The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there
I declare today to be Steve Gadd Appreciation Day.
If you don't know who Steve Gadd is, let Rick Beato tell you:
I'll confess that I don't like Beato very much. He's knowledgeable, articulate, a super talented musician, and a very good narrator of his own experience. But he's got the energy of the guy who sits you down in front of his stereo and makes you listen to the records he thinks are cool. Also, he's peak Boomer. It's hard to put up with if you've had experience with that guy, and harder if you've had experience being that guy and are trying to recover.
On the other hand, any time spent doing a close listen to "Aja" is time well spent. Beato called out a couple of things here that I'd never noticed before, and I've been listening to this song for decades. I can't gripe about that. It's worth enduring a little bit of air drums to hear something for the first time.
All of the above is just an excuse for posting this video. It's the US Army Field Band, in about 1970, playing "The Cissy Strut," a song by the Meters. Sadly, it's incomplete, cutting off before the song is over. But man, what a time capsule of a video. These guys all look so square, so clean-cut in their uniforms. But porn-staches abound, because it's 1970. And square as they look, they swing.
It's really worth reading the top comment on this video, as well as the one four or five down by a person who somehow figured out who all the people in the band were, and where they went after the Army.
If you don't know who Steve Gadd is, let Rick Beato tell you:
I'll confess that I don't like Beato very much. He's knowledgeable, articulate, a super talented musician, and a very good narrator of his own experience. But he's got the energy of the guy who sits you down in front of his stereo and makes you listen to the records he thinks are cool. Also, he's peak Boomer. It's hard to put up with if you've had experience with that guy, and harder if you've had experience being that guy and are trying to recover.
On the other hand, any time spent doing a close listen to "Aja" is time well spent. Beato called out a couple of things here that I'd never noticed before, and I've been listening to this song for decades. I can't gripe about that. It's worth enduring a little bit of air drums to hear something for the first time.
All of the above is just an excuse for posting this video. It's the US Army Field Band, in about 1970, playing "The Cissy Strut," a song by the Meters. Sadly, it's incomplete, cutting off before the song is over. But man, what a time capsule of a video. These guys all look so square, so clean-cut in their uniforms. But porn-staches abound, because it's 1970. And square as they look, they swing.
It's really worth reading the top comment on this video, as well as the one four or five down by a person who somehow figured out who all the people in the band were, and where they went after the Army.
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