Why Steve Gadd Is The Grooviest Drummer In the World | Off Beat

Steve Gadd is an American session drummer who established himself as one of the best known and regarded drummers in the industry. He’s been active since the late 60s and has worked with some of the most famed and influential musicians across a multitude of genres. In this video, I try to highlight why he was so sought after as a session drummer and the intricacies of his playing style. If you have another drummer/musician you want me to do a video on, drop it as a comment below!

#stevegadd #steelydan #drumming

00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Inspirations & Beginnings
01:00 - Deep Pockets
01:51 - Drumming Philosophy
03:47 - Stylistic Versatility
04:41 - Creativity & Composition
06:00 - Soloing

Music credit:
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

[Ahash]

My father was rock and roll drummer Sib Hashian, he would take me to New York city for boys trips every year growing up as we lived in a Boston suburb. One time, we were walking by the blue note and he saw Steve Gadd was playing that night. I had not heard of Steve yet but my dad was thrilled and we impromptu bought tickets for the show. He said Steve was one of his favorite drummers ever, hell, he even named my oldest sister Aja. Steve put on an amazing show, but at one point his cymbal lost tightness and fell way out of position. Afterwards my dad said that he regretted not jumping up there to fix it for him mid song, as he would have wanted a drum tech to do it for him if that had happened. Later on in life, I would fix my father’s drums and cymbals whenever necessary, mid song or mid set, as his roadie and drum tech. I never forgot what he said! RIP Sib and long live Steve Gadd!!

[robertginsburg]

I've recorded Steve in the studio before and the thing I was most impressed by was how musical he is and what a great listener he is.
The guitar player on the session was Dean Parks and I remember Dean was coming up with a rhythm part and almost immediately Steve responded with the coolest groove using brushes on the snare.
Steve has completely mastered his instrument by putting in all the hard work. He is foundational. He started by learning all the rudiments. When he needed to swing he learned how to swing. When he needed to be able to keep solid time he mastered that. The guy is a human metronome when he wants to be. I've never heard a drummer that has better time.
It's his discipline that has given him the freedom to create such incredible music.
Total down to earth human being as well.

[gametheater]

A video on Jeff Porcaro would be dope!

[sub-jec-tiv]

Pocket is a combination of knowing how the miniscule shifts in timing and dynamics give the deepest possible sense of groove. Literally a couple of miliseconds late or early on various hits, and very slight shifts in how hard you strike have incredible effect on the listener. In order to get there, you first have to be precise enough not to constantly be making errors in hit placement. After that, it’s 100% about feel. It’s in your soul, heart and head after you get to that level of skill.

[bluemax]

I've played for 50 years, groove drummer, rock drummer, and while Keith Moon is my hero drummers like Steve gadd are in a class by themselves. Steve Gadd is just phenomenal on steely Dan's Aka. Just an incredible drummer!

[ronrother]

Gadd is the absolute definition of ' the pocket "... I have always loved his playing..

[bellbrass]

Steve Gadd is a genius. I reserve that word for very few musicians throughout history; Gadd has demonstrated genius in his craft over and over.

[sonsauvage]

I had a teacher in high school, band director. One day during jazz band he got up, left the room, and came back with a tv cart and a couple tapes. A “Stuff” performance, the legendary Buddy Rich tribute with Dave Weckl and Vinnie Colaiuta, and he also pointed out how many classic tunes Gadd played on. He was basically like, "you all need to watch this and learn something." And we did 😂 Steve Gadd is a groove monster. The Aja drum solo outro is one of the most epic things in the history of recorded music as well

[gregberke]

Glad for Gadd. Great rhythmic drummer. Enhanced so many artists work. Love the groove.

[yorkhawk]

Exceptional analysis. Been trying to figure out exactly what it was that I loved so much about Gadd's drumming for years. This is a good start. Good work.

[Orwell-]

I remember when i bought "winelight" by groover washington. By listening, i thought, man this grooving like hell. Then i opened the booklet and saw, drums: steve gadd, bass: marcus miller. There were no questions left. That man is a freaking legend. An amazing drummer.

[playerhateroftheyear]

His career accolades and accomplishments are staggering almost intimidating

[WarmVoice]

It's just so natural when you hear world class groove. It's like we all know how right it feels, but we need the best time keepers in humanity to remind us 😂

[enricomarconi]

I always loved Steve's playing A LOT and I mean A LOT... I remember when I was 15 I first heard him on the Paul Simon's live album an he blew me away! It was the end of the album for me and I had to know where else did this guy play! Then loving jazz... wasn't too difficult to find him. As a pianist, Steve is the dream drummer to have by your side! Unique, really....

[bloozswami]

Steve Gadd is from another planet. Best on this one.

[MrRicardoMartino]

Very good sample of Dr. Gadd's 4 or 8 bar phrasing at the end of the video. 
I always had issues when soloing until I learned this concept.
I use it now . Thank you for posting and thank Dr. Steve Kendal Gadd for being my Virtual Drum Sifu.

[musicauthority]

Steve Gadd was on the "One More Car One More Rider" tour with Eric Clapton. Eric had some outstanding musicians on that tour. including Billy Preston, Steve Gadd, Andy Fairweather Low, Dave Sanchez, and Nathan East. in that performance he is playing the largest set of drums that I've ever seen, it was very impressive.

[catsonnets]

A video on Bernard Purdie would be awesome!
This was so good! Especially the part at the end where you add the visual count of his 4-8 bar approach to soloing, that just made it all so clear. Great video! Looking forward to seeing more like it!

[Earthislife]

I love it when I find interesting videos about someone I never heard of who was extremely important to the music industry. Very cool!!! 👍👍👍

[jerrymartin]

Steve Gadd is the drummers drummer. He can play anything, for anyone, anywhere. Stuff was an awesome group and Steve Gadd took them several levels higher.