Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ramon Lopez: Eleven Drums Songs
Ramon Lopez: Eleven Drums Songs
ByOf course, this need not be the case, and Ramon Lopez proves it here with Eleven Drums Songs. This is an album that made we wish for a CD-Rom, just to find out how Lopez has made some of the sounds on this fascinating collection. For example, what is the whistling instrument in "Lucas"? What makes that plucked string sound at the end of "Drunken Buleria"? On "The Birth of Voice" how does he achieve that careening bass sound? (Actually, that one is manifestly by striking his drums at a furious rate, but the effect is initially startling.) I think it probable, although not certain, that Lopez's kit contains some instruments that are not drums, but on the other hand, Eddie Prevost created some fascinating string effects by bowing his drums last year on his dynamite duets with Evan Parker, Most Materiall, so why not Lopez?
Lopez's work on identifiable drums, meanwhile, is as varied and versatile as a project like this one demands. He can create hypnotic march-like figures, as on "Kalakar III (Deepchandi Taal 14 Beats)" and "Kalakar II (Jhap Taal 10 Beats)," which from their titles seem to be based on the rhythms of Indian music. "Drummers Remembered" fashions an extended fanfare on a cymbal, punctuated by emphatic drumbeats - contradt this to "Beauty and the Best," which also creates a drum/cymbal dialogue, but of a very different texture. "The Final Shroud" suggests an ominous death march, as perhaps indicated by the title. "Alicante's Cowbell" explores the varying sonorities of that humble instrument. "The Birth of Voice" plays with dynamics. "Miracle of Jazz" explores the upper reaches; "Primi's Martinete" pastiches mechanical rhythms.
Drummers take note: this is a profound, significant document.
Personnel
Ramon Lopez
drumsAlbum information
Title: Eleven Drums Songs | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: Leo Records
< Previous
Season's Groovings
Next >
Big Band Christmas