This is one of the more memorable quotes from the pianist Kenny Werner’s book Effortless Mastery— I think a lot of people noticed it, and fully embraced it: Once after playing a concert an interviewer […]
Month: September 2013
VOQOTD: Lew Tabackin on Billy Higgins
“Playing with Billy was like heaven. He was the greatest collaborator in the history of jazz. He played exactly right for you at exactly the right time. His dynamics were perfect, he balanced his energy […]
Page o’ coordination: 6/8 clave in the right hand
Hey, we haven’t had a page o’ coordination in awhile. I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Afro-Cuban stuff lately, via our page of Mozambique, the 6/8 page from last year, and with […]
Groove o’ the day: Bill Withers — Lovely Night For Dancing
This is by 70’s session drummer Alvin Taylor, who’s fairly little-known, but is on a lot of stuff. Here he’s with Bill Withers, on the album Menagerie. The song, Lovely Night For Dancing, is kind of […]
Good reading
Ignore the model’s bad posture, tucked-in muscle shirt, and Bay City Rollers hairdo, and buy the book. If you’ve worked with Ted Reed’s Syncopation in any serious way you’ve probably sensed that it has a […]
Page of polyrhythms
I’m bogging down in a couple of very wordy pieces, so a little light fare today— just a page of two-voice polyrhythms written out in the simplest possible form. They are written in the form […]
Page of Mozambique — UPDATED
I’ve been working with our earlier page of Mozambique quite a bit (yes, I do in fact practice the non-transcription stuff I post here), and thought it could use a bit of refining, so here […]
Massive brain dump
Blogger is acting funny this morning, not letting me upload images, so instead maybe you should visit Jon McCaslin’s Four On The Floor for a trove of great stuff he has posted under the innocuous […]
Groove o’ the day: Vinnie Colaiuta — The Central Scrutinizer
The pdf links for last week’s Zappa features are now down, so, to assuage the pain for those of you who missed them, here’s Vinnie Colaiuta’s drum groove from The Central Scrutinizer, the opening track […]
Our first-ever FUND RAISER
“Hell, I need you…” —Champ Kind A hearty “thank you” to everyone who contributed in 2013! And thanks everyone for reading— the fund-raiser proper is over but your support is always welcome. -tb Well, as […]
Transcription: Terry Bozzio — Rubber Shirt
Let’s consider this a special feature for the funds drive; like the other Zappa thing this week, I’ll be taking it down in a few days and submitting it to Drum! Magazine, so get it […]
Groove o’ the day: Ndugu Leon Chancler afro 12/8
Here’s a very fun tune, with Ndugu Leon Chancler playing an unusual form of an Afro 12/8, on the late, great, George Duke’s 1977 album Reach For It. The track is called Omi. There’s lots […]