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Sellersville Theater
Sellersville, PA
September 4, 2018
By Howard Whitman
I approached this show with no small amount of trepidation.
An evening of solo drums? Visions of a two-hour Buddy Rich-style free-form drum solo came to mind. The prospect of taking in a concert consisting of a single drummer at a single drum set doing his thing without any accompaniment seemed like a scary prospect. I get bored easily; how interesting could this be?
I needn’t have worried. This concert was amazing. Terry Bozzio is not only one of the most talented, creative and nimble drummers on the planet; he’s also one of the most entertaining, and he doesn’t need a band to present a compelling evening of music.
That’s right, I said music, because this is a truly musical show, even though it is 100% played on percussion instruments. Bozzio embraces the melodic side of percussion, and in this concert delivered an incredibly musical evening.
The crowd at the Sellersville Theater, an intimate, friendly venue in the Philadelphia suburbs, was in awe before Bozzio even hit the stage. The mammoth drum set he uses for his solo shows was enough to elicit gasps and gazes of wide-eyed wonder from the drum worshippers who came to see their hero. This monster of a kit, which was barely contained on the Sellersville stage, included 25 tuned toms, 18 cymbals, 8 high hats, 8 bass drums, 2 snares, 2 gongs, 2 foot toms, 22 pedals, and a variety of bells, tambourines, and just about every percussion instrument you could imagine.
And that night, Terry Bozzio played them all.
I was certainly aware of Bozzio and his substantial musical history going into this concert. I first became aware of him when he replaced one of my all-time favorite drummers, Bill Bruford, in the prog-rock supergroup U.K. I was unhappy about Bruford’s exit from the band, but once I heard Bozzio tear it up on his debut album with the group, the 1979 classic “Danger Money,” I instantly knew he was very special. He added new dimensions to the group’s music, and, interestingly, on one song, “The Only Thing She Needs,” the intro consisted entirely of Bozzio on tuned percussion and drums. As it turned out, thisshort segment would foreshadow the type of music he’d record and perform as a soloist.
Digging deeper, I learned that Bozzio had been part of Frank Zappa’s band, and later teamed with some of his ex-Zappa bandmates to form the pop group, Missing Persons. They had big hits such as “Words,” but under the 1980s pop trappings and big hair, you could hear some real musicianship going on there, and of course Bozzio’s drumming was a standout.
In later years, he recorded with such diverse bands and artists as Korn, Jeff Beck, Richard Marx and The Knack. But over time, he developed his solo act, composing music to be played on drum kits encompassing tuned percussion so he could create melodies as well as rhythms.
That is the act Bozzio brought to the Sellersville on Sept. 4th. One term frequently used to describe Bozzio’s music is “ostinato,” which is defined as “a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently at the same pitch.” In his solo music, Bozzio lays down ostinato patterns over which he plays the melodies, often on his vast array of tuned toms.
Amazingly, in his show he did not resort to “looping” or recordings of any kind. It was all done live. This format entailed Bozzio to establish his ostinato sequence with, say, his feet, through the use of bass drums and foot-driven percussion, while he played the melody over it. Just keeping the beat is a tall order for any drummer’ Bozzio upped the ante by creating complex compositions that entail he play over the intricate beats he was laying down. And he frequently played polyrhythms—simply put, complex parts that contrast rhythmically, even veering into off-time territory—over the steady beats.
This show was based around his array of acoustic instruments, but he did use a bit of electronics on the second piece played that night, using his percussive tools to trigger synthesized notes that lingered harmonically in a way similar to the tape-delayed “Frippertronics” drones of King Crimson guitar legend Robert Fripp.
Again, Bozzio did it all on his lonesome, and he did an amazing job of it.
As Bozzio didn’t allow photography, or audio/video recording of any kind, it was difficult to retain a set list for this performance. I can tell you that the show did consist of structured songs, rather than improvised drum solos. Titles included “Africa,” “5 Flute Loops,” “Debussy,” “Pat’s Changes” and “Klangfarbenmelodie.”
Bozzio did step away from the drum kit a few times during the performance, first to address the audience in a loose, humorous, refreshingly humble way. He made frequent references to his age (he’s 67), calling himself the “old guy,” but he doesn’t play with any less fire or energy than he did in his U.K./Missing Persons days. And the musical knowledge that he has gained has certainly paid off in the form of rich, stunningly creative musical performances.
Bozzio later emerged from the drum set to play a percussion piece on instrument with metal tongs that, as he explained, he built himself with ordinary things he bought at a hardware store. It was a nice way to break up the show. He also performed on Cajon (the wooden box that, he said, is the world’s most popular percussion instrument). He could have played the floor and it would be fascinating and entertaining.
I strongly recommend you check out Terry Bozzio when he brings his solo show to your area. Don’t be scared off by the prospect of solo drums. This is a very varied, well-paced, night of instrumental music, and when the two sets (with intermission) were done, I can’t believe any audience members went home dissatisfied.
