Watching the Beeb’s recent repeat of “Bowie at the BBC Radio Theatre”, I occasionally thought “His band is really tight”, but then it struck me that if I was asked, I couldn’t properly explain what makes a band tight, either in the studio or live.

It’s obviously an expression I’ve absorbed on my travels through life without thinking about what it actually means. I could say, probably without fear of contradiction, that the Dame’s band of ace sessioneers are tight, as are, for example, the E-Street Band, the Wrecking Crew, and Peter Gabriel’s usual shipmates (Levin, Rhodes, Katche, etc.). But why/how are they tight when others are not? Can a more knowledgeable muso enlighten me?

The same applies to “in the pocket”, as in “They were really in the pocket for that song.” Guy Pratt says it occasionally on the Rockonteurs, so I’m guessing it’s a drum/bass/rhythm thing, but what actually is the pocket, and how do you know when a performer is in it?

Anybody else willing to admit to a music-terminology blind spot or two?