Best Drummers in the World at the Moment?

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[@brettclurdrums]

Who did I miss? Let’s fight!

[@dylanhartman7814]

justin faulkner is amazing

[@voxextremos22]

Spencer Prewitt, Matt Halpern, JD Beck, Maden Klause

[@danigomez9573]

Louis Cole!!

[@teefue]

you should see Echa Soemantri, Legit one of the best drummer in the world

[@catch_me_outside_how_bout_dat]

Chris Coleman

[@RJB_TV]

I feel the most slept on is Chris Coleman. I've seen and heard some best drummers in the world fangirl over Chris Coleman's playing and call him their favorite, but don't really see him pop up much in discussions outside that sphere.

[@Aalanization]

Agreed

[@cuejay]

@@RJB_TV VERY TRUE!

[@876jonop]

Definitely

[@elijahellis1772]

Big facts! He’s your favorite drummer, favorite drummer 😂

[@jakethepitador2558]

The best drummer list must include any drummer ever hired by Frank Zappa, most notably Bozzio and Colaiuta.

[@Oxfordcolour]

where are Marcus Gilmore and Ronald Bruner Jr????

[@cuejay]

Including Maison is a tribute to Ronald Bruner. IYKYK.

[@obakobina]

justin brown ,chris brown

[@obakobina]

richard spaven

[@Oxfordcolour]

Actually mabye not Ronald but Marcus defo

[@geevee7823]

Larnell makes me want to play the drums, he's that inspirational. Add to the list: Gergo Borlai and Roberto Porta

[@brettclurdrums]

Gergo is incredible. I’ll have to watch a few videos of Roberto, as I’m not too familiar with him!

[@brocksommers7491]

Elliot Hoffman of Car Bomb is the heaviest drumming of today.

[@8020drummer]

Mike Mitchell

[@brettclurdrums]

I don’t even know how it’s possible for Mike Mitchell’s hands to move that fast

[@MetalheadNation]

Mike Mitchell/Blaque Dynamite is an alien of the drums. Probably my favorite drummer currently, and it’ll be hard to top him for me hahaha

[@DreCrimson]

Most likely

[@MassholeDrums]

Bro, Mike Mitchell is so underrated. I'd say he's also the fastest drummer there is too. Dudes wild Also love your channel btw

[@TheGironDrummer]

The best drummer in the world… Blaque Dynamite 🥁🧘🏼‍♂️

[@AndyChamberlainMusic]

I've had the pleasure of seeing two of these drummers live, Nate Smith and Matt Garstka absolutely incredible and in very different ways lol I recorded one of the tunes Nate Smith played and I listen to it and I'm just in awe how literally every single hit is perfectly timed for the pocket. Not a single microrhythm misplaced, and this was in the middle of a *second live show in a row* that night And then, the feeling I got when Matt came in on Arithmophobia... indescribable

[@LhotseMS]

You are SOOOOOO ON POINT. I was waiting for Danny. No one plays like him. Great job man!

[@meatmotorendurance]

Well put together list and not just the normal top 10. I concur with these. Good work!

[@cuejay]

The fact that you included Maison made me subscribe. My sister married his uncle and he played my set at their wedding and reception. The way his mind works is a masterclass in improv. I’ve never heard him play metal but he plays everything else well.

[@hanbo123]

Nate Smith and Benny Greb. Very few drummers can match their magical, ineffable sense of groove and pocket. It's a mysterious thing that happens somewhere in the grid that we mortals haven't discovered.

[@brettclurdrums]

I could listen to both of them play a 4/4 groove all day

[@Bluesky35102]

Awesome video, really accurate descriptions of the drummers. Going to see Yussef Dayes in London in August, can't wait!!

[@brettclurdrums]

Jealous!

[@MJLAM95]

Tim Alexander is probably one of the most underrated drummers out there. His drumming is peak musicality.

[@brettclurdrums]

Primus! I remember singing "my name is Mud" over and over as a child. Only to realize many years later how epic the drummer was.

[@robertthompson5568]

Tim Alexander is the guy I've stolen the most stuff from by far. He is so underrated that people argue about whether he is even the best Primus drummer, which is just ridiculous...😂 In this video he takes his crazy complicated drum parts and makes them even busier! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmm0oYmDrqqBotUsi=Y-ZTJ6mhx3J2LtpN

[@drummermikerocks1]

Not seeing Marco minnemann mentioned should be a crime. Dude can play literally any genre. Can solo amazingly. And, cmon. The man played with necrophagist of all bands and KILLED it.

