I find it hard to pin down anything like a particular sound Fleck gets from a banjo - it’s so different in different places. But I do indeed like Rhiannon Giddens very much. I grew up in North Carolina and have found there is definitely something hard to explain IN North Carolinian music -maybe from Quaker culture influence (?). Her work with Carolina Chocolate Drops is incredible. Like you, my interests stem from a love of jazz - I guess I just spend more time in other genres, but at least 75% of what I listen to these days is jazz. And sounds like we could have had the same grandfather - but mine did like little kids, until we found out what he was really like, when he wouldn’t drink when my parents were around. At those times he didn’t like anyone.
I guess it’s I just have never responded personally to Fleck’s music and haven’t tried hard. . . the sounds I heard from his playing have not drawn me in. Whereas Giddens. . . I first heard her on the “Lost on the River–The New Basement Tapes” disc and was smitten. She has a special voice–and it reminds me of a woman I love who she resembles and who sounds somewhat like her, so it was easy to be drawn to her. And the sound of that banjo she was playing and plays. . . it too seems special to me.
As problematic as being around my grandfather was I’d love to be around him today. When I finally got to be of an age that he was willing to take me down into is basement whenever we visited and show me how to operate all the woodworking equipment he had there (he was the son of a son of a son of a cabinet maker) he was struck hard with cancer and took his own life. All my grandparents are gone, my parents are gone, I have one aunt and one uncle left (who live far away) . . . and I really wish I could hang with those generations of family.
Anyway we certainly have veered from the topic of recorded drumming even though a banjo does have its drum element!
LOL! I thought the same thing. So this can be the last message in this string. Yeah, when the most of your family is younger than you, it does tug at things. I sure wish my young grandkids might take an interest in audio, but kinda doubtful. My mom is 89 years old and this is the first holiday season she hasn’t made saffron bread. My older brother and I are the only ones left in our family who like it, so I guess it’s going to die too, unless I decided to make it for myself. I could make a batch for the 2 of us, and trade it for some of his LPs - he’s even more of an audiophile than I am, but a couple years ago sold all his analog gear and went entirely into streaming and headphones.
Fleck has long impressed me as gimmicky. I find him annoying.
I guess it depends on where you draw the line between “gimmicky” and “innovative.” Surely if I were to think of the banjo as belonging only in certain contexts, played in certain styles, I might see his attempts to break those molds as gimmicks. I see them as stretching what the instrument can do. As for staying “in the lane,” I find his 2021 album My Bluegrass Heart (Qobuz / Apple Music) showing incredible musicianship and a great choice of people with whom to collaborate.
I am in favir of stretching the application of all instuments. But some attempts simply do not work. Fleck is an unfortunate example of this. I appreciate others find it interesting/appealing. I do not question his skills.
OK, full disclosure, I struggle to honestly LIKE the banjo and can probably list on two hands the songs where I just love it. My Bluegrass Heart is way up there. I think the structure of the overtones is just grating to most people. I used to work in Classical music radio and the number of complaints we got for harpsichord music! But like the banjo in bluegrass, the harpsichord within a baroque ensemble is really effective for me.
I agree, banjo can be wonderfully effective.
And I like harpsichords a great deal. I rebuilt one some years ago, a simple but yet complex instrument in all respects.
I play bluegrass banjo, and have been a fan of Fleck’s since he was a wunderkind, playing bluegrass and old jazz standards with an astonishing degree of facility. He’s a phenomenally talented musician, and while I have an intellectual appreciation for the new directions he’s taken the banjo, I admit to not much enjoying his work in world music. We saw him in concert with his wife, traditional banjoist Abigail Washburn, just the two of them, near the end of the pandemic, and it was a wonderful show.
As a banjoist myself, I have great appreciation for a quote of his that I read in a classical music magazine several years ago, on the occasion of the premier of his banjo concerto: “Even though nobody’s ever been rude to me or anything about being a banjo player, I can’t imagine that I’m not benefiting from everybody’s low expectations.” LOL
He is indeed astoundingly good.
That’s a great quote. And I do love the instrument (along with the harpsichord), but I can certainly understand how in an unaccompanied setting, it could grate on some ears.
Back to drums, I listened to a fantastic vinyl pressing of Sonny Rollins’ 1957 album Way Out West (Quobuz / Apple Music). After listening to a few Shelly Manne recordings from this thread, I listened with “new ears” to WOW and even though Manne isn’t the headliner of the session, the engineering on the drums is wonderful, if not ahead of its time. I’ve listened to this album numerous times over the years, but now from a more audio-focused perspective, I am becoming an even bigger fan of the engineering of Roy DuNann.
Last track Black Magic Woman, the drum solo at the end is amazing.
Not just the drums - all the percussion in that is captured and mixed beautifully. The only problem is I had to take one of my speakers in for service - we had a power outage last weekend and I think it farkled up one of my woofers. But the same thing happened with the other side a few years ago (the speakers are getting on in years) and he was able to rebuild it perfectly. If not, looks like upgrading my speakers will be on the horizon. But even on my Apple Studio Display, which does have pretty darn good acoustics - I was able to get a lot from that recording. Thanks for posting it.
Hey, those look like fun to explore. When I get my &%$#! speaker back, I’ll check them out.
Oh man… Hope it’s not a long wait. I’m debating getting rid of the other set of speakers I have for fear of needing them. I need my stereo for basic sanity 
In my case, if I DON’T get my speaker back soon, I might become SANE, and we sure wouldn’t want that to happen. The same problem happened a few years ago with the other speaker and the repair made it perfect again, so I’m hoping that’s the case this time. I do have my Apple Studio Display monitors to at least listen a little, and AirPods so I’m at least in the ballpark.
I’ve been following this thread but haven’t come close to keeping up. The depth of knowledge found in this forum is on full display. It’s beyond impressive and bordering on intimidating.
Honestly, it’s a bit irritating, but I’m still stuck in a phase where I’m mostly listening to the system instead of the music. So, while I’ve found a few new Qobuz favorites, I’ll admit that my interest is mostly in how to use percussion to help evaluate system changes.
If possible to narrow it down a few examples, which of these would you recommend that captures the full range of details you expect to hear and maybe what to listen for.
One example I came across in a review recently is the shaker in the intro to Van Morrison’s “The Street Only Knew Your Name”. In that example the reviewer suggested listening for individual beads rather than the overall effect. That may be a relatively low bar but it’s a detail an uninformed person like me likely wouldn’t know to look for.
Thanks much.
We are all a little crazy I suspect, haha. I read about the issue with your speakers and worry about something similar happening here with mine. I had to replace a noisy woofer in my other set and now every time I hear something vibrate in the room my mind goes right to thinking I have an issue. Since I’ve stepped up to decent gear I can hear things so much more clear. The distortion added to an electric guitar for example took some getting used to. I can hear it so clearly that I kept thinking I was hearing an issue with the system. If your speaker doesn’t get fixed it’s a good excuse to upgrade!
Some very smart people around here. I’ve been reading through this place trying to learn and bring myself up to speed. Intimidating is accurate. I think it is ok to spend the time listening to the equipment while getting things dialed in but once that’s done it’s all about the music. I’ve been using percussion to dial in my sub. You’d think this would be easy but I find it quite challenging. It doesn’t help my room has a huge dip between 42hz and 52hz. As much as 10db according to my phone. Hoping to mitigate this dip with a second sub and room treatment. I will check out that song and see if I can hear the individual beads.
Cheers!