Mauro Ramos' Extended Drum Solo, Templários, 13.02.08, 5*

A great deal has been written about XPTO's recent anniversary... which was duly and fully celebrated in Templários last week. Yes, it's already been eight years! And the boys really deserved such an enthused celebration.

Today I will indulge in talking about XPTO's youngest talent: Mr. Mauro Ramos. Yes, he's the man behind the drum duties. Well, also some of the vocal ones, but I will not review them here. Well, at least not today.

Boy, have we got drummer! Sporting a very relaxed posture, this young cat clearly stands high and proud among the minuscule Portuguese drummers community. Okay, maybe as much as Mr. John Wolfe stands out in the jazz department, I'll grant you that.

But he's no stranger to anyone in the know. So what I want to discuss here is the structure of the solo he presented in Templários last week. It has to be the favourite solo I've heard of him.

I have seen several (I'd say dozens) of extended solos of Mauro in the past but no one striked me as ingenious as this one. Okay, maybe a 10-minute one he did in Wallstreet some years ago but I don't recall that one so very well.

I am also the proud owner of his DVD but of course the solos there cannot serve as matter of comparison because they're staged. One good published example (albeit very small) is his well-known feat in the old Herman José show.

But last week he really kicked major ass in that solo of his. So let's go throughtout the structure:

i) safe swing to heat things up

ii) snares off: very tasty build-up part with flam phrases on the snare (great!)

iii) 'percussive orchestration' kind of solo part (still snares off)

iv) snares on: starting with big pocket phrase then rapidly building into a

v) 'limb independence limits exploration' solo part akin to some Dennis Chambers or Marco Minnemann you've heard or seen, then slowing down and initiating a

vi) crescendo transition with great double bass control which then lead to his recent

vii) kinda drum'n'bassy groove in superfast mode

viii) culminating in the final crescendo with great double bass and full crash cymbal takeover then

ix) ending in randow snare-crash hits

Very, very good! It sure deserved a very loud round of applause!

Actually, one thing I think Mauro should have covered in his DVD is his foot technique. Yeah, you know Thomas Lang was also pointed that regarding his first DVD and then he took it so seriously to the point of naming the second part of his second DVD Advanced Foot Technique. And that thing, my drummer friends, is mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to be modern regarding drum foot technique.

But maybe Mauro was already thinking of that. Yes, Mauro, if you're reading this, please include some episode about foot technique in your second DVD. Thanks!