You will probably not agree with what I’m going to say here but that’s just how I see it.
Gumby – a phenomenal drummer of our generation undoubtedly. Probably not one of the best in the world but definitely one of the best in Pakistan. But is over-hyped? I think yes.
I love how he can strum and play high-energy or fast/medium-fast beats but he just can’t do it as well when it comes to the slower beats. His rhythm is fine but there is just something that he lacks. He just can’t complement the rest of the music. I haven’t noticed that when he played for Noori back in the days or in the first two Coke Studio seasons but I have noticed it time and time again in Season 3.
His drumming in Abida Parveen‘s Ramooz-e-Ishq is on a completely different planet than the rest of the musicians and Abida’s vocals. Same goes for Meesha‘s Chori Chori (by the way, her actual name is Meera Rehman).
On the other hand, he was sensational in Josh‘s Bari Barsi, outplaying the Dholi completely. It wasn’t the biggest Coke Studio hit but Gumby’s performance was surely emphatic.
With all that said, his slow beats have been, should I say, worrying.
I should really stop myself and rethink all that I’ve said. Maybe it’s not Gumby. Maybe it’s what the music director is asking for. Maybe it’s Coke Studio failing to live up to the level that it set itself in its previous seasons. After all, music is a field where consistency is very difficult and the only people to have maintained it are legends. Maybe Coke Studio is not going to be a legend.
Whatever the case maybe, there definitely is a problem somewhere. Maybe it’s just us, the listeners and viewers, expecting them to overtake their performances from the previous seasons. Which is not completely fair.