Franco Battiato is one of the most renowned Italian musicians, singer-songwriters, and composers who collaborated with many great musicians, such as David Rhodes, Lele Melotti, Simon Tong, Pino Daniele, Giorgio Gaber, and PFM, to name a few. His unique musical style incorporates various influences, from pop to classical, to rock and world music.
One of his most beautiful songs is “La Cura” from the album L’imboscata (1996), featuring Gavin Harrison on drums.
The drum groove is played with a half-time feel on the snare, accenting the third beat and filling in 16th-note ghost notes. The bass drum pattern is straightforward, complemented by the left foot hi-hat in quarter notes. Gavin Harrison’s use of ghost notes and buzz rolls is remarkable and musical, adding a beautiful touch to this great groove.
The introductory tom fill is one of the main recurrent aspects of this drum part. As you can see in the image below, the fill starts with the first tom on the upbeat, on the second 16th note, and ends with the second tom in the next bar. Additionally, listening to the song at 2:20, Gavin Harrison plays a remarkable fill between the toms and the snare, using a 3 over 4 polyrhythmic idea. There are tons of ideas from which to draw inspiration!
The complete drum sheet music is now available for purchase. Keep on drumming!
Rest in peace, Franco Battiato.
Francis' Drumming Blog 