone To The Movies". Sure, Jeff could have played "more" drums on this recording, but that's not what the music called for, and whenever Jeff played, the music came first.
In 1982 Donald Fagen called Jeff to do some of the drumming on his solo debut, The Nightfly, on which Jeff plays yet another shuffle variation on "Ruby Baby". Compare his shuffle approach to Steve Jordan's feel on "Walk Between The Raindrops" on this same album. Also compare Jeff's dead-center time feel on The Nightfly to his earlier, ultra-laid-back groove onSteely Dan's "Gaucho" from the album of the same name. But regardless of his varied treatment of the time feel, Jeff always had full command of the time.
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