Here’s a feature I’ve been meaning to start- my favorite individual tracks ever. Our first entry will be Charles Mingus’ Hog Callin’ Blues, from the album Oh Yeah. I think Jimmy Knepper said “there’s no […]
Month: February 2011
16th note fills using Syncopation – Part 1
This is the first part of a method for working on 16th note fills, which I developed for my intermediate students. It requires some selective reading, but in a constructive way- the same type of […]
March 1: Stanton Moore DVD drawing for my followers
That’s right, become a follower of Cruise Ship Drummer! during the month of February and you will be automatically entered in a drawing for a free copy of Stanton Moore’s excellent new Groove Alchemy DVD. […]
Transcription: Frankie Dunlop – Rhythm-a-ning
Finally had time to finish this up- this has been languishing in the archives in dire need of proofing for some time. Here’s the the complete drum part for Rhythm-a-ning, by Frankie Dunlop, from Thelonious […]
1985 Modern Drummer interview: Alan Dawson
Have I mentioned lately what a great resource the Modern Drummer digital archive is? Here are my excerpts from a 1985 Modern Drummer interview with one of the great teachers of the drums, Alan Dawson. […]
Best books: Like Syncopation
For many years Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer (better known as just “Syncopation”) by Ted Reed was virtually the only drum book I used. As I alluded to in the Joe Cusatis […]
Best books: Rudimental Patterns by Joe Cusatis
Rudimental Patterns Full Drum Set Studies for the Modern Drummer by Joe Cusatis This book contains most of what I always felt was wrong with the traditional approach to learning the drums, and I LIKE […]
Kenneth Mars 1935-2011
Sorry for all the depressing deaths, but I can’t ignore this. Via Roy Edroso at Alicublog, I’ve just learned that one of my favorite comic actors, Kenneth Mars has passed away. Best known as Springtime […]
Thursday
“Grateful I don’t have to go to work dealin’ with people like you 9 to 5.” – Art Taylor Just finished up and submitted a piece to Drum, and it’s looking good for getting it […]
James Phillips 1962-2011
Saxophonist, band director and school principal James Phillips, an old musical colleague of mine, has passed away. I knew him at the University of Oregon around ’89-91, when he was the tenor player for the […]
The John Lewis Show
I’m hoping to finish up an ed piece and fire it off to Drum! Magazine before some afternoon lessons, so until I can post something more substantive, enjoy these clips of the John Lewis Show […]
Best books – Chop Busters by Ron Fink
OK, the title is a little goofy- a lot goofy- but this is an excellent, fun book of snare drum exercises written by North Texas State University instructor Ron Fink to “uncover weakness in basic […]