As a lurker on the AJ list I have to weigh in on the musician/dj thread
(about 2c worth).
A good dance band reacts to each other as well as the dance floor. For
instance, the bass player deciding to syncopate - the drummer making an
instantaneous decision to syncopate or play straight. Some of these
decisions are from the head - i.e. go to the IV chord - drop out - etc ...
some are from the ... uh ... gut, i.e. get funkier, drag beat, sit in pocket.
All forms of dance music (I guess all forms of music) have patterns that
distinguish them - the bass / kick drum interaction - one part of the
rhythm section pulling or pushing. Good players make their decisions
based on the feeling in the room.
DJs, as far as I know, work basically the same way although a lot of the
decisions are played out in a different time frame: The picking of the
next record, the cross-fade. The spontaneous moves come during the
scratching or transforming.
I think the AJ scene has been initially limited by the reliance on the
hip-hop tool box. A looped drum sample cannot interact on a beat by beat
basis with the bass player - the bass player can funkifize but the sample
loops on. I find this true with any locking to midi time. The machine is
not getting a moment by moment gut reaction from the rest of the section or
from the dancefloor, even if the DJ is. What, to me, was so refreshing
about techno and jungle was using machines to sound like machines. If you
want a funky rare groove hihat you can sample, but there is more freedom
with a drummer.
AJ hopefully is becoming about the mixture of the two methods. The old
school r'n'b rhythm section smarts with the long mix strategy of the DJ's.
(an aside) I recently got to jam with Doug E Fresh (the original human
beat box) on a gig here in NYC. He ended up trading 4s with me and the
drummer. For a moment, hiphop collided my crews D'Angelo / Crusaders-isms,
and Mr Fresh was giving up some true jazz on top. Reminded me of Lester
Leaps In.
jgood@panix.com