Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
Good to see all the love for Dave Weckl. Saw him with Chick Corea several years ago, and he put on a drumming clinic out there. Among the modern drummers, he's probably my personal favorite.

More recently, I saw Pat Metheny Group in concert, and his new drummer Antonio Sanchez is quite a revelation. Incredible talent on display there. You can get a sample of his skills on the Speaking of Now concert DVD.

His former drummer Paul Wertico's also got a wonderfully innate feel for rhythm, and seeing him perform recently in a trio with Larry Coryell and Mark Egan, his intuitiveness reminded me of the late great Elvin Jones.

If you're really looking for flat out maximum drumming, I would add Billy Cobham, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Art Blakey, and Elvin Jones to your list. Suggested discs below:

Billy Cobham - Smokin'
Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (w/ Billy Cobham)
Last Exit - Iron Path (w/ Ronald Shannon Jackson)
Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society - Decode Yourself
Hank Mobley - Roll Call (w/ Art Blakey)
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (w/ Art Blakey)
John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vanguard (w/ Elvin Jones)
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (w/ Elvin Jones)
My favorite Elvin Jones/Coltrane album is simply titled "Coltrane". Elvins chops
on the 14 minute opus "Out of this World" are....well, out of this world. Another
great Elvin CD is Joe Hendersons "Inner Urge" on Blue Note. His solo on the
title track is equally amazing.

Can't say that I agree that Wertico reminds of Elvin. Elvin's poly rhythemic chops
are quite distinctive and and don't know anyone that ever came close to his combination of subtly and power. He's the Earl Campbell of drummers. I always thought of Wertico as a percussionist trapped inside a drummers body...something like Alex Acuna or Don Alias. I thought he was perfect for the type of Brazilian influenced music that PMG was doing in the 80's and 90's...but I could imagine him hangin' with Elvin chop wise.

More great Elvin? Wayne Shorter/Speak no Evil, Marcus Roberts/The Truth is spoken here, Bill Frissell: Featuring Dave Holland and Elvin Jones.