Drum cover - The Dance of Maya

Hey guys!

I was on the old forum quite a while back, and just recently signed up here again. Time flies, I guess. Good to be back.
I thought I could perhaps share a little cover I recently did of the Mahavishnu Orchestra classic "The Dance of Maya" from The Inner Mounting Flame.

Interesting playing this quirky "bluesy" groove in 10/8, I´d say. It wasn´t the easiest thing to keep it all on track and not loose oneself in the groove (as I sure did a couple of times), but there you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BATP_ocHw

I love the section right before the end where the melodic comes in super-imposed over the other which to me sounds like two planets are on collision course, or something like that! hehe
What an intense piece of musical masterpiece this is! I absolutely love the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Billy continues to be such a huge influence to me.

Great!!!!!! You got a very good feeling going. Superb drumsound also!

Sturla, welcome back, my friend!

First I want to say that you are ROCK SOLID
with really good feel and a keen sense of
dynamics.

I not only watched this clip but some of your
other uploads and I can say that I really
enjoyed your approach to them. the 7/8 and
funk clips were fun to watch.

If I may... On "The dance of Maya" the tune
is a steady 10/8 shuffle and you played it
correctly. The thing I hear though is it's the
kind of tune that calls for more injections, more
inner-play as it progresses, even over the solos.
The basic make up of this piece is really just a
simple blues shuffle in an odd time signature that
just plays over and over again.

Without the inner-play the tune sorta seems to go
nowhere and actually becomes a bit redundant.

Now, I'm not calling your playing redundant, but the
tune as a whole without more of the inner-twinings.
That I think would have worked in this case.

Remember that Rick Laird was one who was always
going to be there to set the foundation in this band
and was not one to "open up" so to speak. His
solidarity allowed for the other member to cut loose.

Now, again, I realize that these were solo sections
but just from where I sat I feel you could have added
a bit more color to the process with some complimentary
inner-play. Please understand that this is only my personal
opinion and that I am not presenting it as a rule but a
suggestion.

Let me also add that I think your rhythmic feel and dynamic
intensity really drove the tune and I really enjoyed watching
and listening to you work. You are a very sensitive player that
absorbs your surrondings and this is one of the reasons why
you sound so good and why I truly enjoy listening to you....

VERY NICE JOB!

Sturla,

I know you've heard this probably
a million times already. And I don't
mean for you to play it like Billy.

But just take note how Billy intensifies
what he does as the solo builds. This
is what I'm talking about. Of course
you can do this in your own way...

Or, not at all.

Regards.

Thank you D-slam and Niki!
I very much appreciate those very nice responses. And it is good to be back here.

Thank you D-slam for really putting together such a nice and thorough and helpful reply and for checking out the other stuff I have on there. Wow! I highly appreciate it and cherish your view and opinion.
Regarding more" inner-play" (or interplay) I am perfectly aware of it and I feel it too and a complete agree. But just to tell you a bit where I came from with this was that it was – to me – quite hard to be able to really go "mad" behind the kit AND keeping the pulse and groove fairly steady and in time(in "their" time actually – synced up along to the track). I guess if I'd played the track with a band of my own, it would have been a whole lot easier to let it breath a bit more to my own sense of time and in such a way I would drive the band along. In my version here it is just a couple of bars where I feel the intensity is kinda like I'd want it to (namely a couple of bars only during the china-ride section).
Also from all the live versions I've heard of this song is that they really take it quite a bit further in their interplay and how they communicate (where they also break it down with Jerry just playing his violin and Jan filling in.) So I perfectly understand and feel where you coming from. I thank you for pointing it out though. I really do.

The fun and interesting thing is that when I TRIED to cover this song, I did somehow get a deeper appreciation (if that is possible for me) for the fantastic musicianship of the highest calibre and how hard some of the material actually was. Kind of looked at it with a fresh set of eyes (or ears!!)
And it is (as you very well pointed out) very hard to be able to get that intensity and interplay that they did achieve…as well as keeping an odd-time groove together.

I did TRY though!!
It was great fun trying…and it would be interesting to play some of this material with a band someday, but….we'll see.

Thanks again.

Hey, Sturla,

You certainly did nothing wrong. Quite frankly,
you made it look like a walk in the park. I suggest
going for it in taking it out a little farther. Nothing
ventured, nothing gained, and you just might surprise
yourself. It's amazing what you find yourself able to
do when certain demands are placed upon you.

Either way, I dug it!

Hey Sturla !

Nice to hear from you again here !


Great job ! well done !


Peace, TED

Very nice job, man. Well done. Got better and better as things went along.