Joe Morello 1928–2011

March 14, 2011 4:56 AM

Joe Morello was the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet. His skill and style in odd time signatures was something to behold and emulate. His approach to Brubeck's music was often the first study, for many young drummers, in how to interact with odd meters as well as with soloing and stick control. He was a jazz legend in the percussion world.
posted by greenskpr (35 comments total)

Dead at 82
posted by greenskpr at 4:57 AM on March 14, 2011

Sorry to hear this; he was one of my all-time favorite drummers.

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posted by foonly at 5:11 AM on March 14, 2011

He was the drummer on Take Five which is as big of a jazz classic as there is.
posted by three blind mice at 5:11 AM on March 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

He was a model of cool restraint on the drums. He had a certain elegance to his playing that was admirable, and he was undoubtedly the perfect drummer for Dave Brubeck.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:25 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by rocket88 at 5:58 AM on March 14, 2011 [4 favorites]

One of the great joys of my life was turning my tween, wanna-be-rocker niece on to his drumming.

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posted by twsf at 6:37 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by HumanComplex at 6:38 AM on March 14, 2011

Watching jazz drummers drum brings me joy. Especially Joe Morello. Maybe even more than Buddy Rich.
posted by kersplunk at 6:41 AM on March 14, 2011

Just curious, rocket88, did you know that your brilliant, Take Five-referencing five dots would be the 5th comment in this thread?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:51 AM on March 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was really saddened to hear about Morello's passing. His work on Brubeck's Time Further Out album is just about my favorite drumming of any album by anyone.
posted by Maaik at 6:57 AM on March 14, 2011

I don't know anything about drumming, but even I could tell that Morello was something special.

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posted by Faint of Butt at 7:01 AM on March 14, 2011

When I think of 'Take Five', what I think about is the elegance of the drumming, so, thank you Joe Morello for what you put into the world.

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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 7:11 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by peterkins at 7:21 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by bodega at 7:26 AM on March 14, 2011

I always enjoy the contrast of rock drummers in their twenties, shirtless and sweating like the Sons of Hercules, with jazz drummers who are somehow able to continue to play into their seventies and even eighties, cool and comfortable, dressed in a sportcoat and tie.

Take the rest of the day off, Joe.

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posted by Herodios at 7:36 AM on March 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

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posted by Ber at 8:14 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by dust of the stars at 8:20 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by triceryclops at 8:37 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by hippybear at 8:38 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by alfanut at 8:47 AM on March 14, 2011

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Protip: If a Brubeck track comes up on shuffle while you're running, hit NEXT quickly or you'll trip over your own feet trying to follow those rhythms.
posted by octothorpe at 8:47 AM on March 14, 2011

Just curious, rocket88, did you know that your brilliant, Take Five-referencing five dots would be the 5th comment in this thread?

Just luck. Actually my favorite tune from Time Out is Kathy's Waltz, which at times seems to be in 3/4 and 4/4 simultaneously. The whole album is a treat. RIP, Joe.
posted by rocket88 at 8:47 AM on March 14, 2011

../.. . . ../.. . .
posted by djrock3k at 9:01 AM on March 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

It didn't mention he was dead specifically in the post (outside of the title), I noted. But it all lay in that fatal was.

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posted by solarion at 9:54 AM on March 14, 2011

One of jazz's sweetest drummers. Very few, if any, played brushes as well and as tastefully as Joe Morello.
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posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:56 AM on March 14, 2011

He was pretty good with his hands too.
posted by Maaik at 10:29 AM on March 14, 2011

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Sad news. Enjoyed a lot of his work.

I remember seeing the awful "documentary" The Legend of Bigfoot back in high school and was mildly amused by the stereo-typing of Tekka "the Indian" as the guy who could best track Bigfoot and the fact that rather than use a Native American actor, Tekka was played by a guy named Joe Morello but not that Joe Morello.
posted by juiceCake at 10:31 AM on March 14, 2011

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posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 10:45 AM on March 14, 2011

♫♩
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♬♪
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:21 AM on March 14, 2011

. in 9/8
posted by jonp72 at 12:07 PM on March 14, 2011

As an orchestral percussionist, I don't listen to a lot of music that uses a drumset. Every once in a while, my students ask me who my favorite drummer is. They ALWAYS expect me to say Neil Peart, except for the one kid who could not get over how OMGAMAZING Keith Moon was ("he had a gong! and roto toms! and wow so many cymbals! and he would play real fast like this! ..."). The names I give them are ones they've never heard before, like Max Roach, Gene Krupa, or Joe Morello. They're players whose dazzling technique serves their musicality rather than obliterates it.

Not all of them follow up, but those that do always come back with their minds blown.

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posted by sleepinglion at 12:54 PM on March 14, 2011

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posted by Loudmax at 6:50 PM on March 14, 2011

Years ago, the tech in the lab put on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and then said: "Ron Bushy was influenced by Joe Morello from the Brubeck Quartet."
posted by ovvl at 8:14 PM on March 14, 2011

Years ago, the tech in the lab put on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and then said: "Ron Bushy was influenced by Joe Morello from the Brubeck Quartet."

Hmm...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:23 PM on March 14, 2011

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Bummer. One of his students was the drummer in our band for a while. He was far and away the best drummer I ever played with.

You can recognize Morello's unique style in every note he played. He'll be much missed... :-(
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 1:29 AM on March 15, 2011