Baldy Locks here, sipping on a hot apple cider and enjoying the holiday season. As we low-enders approach a New Year it is natural for us to reflect on what made the soon-to-be prior year so special. For some it's the fact that the singer made it through the entire gig without spitting up on their selves. OK, I'm sorry. One of my New Year's resolutions is that I shouldn't talk about singers that way. I'm off to a resoundingly good start don't you think?

For the rest of us it's the joy of ridding the world of less-than-stellar grooves. You fine people know exactly what I'm talking about I'm sure. You played the tunes down, mastered the true feel of the song, locked with the kick drum, didn't knife the keyboard player, and got paid at the end of the night. You know; a successful gig. If you noticed in there I dropped a not-so-subtle hint on today's topic. Here is your hint: It rhymes with mastered the true feel of the song. That kiddies is the rather lame segue into my holiday reflection as we take a trip back to (enter cheesy Ed Wood style Sci-fi movie theme here) The Groove Alliance. By the way, if you are curious what The Groove Alliance is you'll have to backtrack a few articles and read parts 1 & 2. Was that a shameless plug or what?

Now, typically I love to protect our groove integrity by keeping these articles for bass players by a bass player. With this particular journey into The Groove Alliance, however, I wanted to get some input from the other half of our rhythmic marriage and that is our groove mate the drummer. Yes folks, communication in a relationship is a glorious thing indeed and working with drummers is a musical commitment. Plus, it beats the alternative when the drummer throws all of your road cases out in the street after cutting them up and then gets a restraining order and ……never mind.

In both prior installments of The Groove Alliance, I talked about locking in with kick, hi-hat, and snare. Originally I did this so everyone would know the best way of locking in a groove. In hindsight it also set up the best way for you to understand how to A) not piss off the drummer as fun as it may be and B) lock into a drummer's feel. Granted, hiding his or her sippie cup after a long gig can be highly entertaining, referencing part A) of the last sentence, but save it for AFTER the gig. To avoid the stench of the non-desired funk, I decided to share some input from some of my favorite drummers. Plus, asking them questions makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. This is a kind of a faux sippie cup per se.

In part 2 of The Groove Alliance, I talked about drum great Jerry Marotta. Working with Jerry taught me an infinite array of ways to enforce the groove. His outstanding musical sense gives him a very unique approach to music and tapping into that made me a much better bassist. Part of that magic stems from the fact that Jerry is also a great singer and composer as well. All of these attributes give Jerry one of the best feels in the music industry. Considering folks like Peter Gabriel and Sarah McLachlan have used Marotta on many a hit record, he is a great example of a drummer with a great sense of feel. If you have the opportunity please check out Jerry and you'll understand. The main thing is to start listening to drummers with a great feel.

As a bassist you can learn a ton from truly listening to great players and their musical identity whether live, recorded, of if you are lucky while performing with them. The thing you're looking for in this eternal search is the feel that has made them so great. A drummer's feel (and for any musician) is his signature, and melding with that is the key to survival for anyone aspiring to be a successful bassist. Adhering to said groovage also helps in the whole acquisition of fundage (i.e. get paid) due to the fact that it will keep the groove from blowing musical chunks. For some weird reason I still like getting paid at the end of the night. Go figure.

One of the greatest drummers ever to grace the plant is Carmine Appice. With an artist roster of clients including Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, and Ozzy, there is a real good chance that Carmine has figured out the art of feel. That being said, it was really cool getting Carmine's input on us Guardians of the Groove. When asked about what he looks for in a bassist Carmine responded with the following glorious tidbits. "I've played with some of the greatest bass players around, Tim Bogert, Phil Chen, Tony Franklin, Stanley Clark. What do they all have? They have a certain groove and feel. Even though they are all different, they all have a great feel. Feel is something you just have. You can't be taught. But for me, I love a bass player to have a feel that gels with mine. He should have a BIG sense of Groove. And a sense of where to put a bass fill or line that doesn't mess up the feel and groove."

Did you catch that class? By gelling with the drummer's feel and bringing in your own BIG sense of groove you could impress a musical legend. Can we say would not sucketh ?

When discussing feel with Carmine I was curious, since he's played with some of the bass player elite, players he thought highly of, regarding feel. Carmine said " One of my favorite players is Tony Franklin. He has a great sense of feel, groove and melody. His bass, being fretless, actually sings. When we play, we don't think about what we're playing. It always has groove, dynamics and feel. He would do a bass fill and never would step on the drums. We know when to fill and when not to."

Hmmmmm... so Carmine is saying to lock with the drummer and have a keen sense of groove and dynamics as well. Something sounds familiar here.

So there it is, my fellow Saviors of Stank. I'm sure I will elaborate more in the future but for now I just wanted to share some wisdom and experience of two of the world's greatest drummers. By digging into their minds and understanding the importance of feel and groove, I have personally become a much better player. I am hoping that by sharing this experience, I've given all of you a chance to capture some of that same magic. We can drive any groove all the way home if we focus on our rhythmic soul mate's feel and groove. That way, it's easier for us to occasionally refill his/her sippie cup, somehow avoid knifing the keyboard player, receive the ever elusive paycheck, and yet again save the world from less than stellar grooves.

Until next time.

Keep Groovin',

S

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