A while ago (22 June) I commented on some of the best musicians, technically, that I'd seen playing as backing bands. Which made me think about the best individual musicians I've seen. This serious question needed proper consideration but I've picked my first - and one of perhaps just two slots in a personal opinion fantasy supergroup that I am unequivocal about.
The best drummer I've ever seen play is Jon Hiseman.
Hiseman followed Ginger Baker in Graham Bond's band before playing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and then forming his own band, Colosseum, the "critically acclaimed, seminal jazz/prog rock band" (according to Wikipedia) that I saw play in Manchester on 18 March 1971. That isn't some ridiculously detailed recollection, or a ticket stub (they just stamped your hand at the Uni) but I know it because Colosseum were recording what became the double album (I'm talking vinyl of course) Colosseum Live and recordings from Manchester and Brighton were used for the album, so it's a matter of record (sorry, poor pun).
I've been hugely attached to the live version of Rope Ladder To The Moon, which I rarely go more than a few weeks without listening to, ever since. It's one of the few live recordings that I listen to time after time (another list coming, I fear).
I've certainly seen many drummers who hit the skins harder - John Bonham comes to mind - but, using an economical backlift, Hiseman has fantastic rhythm, speed and fluency.
His Wikipedia page gave me a link to a website called Drummerworld, which lists their top 500 ever drummers. The site claims to be the World's No.1 Website for drummers and percussionists "in terms of numbers, visitors, content and ranking" and features drummers from all genres in the history of jazz and rock. I looked up Hiseman's page* and it says:
An intelligent highly skillful drummer whose technical ability stuns as much as it impresses. He used light sticks, the military grip on the left hand and sat high and erect. As with Mitch (Mitchell, who played with Hendrix), the military grip did not impact on his tom playing as he adjusted with ease to matched grip. He was physically powerful but had the advantage of playing the best part of his rock career with miking and as such did not have to physically match the volume of the electric instruments. Of the drummers under analysis here, Jon is technically the best. He has the full range of rudiments, is balanced quadrapedal, precise, very fast, and explosive when required. His emphasis is on the hi-hat/snare/bass/ride cymbal but with effortless excursions onto the toms and 2nd bass drum insertions. It is more be-bop style with less emphasis on the tom patterns, and more on the ride cymbals then Baker. He unhesitatingly used brushes when appropriate. As a soloist he was devastating: playing at fearsome tempos over the full kit..... creating "a bubbling thickness of sound and layers of patterns". Around this era the most comparable drummer, in technical terms and speed, was Billy Cobham (a famous jazz-fusion drummer who played with Miles Davis and John McLaughlin).
Most of the pages on individual drummers just give their playing CV, without commenting on their playing style or prowess: all of which left me feeling insufferably smug about my choice. I never saw Ginger Baker play, mind.
I find it interesting that, while I hardly ever listen to jazz, I'm hugely fond of some jazz-influenced prog rock bands, in particular Soft Machine, King Crimson and the aforementioned Colosseum. Like several other well known rock drummers, Hiseman and Baker were jazz players in their early careers, though they both found it too restrictive and moved on.
If you want to hear (and see) an example of Hiseman's playing follow the link below** to a 1994 live video of their epic piece, first recorded in 1969, Valentyne Suite, for me one of the most perfect pieces of music in the popular idiom and having every bit as much artistic merit as my favourite classical pieces. It's over 20 minutes long, but even the first 90 seconds provides a wonderful example of his precise, fluent style.
*http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jon_Hiseman.html
**http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/jonhisemanvalentyne.html
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