I've heard all kinds of things on groovin in a session and that keeping perfect time is not completely related to how groovin you are. People have told me (in a jazz setting) that the bass player should be "walking" slightly ahead of the drummer. Some people have also told me that they should be playing exactly at the same time as the bass. Alot of this is really kind of confusing me and I was hoping some of you would be able to give me insight. Thanks.
It is confusing, but the techniques you're talking about aren't even mastered by great, great drummers with many years of experience. It is often such a subjective decision by both the drummer and other decision makers that they are often at odds. If guys like Jeff Porcaro can get replaced on a gig (that admittedly was rare), than I think it's safe to say no one has ever had the perfect interpretation for keeping time for all situations. You should just practice the best you can, use your best judgment possible, listen to every bit of instruction you're given, and live with the results.
I know I've had people tell me I was dragging, but on replaying the track it was clearly another instrument -- rhythm guitarist is often guilty of this. Other times, I've found keyboardists are a little too perfect in their time for the kind of music they were playing (i.e. gospel or r&B).
