Here’s something that’s a lot of fun, from Vinnie Sperrazza, a great drummer from New York. I met him recently, when he, and my partner Casey Scott, were performing in Family Album, a new play […]
Year: 2014
Holiday special on books and Skype lessons!
Scroll down for new posts— I’ll be keeping this pinned to the top of the blog this month. UPDATE: This is the LAST DAY OF THE SALE, so get these while they’re a little bit […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Jackson, Jr. — Crosscut Saw
Here’s a sort of a blues rhumba groove by Al Jackson, Jr.. The song is Crosscut Saw, from Albert King’s classic album, Born Under A Bad Sign. Play the housetop accents as rim shots. Use […]
Page o’ coordination: basic — 02
Here’s another basic Page o’ coordination, with left hand variations over a very common funk rhythm in the hihat and bass drum: Play each exercise 2-4 times, and proceed to the next one without […]
George Colligan sees Whiplash
Jazz educators respond to the makers of Whiplash, who are represented by the hapless trombonist. UPDATE: Oh, here’s another one, from Jazz Is the Worst, a blog that is attracting a lot of attention in […]
An Internet thing I like
OK, this is actually useful: I like this new YouTube thing of isolating drum tracks from famous pop/rock recordings. Recording can be a horrible exercise in self-scrutiny, and is often a question of how much […]
New CSD! e-book: Bossa Nova / Samba Field Manual
UPDATE: Thanks for the review, Kenneth! Time to unveil one of the things I’ve been doing instead of delivering the promised Book of Intros, which is languishing maybe 3-5 hours of work away from completion, stupidly… […]
Hell of books
YAAAAHHH! AAAHHHH!! This has been sitting in my drafts folder awhile, and seems timely, as I’m encouraging you to buy my new Bossa/Samba book, and am discounting my previous ones: One thing there is no shortage […]
Soul drumming history with Yogi Horton
Here’s an incredible video which I never knew existed: R&B legend Yogi Horton talking and playing the history of soul/funk drumming— this is just the best thing ever: h/t to my brother, John Bishop, for […]
Groove o’ the day: Ivan Conti — A Presa
Here’s a funk samba groove from a drummer I’ve really come to dig: Ivan Conti, of the Brazilian fusion band Azymuth. When I was into fusion in the 80s, I got the impression from some […]
DBMITW: Glen Moore
Good music for a very windy day here in Portland, from Glen Moore, bassist from the band Oregon, who lives in town: This record Nude Bass Ascending is basically a perfect album— it has held […]
Advice for beginning drummers
Obligatory inspirational picture 1. Play every day. Consistency is the main thing. At some point in your playing career, you will need to put in many hours every day, for several years at least, if […]