Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
I make no apologies for coming back to this Earthworks show in Santiago de Chile, with Tim Garland, saxophones and bass clarinet; Steve Hamilton, keys; Mark Hodgson, bass. It was a hot night, in all respects.
What was so special about it? The audience. Their natural , unaffected reactions definitely had an effect on we, the band, and was a great example of audience/ performer interaction. They changed the music. Had they been stone silent and frozen stiff (I’ve played to some of them…) we would have delivered a professional set of music, but well within our capabilities. When it’s like this, you go at it harder and play out of your skin.
My own experience confirms this. Bassist Jeff Berlin and I attended a 1975 Tower of Power gig on Long Island, NY. When 3,000 seated people in a theatre stand as one to applaud a critical combination of tempo, key, and lighting changes, and a new groove, this audience feedback confirms that the groove is good, and the band grooves even harder. This and similar situation-specific interpretive behaviours on behalf of the audience upscale the event to classic dimensions. The thing becomes unforgettable, for band and audience alike.
At the risk of repetition, I should explain the odd looking drum kit. I was once watching a demonstration by a classical tympanist with five drums in front of him in a semi-circle. He was seated on a stool, and his upper body swivelled elegantly from side to side as he played. I loved the ergonomics. I borrowed from that and re-arranged my own drum kit symmetrically and flat as a table top; two toms and two cymbals on left and right (different pitches, of course), with snare and hi-hat in a line going forward from the centre. This configuration stuck with me for about my last ten years in practice before stopping for a break in 2009, and is the one used here.
I don’t use it now, mostly because of cartage and shipping costs, but watching it in use again now makes me think I should reconsider. It permits, or even encourages, that left-side, right-side thing, whereby a phrase is played on one side and imitated or expanded upon on the other side (02’02”) for example). It discourages the all-too-common ‘falling down’ the pitches of the drums from left to right. That’s relatively hard to execute on this kit. There is also less crossing-over of right hand over left to reach the hi-hat on the usual left side (for right-handed players). So, lots of good things about it. With the Pete Roth Trio, my current affair, I was happy to go with logistical demands and start simple with minimal kit. Maybe things are changing. They’re always changing!
I make no apologies for coming back to this Earthworks show in Santiago de Chile, with Tim Garland, saxophones and bass clarinet; Steve Hamilton, keys; Mark Hodgson, bass. It was a hot night, in all respects.
What was so special about it? The audience. Their natural , unaffected reactions definitely had an effect on we, the band, and was a great example of audience/ performer interaction. They changed the music. Had they been stone silent and frozen stiff (I’ve played to some of them…) we would have delivered a professional set of music, but well within our capabilities. When it’s like this, you go at it harder and play out of your skin.
My own experience confirms this. Bassist Jeff Berlin and I attended a 1975 Tower of Power gig on Long Island, NY. When 3,000 seated people in a theatre stand as one to applaud a critical combination of tempo, key, and lighting changes, and a new groove, this audience feedback confirms that the groove is good, and the band grooves even harder. This and similar situation-specific interpretive behaviours on behalf of the audience upscale the event to classic dimensions. The thing becomes unforgettable, for band and audience alike.
At the risk of repetition, I should explain the odd looking drum kit. I was once watching a demonstration by a classical tympanist with five drums in front of him in a semi-circle. He was seated on a stool, and his upper body swivelled elegantly from side to side as he played. I loved the ergonomics. I borrowed from that and re-arranged my own drum kit symmetrically and flat as a table top; two toms and two cymbals on left and right (different pitches, of course), with snare and hi-hat in a line going forward from the centre. This configuration stuck with me for about my last ten years in practice before stopping for a break in 2009, and is the one used here.
I don’t use it now, mostly because of cartage and shipping costs, but watching it in use again now makes me think I should reconsider. It permits, or even encourages, that left-side, right-side thing, whereby a phrase is played on one side and imitated or expanded upon on the other side (02’02”) for example). It discourages the all-too-common ‘falling down’ the pitches of the drums from left to right. That’s relatively hard to execute on this kit. There is also less crossing-over of right hand over left to reach the hi-hat on the usual left side (for right-handed players). So, lots of good things about it. With the Pete Roth Trio, my current affair, I was happy to go with logistical demands and start simple with minimal kit. Maybe things are changing. They’re always changing!