[@joshuaroyter1561]

Agreed...and Dave Weckl

[@JartoKuhira]

Look at Ramon Montagner’s session videos on Meinl’s channel. Incredible Brazilian drumming, very technically innovative but also disciplined in the sense that he stays musical.

[@brettclurdrums]

I’ve seen those! That swiping 16th note thing he does is insane

[@williewhite1161]

Thank you. This was very entertaining video. My list of favorite drummers is so long for so many years until I would not even know where to start.

[@cuejay]

How do you not include El Estepario?

[@kyleperez1801]

Everybody leaves out the great Sonny Emory, Dafnis Prieto, Keith Carlock, JoJo Mayer, Jeff Tain watts But I get how hard it would be to make a list of the "best' because there is to many not to mention....

[@HiFisch94]

Yeah, it's easy to assemble a list of like 200-300 top of the world level drummers in different aspects

[@DillonMyburghDrums]

Bro such a cool video man

[@julianz342]

I think when it comes to musicality and expression there is no better drummer than Brian Blade

[@blasphemor]

There's so many spectacular drummers out there, but subjectively the drummer that makes me feel the music the most is hands down Baard Kolstad. The way he uses grooves and dynamics smooths out anything he plays over in a way I'm having trouble describing

[@jaimerasura5373]

JD Beck bruv. Clean, new approach to rhythm, maximizes the minimal, and his age makes him seem way more advanced than any other drummer when they were his age. But you made an awesome list here either way.

[@brettclurdrums]

For sure! He was actually in this video but I had to cut that part out of the edit cos it just wasn't working.

[@coleadams___]

Thank you For adding maison 🔥🙌🏼

[@brettclurdrums]

Yeah man! I constantly just watch him in disbelief.

[@voxextremos22]

Metal guy here just saying that that Spencer Prewitt from Archspire should be on this list. He is the fastest drummer in extreme metal. Also Navene Koperweis and Jamie St Merat.

[@brettclurdrums]

Watching a few videos of them now. Wiiiiild

[@MassholeDrums]

He's really good and technical Hard to say if he's better than someone like Matt Garska or Matt Halpern tho

[@Kyle_Evers]

Another great thing about Spencer is his uniqueness. I think his drumming is instantly recognizable.

[@scottapthorpe6172]

For sheer virtuosity, power, incredible double bass and mind bending rhythms....it’s Virgil donati for me....there are others of course like Thomas Lang etc in that realm...but me for me Virgil is the pioneer for face melting drumming, pushing the boundaries if you will of the instrument....

[@brettclurdrums]

I’ve always found Virgil more fun to listen to compared to Thomas. Both are absolute machines though

[@cobra1995xx]

​@@brettclurdrums gotta throw marco minnemann in that party

[@iamdanharley]

Great to see the world is finally waking up to Maison! That guy has been beasting for years!

[@joeanon8568]

I saw Maison Guidry live without knowing who he was yet. Wow did I get lucky to find that show! Easily one of my favorite drummers now, but I think he's not getting promoted enough. Its hard to find a lot of content for him even searching for him specifically

[@MarrsG]

Chris Dave, Thomas Pridgen and Mike Mitchell… Aaron Spears (RIP) Ronald Bruner ??

[@That0T]

Calvin Rodgers

[@brettclurdrums]

@@That0T Calvin Rodgers is out of this world. I'm doing a drum festival in South Africa with him, ZackGrooves and Kaz Rodriguez and I'm crapping myself about it haha

[@phildupuis1084]

Excellent video and I certainly have no argument with any of your choices. I couple of other I would add include: Gergo Borlai and Damien Schmitt;

[@tk8364]

Great list. Danny Carey got me into drumming, I love to see drummers like him that play with electronics in interesting ways. Dan Mayo and Arthur Hnatek are two of my modern favourites for that reason.

[@drummersagainstitk]

Thanks Brett for your list. IMO it was pretty good. The criteria for a drummer should be technical, performance live/recording and ability to bring out the best in the other players. I noticed you omitted Gavin Harrison. Still great post.

[@michaldutoit4883]

So glad you mentioned Danny by far my all time favorite his drum parts are out of this world 🌀

[@brettclurdrums]

He’s a great player.

[@J.Lee2987]

The sound of Gavin Harrison's Sonor kit at the Zildjian 400th anniversary celebration alone is as impressive as any of the drummers here.

[@pjcouture9944]

Well THIS list is off to a great start, Larnell is rarely mentioned in any list of the greatest drummers off all time!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the video!

