I used to play in a small jazz combo with a drummer who couldn’t stand bossa novas. We would occasionally get called upon to play “The Girl from Ipanema”, and whenever we did the drummer would sigh, close his eyes, and play the song while pretending to take a nap. He claimed that it was one of the few jazz standards where you would be better off replacing the drummer with a drum machine.

A machine he was indeed. When this drummer played a bossa nova, he would play it with more precision than you would ever expect out of a machine. And this style worked, and worked well. When we played with other drummers, they would put some more personal style into the song, and mix it up a bit — and it was never quite as effective or snappy as the “Scotty drum machine style”.

As a trumpet player, I played with a symphony a couple of times and decided that I hated the experience, so I never went back. Why do I hate it? Having to count 160 bar rests (very common for a brass player in symphonic music). If they brought me out to play, the last thing I want to do is sit still doing nothing for 10 minutes so I can play my 6 notes to triumphantly end the movement. Call me impatient, but that was just not worth my time.