Quotes
"In my view, he was a Louis Armstrong, a Bix Beiderbecke, a James P. Johnson. A true giant!"
- Bud Freeman
"As Dizzy Gillespie said to me recently, "Dave never got in the way; he didn't overplay. What we need today are a few Dave Toughs!"
- Chubby Jackson
"A giant rhythm player! With the least amount of "chops," Dave inspired a whole, big screamin' band with his subtleties and strong feeling for time. And he was probably on of the most gentle, the kindest, one of the grooviest cats you'd ever want to know."
- Woody Herman
"Dave was the single most musical drummer that I've ever known. When I say musical, I'm talking about sensibilities-his musical sensibilities-which of couse were honed by his literary and aesthetic sense of everything in general. My thesis is the more you know about everything, the better you will be."
- Artie Shaw
"He was the most imaginative drummer we ever had in the business. Everything the man hit was musical. If he tapped on the floor, it was musical."
- Lionel Hampton
"His energy force was so strong that you'd think there was a 400-pound guy sitting up there."
- Buddy Rich
"Don't forget Dave Tough. Tough was like a clock. Stick him under a band and he'd make everybody play."
- Baby Dodds
The one I've always read that musicians felt was way up
there was Dave Tough. Big Band, small group, what ever, he could do it,
and kept time through out the whole song.
The Complete Artie Shaw Volume V, 1941 - 1942
"Dave's
time was so perfect that your ideas would just flow. He allowed you
to lean back and think, providing the rhythmic
security
you needed. With most drummers, you have to make the rhythm. Whenever Dve
played, the rythmn was right there, solid, and pushed you right out of yourself.
I can't say enough about this wonderful man and musician!"
-Max Kaminsky
"Dave
was one of the greatest band drummers, ever. Yet despite all the accolades
he got from the musicians, fans and writers
who
knew his capacities, he still was underrated. None of the so-called scholarly
books on jazz give Dave his due."
-Artie Shaw
*All entries on this page from Drummin' Men - The Hearbeat Of Jazz, The Swing Years.