[@oxouk]

Just had to make sure Garstka was on your list or else we were fighting. Great list.

[@jacobarnoldmusic]

Chris Dave, Benny Greb, Gergo Borlai

[@JarshallCwann]

Benny Greb forever.

[@beatrice7599]

Love Nate Smith but saw Ari Hoenig live from 5 feet away. It was a masterclass in polyrythmic musicality. He cuts time like he's making salad and has a beautiful sound and technique. True drum mastery in action - every playing decision he takes the tune in exciting and interesting directions.

[@ClihtYeastwood]

In the metal world, Eloy’s been the ‘talk of the town’ for quite some time now…

[@brettclurdrums]

For sure! Been watching him play for years. I just meant that as his Slipknot thing was a trending topic over the last few months.

[@williewhite1161]

I guess a lot would depend on what style of music one would like. Robert "Sput" Searight, Aaron Spears, Eric Moore, Sonny Emory, George "Sparky" McCurdy, John Blackwell Jr., Chris Coleman, Stanley Randolph, Chris Patrick Bounds, Calvin Rodgers, Senri Kawaguchi,etc etc, etc.

[@pablogaldino9753]

Larnell Lewis Just needed 20 minutes to make me fall in love for drums. i listem música and like drums since ever. But it wasn't Nico macbran from iron maiden (The Band of my life), wasn't Jhon Bonann, neither Mitch Mitchel. Was him, Larnell Lewis.

[@brettclurdrums]

Love it!

[@coolpool1969]

Virgil Donati. Arguably the most technically advanced drummer to have ever lived!

[@brettclurdrums]

I had to learn one of his note-for-note transcriptions once. Was absolutely insane haha. Odd time signature shenanigans. SUCH a great player. I haven’t actually heard of him in a while

[@mrburger007]

Technically astounding but has all the feel of a potato

[@colinburroughs9871]

Virgil has a way with pushing and pulling the feel and messing with the modulation through that and none of it is easy, but it's not impossible either- learning the guitar parts or bass lines makes what he's doing more obvious than algebra behind odd ball lines.

[@coolpool1969]

@@mrburger007 What he does is astonishing, but it does leave me a bit cold. I'd rather listen to Benny Greb 😂

[@mrburger007]

@@coolpool1969 Yeah Virgil is technical immense. But I'd rather listen to Jason Bonham 😆

[@Tminus89]

If you like Garstka, check out the new Tigran Hamasyan records! Oh and Casimir Liberski - Cosmic Liberty, ah stellar (pun intended) modern jazz album

[@blakenunndrums]

I dunno, I know you featured Larnell a lot here, but he's been one of my top picks for a while now, especially his work with Snarky Puppy. Maison Guidry and his work with the Jonathan Scales Forechestra (especially "we came through the storm", the 2nd piece you showed by him). But, Virgil Donati and Sput Searight are high on my list, too. Then, of course, Mike Mitchell and Devon "funkmaster" Way's work with Mononeon's live bands are quite incredible, too. Seriously slept on, though?? Forrest Rice! Hands down...

[@davidrums9946]

Awesome video ! 🎉 And ofcourse can't forget El Estepario, this guy insane

[@desperanto.]

How often have you seen him live?

[@davidrums9946]

@@desperanto. I guess.. never ? Why you asking tho

[@desperanto.]

@@davidrums9946 because we're talking about "the best drummers in the world". They should at least occasionally see a stage don't you think? Studio allows you to quantize and replace individual hits.

[@davidrums9946]

@@desperanto. Thats bs lol, you can have an insane drummer that never actually been on stage, you talk nonsense, El estepario is legendary if we look at his technique, and speed, and he has btw some videos that he showed himself live - where still - he play like a legend

[@allterrain]

Add to the sleepers: Nate Smith, Aaron Mellergard and Roni kaspi.

[@hakankara9908]

Maaan thats a good video there. I appreciated all of your honest opinions. But if we put them in a concept like ‘’todays drummers “ Danny Carrey shouldnt be there. Dont get me wrong i worship Danny but if we talk “ at the moment” Mark Guiliana , Ari Hoenig , Marcus Gillmore these guys changing the shape of Today’s Not only jazz music , Music in general. Very cool content by the way. Thank you

[@brettclurdrums]

Thanks for watching! Yeah it was more of a joke kind of thing, because actually pinpointing "the best" drummers isn't actually possible. But year, LOVE those jazz guys you mentioned.

[@johnjazz2244]

Now so many drummers that it is virtually impossible to say which are the best ones.

