Here’s a transcription of Papa Jo Jones playing the intro and head of It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing, from a 1970 Black Lion recording, Paul Gonsalves Meets Earl Hines. […]
Month: May 2011
Best books: some non-musical selections
Here are several books that have been valuable to me creatively over the years. The Adding Machine by William S. Burroughs Great essays about art, language, and the craft of writing. Along with Exterminator!, […]
Todd’s methods: same-handed flam accents
This is something that came organically out of my own playing- it came up again and again in improvising for years before I finally analyzed it. The only place I’ve seen it mentioned since is […]
Survival tips for cruise ship drummers
My man Willie Blair, the only person I know who could get away with flouting most of the non-musical rules. I guess I had to actually write about drumming on cruise ships at some point, […]
Out-of-print LP rips: some finds
Here are some exciting drummer-led things I found while paying a visit to the thriving community of record-collecting bloggers dedicated to ripping out-of-print LPs and making them available for download. Apparently no one wants to […]
Playing quieter
Miles is going to have to ask you to CTFO. In the past I was regarded as a loud player— I forgot how much, until recently a club owner asked if we would please keep the […]
Rudimental drumming as conceptual art
Here’s a rudimental snare drum piece which I’ve been trying to get my head around for a couple of days now. Written by Ken Mazur, a champion drum corps soloist of the 70’s who went […]
Interview: drum author Joel Rothman
[UPDATED 5/16 – Something I had to add to the piece came up in my correspondence with Mr. Rothman. See the new section labeled “PROFIT”] Joel Rothman is one of the more mysterious figures in […]
Light posting
I’ll be on light posting for a couple of days while I finish up a bunch of Ornette Coleman arrangements for an upcoming recording session. In the mean time, enjoy a whole mess of Paul […]
Rothman book recommendations
While the interview is fresh, I want to give my recommendations for Joel Rothman book purchases. God knows I haven’t seen his entire catalog, but these are very strong books: Basic Drumming – An everything […]