Frankie Dunlop on Monk's rhythm sections

[Tom Storer]

[Ron Thorne]

[Tom Storer]

The older I get, the more I appreciate clarity and economy of means in music, in the jazz rhythm section in particular. A blistering, busy solo by a master drummer still does it for me, but in general I'm more impressed when the ideas are expressed with more focused and streamlined playing. Same goes for horns. I'd rather hear a saxophonist play a real melodic development with fewer notes than race up and down the scales working up a sweat.

[Ron Thorne]

I'm with you completely on the economy of notes issue, Tom. I've been in that camp for a long time.

As a drummer, I always enjoyed playing good time and complementing my fellow musicians far more than having a spotlight shine on me as a soloist. Textures, nuance and tasteful embellishments at the right moment were always more meaningful to me, personally. One of the biggest music-related compliments I ever received was when a bandmate declared that I played very tastefully and had "big ears".