[@epicclam]

Morgan Simpson is my pick. his drumming with black midi is extremely good. its sad they seem to have broken up now though..

[@tymanngruter1808]

Tommy Emanuel on his guitar! Yes! ♨️

[@RichardBargloski]

Hard not to make a bigger list. There’s many more…two off the top of my head are Mark Guiliana and Aric Improta.

[@Epicurus48]

nekrutman?

[@MegaShinobi2011]

Baard Kolstad from Leprous

[@stanpopovsky]

But can they play Back in Black?

[@Oni_SmokeCG]

Got absolutely baited with Ari Hoenig in the thumbnail, still, good list

[@brettclurdrums]

sorry bro! I had him in but had to edit it out cos of some weird copyright stuff.

[@Oni_SmokeCG]

@@brettclurdrums hahaha its no problem, it's still a really good list

[@DreCrimson]

I'd say between Mike Mitchell, Maison Gouidry, Ronald Bruner Jr or Chris Dave. A lot of people talking about just grooves, not many are taking into consideration chops

[@prod.pookah]

Nate smith is def apart of my top 3. I got some autographed sticks from home on my birthday

[@AlexStock187]

When I was nearing the end and there was no Danny Carey, I was contacting my lawyer, congressman, and hitman. But he snuck in at the end. Well done.

[@JavierMartinez-rz4vc]

I saw Justin Tyson with Esperanza Spamding,.. really impressing

[@industrialvz]

I don't believe most popular drummers are the best ones! My favorites are Eric Moore II, Maison Guidry, Mike Mitchell, Chris Coleman, Tony Royster Jr.!

[@stevejsm832]

Emphasis on Maison Guidry bc he’s NOT HUMAN 😂😂

[@karllemut]

Vinnie Colaiutta?

[@brettclurdrums]

One of the true GOATs

[@lucky38100]

My top five: 1 Larnell Lewis 2 Dave Weckl 3 Benny Greb 4 Nate Smith 5 Steve Smith I love Yussef Dayes, probably in my top 10 with Steve Jordan, Jost Nickel, Juan Carlito Mendoza, Isac Jamba

[@laporteestouverte]

I feel Baard Kolstad is not mentioned enough. He is a monster, very versatile, technical, musical and groovy. My current favorite with Danny Carey in another style ;)

[@Revelation-X]

My top 5 favorite drummers 1. Larnell Lewis 2. Thomas lang 3. Calvin Rodgers 4. Eloy c 5. Thomas Pridgen

[@AndrewNeldon]

Adam Deitch should definitely be on this list. His groove and feel with funk are unmatched.

[@Attack-fb5rj]

Gavin Harrison would have been one pick for me, just incredible musicality and feel

[@brettclurdrums]

I used to have a book of his transcriptions. Was really fun working through those. Maaaad complicated, but soooo creative.

[@esotericgeOrge]

Kenny Grohowski. Check him out with John Zorn's Chaos Magik.

[@DenEz_TV]

Maison Guidry is the King! Jay Kalo is also great!

[@brettclurdrums]

Jay Kalo's solos are out of this world.

[@samlambert8414]

Bit scabby to say Ari Hoenig is "slept on" in the thumbnail but not bother to feature him in the video. He deserves better

[@HardyNahtal]

Add Tomas Haake 🎉

[@MassholeDrums]

Mario Duplantier as well

[@MrWadevideos]

Gavin Harrison and Carter Beauford

[@OnePremier]

Atta boy at recognizing Danny as the Goat 👍

[@That0T]

Steve Gadd

[@brettclurdrums]

One of the greatest!

[@jongray8105]

List over lol

[@vh4543]

What about Mike Mitchell?

[@antonlinares2866]

what do you think about jay kalo, sarah drums, they are very expressive, do you think they are up there?

[@brettclurdrums]

LOVE Jay Kalo’s drum solos 👌🏻

[@thedutchwolf97]

Two more drummers I'd have put in here are El Estepario Siberiano (the rate at which this man learned how to drum is astonishing) and Aric Improta (without a doubt one of the most creative drummers I've ever seen)

[@imslicc]

Malcolm Catto. he's really a producer and involved in many projects. he's not choppy, but for me he plays beats with the same magnitude as, say, the funky drummer. playing linear stuff doesn't stay with me. powerful beats stay with me for years.

[@brettclurdrums]

I’ll need to check him out

[@kaykramer9045]

I thought a lot about, who is the best, but there won't be a clear answer, I guess. There are so many FANTASTIC drummers out there, and every one of them has such a lot to say. I can agree with Danny Carey as one of the GOATs anyway.

