Elvin and Matt

Don't shoot me, send me threatening emails or discredit everything I've ever written. I'm going to do something that might be a sin in the pristine world of jazz. But jazz is the music of the devil anyways.

After the disclaimer... recently I showed a friend of mine some My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy videos. We were talking about the movements different people make when they play (Specimen 1). And I said "hey, look at these guys." He dismissed the rock music because that's what any self respecting teenager does: he claims that My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy are emo (which has been around since 1970 for all of the emo "trend setters"). I responded by pointing out many elements in the music that would be cool in a jazz setting: the well rehearsed breaks, interesting bass lines, guitar riffs, and (with taste) the inflections of the singer's voice.

He didn't know who Elvin Jones was, so I didn't point this out, but at times the drummer (Matt Pelissier) sounds a bit like Elvin Jones (circa Coltrane Quartet). Now don't get me wrong, Elvin was a better drummer; more skilled, more emotional, more revolutionary. But there is a bit of a comparison to be made. Matt's fills are a lot like Elvin's and Matt doesn't just sit back playing a beat all song. And while Elvin's cymbal work and polyrhythmic time is certainly far more complex, Matt has that same kind of cymbal thing going (without the polyrhythm).

For example:
(The drummer shown in the video is not Matt, it is Bob Bryar, who joined the band around the time of this video. On the song Matt is playing though. This video was one of the first times I listened to rock music. Forgive the chip on the shoulder teenagey message)




and Elvin:





Elvin's fills on the floor tom are the type of thing that Matt does on the snare.