Joey Baron gets in the Holiday Spirit

Well, actually - in my opinion - Joey Baron ALWAYS plays with the energy and enthusiasm of a little kid opening his presents on Christmas morning...

I thought would post some of my favorite Joey Baron clips today. His energy and ridiculous musicality and sound on the drums always slays me. The first time I heard Baron play was at the Village Vanguard in the year 2000, the opening night of Dave Douglas's run at the famous club, performing music from his album "Soul on Soul" (playing the music of Mary Lou Williams). Baron's musical and joyous approach to the drums left a deep impression on me and I've been a fan ever since.

I remember my friend leaning over to me during one of Baron's finer moments and asking: "Is this what is know as being "tastefully" loud ?"
I had to chuckle at that.

The following is a brilliant improvised drum solo tour-de-force:



Here's Joey playing with Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone, performing John Coltrane's classic "Impressions":



Some great footage of Baron with John Zorn's Masada Band
(with Dave Douglas on Trumpet):







What a great band !!!

And finally, some great career advice from Joey Baron courtesy of the kind folks down at Drummer's World in New York City:



Check out a recent interview with Baron at allaboutjazz.com:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34813

Man, all this great playing makes me want to shave my head and tape my cymbals !