[@gabrielshansen]

Robert 'Spud' Searight

[@brettclurdrums]

One of my favorite drummers, actually!

[@alejandrobustos2268]

Tom Rainey, the "Messi" of the avantgarde jazz drummers. Unlimited imagination and creativity.

[@SockerConny80]

You had many of my inspirations on here but I'm personally missing Morgan Ågren, Richard Spaven and Travis Orbin.

[@brettclurdrums]

I'm a huge fan of Richard Spaven! :)

[@dylangiffard1627]

Did you go to jazz fest? Yussef Dayes was epic

[@brettclurdrums]

Just missed out unfortunately

[@harshtimes23]

It's Matt Garstka for me. He's on another level

[@scottpitner4298]

I like Billy Martin from Medeski, Martin & Wood

[@makkrohero59]

For me it has to be Marcus Gilmore. His innovation, flow and musicality is just mind-bogglingly good.

[@InnocentAbyssinianCat-eb7ge]

All anyone really has is their favourite drummer's whether they prefer technical players or groove oriented players looking for what inspires us and what we want to learn to play the type of music we want to play

[@brettclurdrums]

Nailed it on the head here, man!

[@dirty_hammy]

Vinnie....done.

[@JulianReeseBeatz]

RONALD BRUNER JR. nuff said

[@drumboyd]

Funny........myself and one of the drummers in this very video were discussing whether Ronald Bruner was the current GOAT and ultimate drummer, mainly due to his sparkling spontaneous genius......... but this other world's greatest drummer pointed out some of Ronald's lesser known flaws that hold him back from that potential mantle. And I trust his word and insight into the matter.

[@lucasvandervoort5070]

Thomas pridgen is amazing because he can groove and chop and every note has emotion and energy he is crazy

[@TheLegendaryDoc]

Carter Beauford anyone?!

[@JigsHidalgoMusic]

Carter is the man!

[@brettclurdrums]

I could listen to Carter playing for hours

[@wngpag7913]

Dave Weckl,Vinnie Colaiuta,Gergo Borlai.Eric Moore?

[@Djacob_]

Edit: you put Ari Hoenig in the thumbnail but didn’t even include him in the video?! Shameful. Clicked because I saw Ari Hoenig in the thumbnail. His use of melody on the drum set is so unique and he can groove hard.

[@jongarniss2952]

Have you not heard of Aron Mellegard????

[@matthewwalter3423]

A couple of drummers I like the moment are Thomas Lang, Marco Minneman and Benny Greb!

[@brettclurdrums]

German and Austrian power haha

[@jaygee8566]

The last was a joke, right? Anyway, I agree with a lot of the names, and a few, although very good, I wouldn't say are up there with the "best in the world," but won't call them out. Off the top of my head, I'd add Mike Mitchell, Dan Weiss, Chris Dave. Maaaaybe Eric Moore or Isac Jamba. I'm definitely forgetting, like, 2 dozen others.

[@aalmonte4927]

el estepario siberiano has to be in this list , even if he isn’t in a significant band like a lot of these other drummers , his pure techichal skill is unbeatable and the grooves that he comes up with are just crazy . He’s also a great entertainer and that’s why he probably has so many subs . And the crazy thing is that he’s not even 30 yet.

[@jaygee8566]

@@aalmonte4927 He might be. But my issue is that while his KZbin videos often border on mind-bending, there isn't much to go on outside of those videos, and you will never look better than in the videos you upload of yourself. I'm not a metal head, so there's that, but those metal projects he's been a part of seem very... generic.

[@JartoKuhira]

Danny is a great composer, a master of polyrhythms and limb independence but I agree that he’s probably not among the top 0.1% technically speaking.

[@brettclurdrums]

Definitely a joke haha. I do think it’s true that the other drummers on the list could be replaced in their bands while Danny Carey couldn’t though. But yeah, there are like 300 drummers that could probably be on this list 😂

[@etamommy]

What about Bam Bam?

[@jaydenjbryant8665]

Matt Halpern for sure. Im surprised you didnt mention el estapario too

[@robinson6445]

Louis Cole ! So creative

[@brettclurdrums]

Check out his clown core stuff lol

[@peteryoung4974]

Nah Tony had that something that seems to be missing today!

[@da_true_lo]

You guys should check this one out: Jonathan J. Ludvigsen

[@brettclurdrums]

I haven't heard of him. I'll need to check him out.