Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen

Not just anyone could have played drums for Ben Folds. Folds' serious talent as a pianist and quirky, modern style of writing pop songs would intimidate even the best. You had to be able to rock like Bohnham, swing like Roach and keep up with Folds' quick changes in feel and style. Ben Folds Five were always inspirational to me because they seemed to be completely regular dudes who just happened to be phenomenal musicians with a style of songwriting that was fresh and new but maintained the quality of all of those rock songs from the glory days.

Darren Jessee not only killed it on the drums for Ben Folds, he had a hand in writing two of their biggest hits (Brick, Song For The Dumped), and he did it all with a regal approach to rock drumming.Whatever and Ever Amen has the highest percentage of great songs (the best weren't even singles), along with the most varied styles caught on one record.

I always think that if Dave Grohl had studied Jazz he would sound like Darren Jessee. Jessee's approach has the same power as Grohl (album opener, One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces kicks in with a loud, in-your-face snare roll and a pumping kick drum, giving Fold's Ragtime-esque piano more beef than expected), but he can be very graceful with his time (Brick has some great light snare/cymbal work) something Grohl seems to avoid. He can play up tempo Jazz (Selfless, Cold and Composed), he can give a throwback to the thirties with Big Band style shots (Stevens Last Night in Town), or simply rock the fuck out with the rest of his band (Song For The Dumped). Folds had a counterpart in Jessee and we got 3 great albums of the pairing.

No matter what style of music Jessee got thrown he always had an authentic feel, he was never out of his element. If I could play like that, I sure as hell wouldn't be spending all day posting albums on a drum blog.

Audio/Video Evidence: One Angry Dwarf, Song For The Dumped, Stevens Last Night in Town,