Would that we were actually talking about Paul Klee’s painting “The Twittering Machine”, and not social networking. By the way, we’ll be making a fresh effort at getting going with the Twitter machine… I’m going […]
Month: January 2015
Truth and negativity
This has been sitting in my drafts folder awhile— some thoughts on an older piece from George Colligan’s Jazz Truth blog, a collection of thoughts about negativity, positivity, realism, “telling it like it is”, and […]
Billy’s best
Here’s some more essential Billy Higgins listening for you. I hesitate to declare anything the best— because a) the man played on over 700 albums, of which I have been exposed to, what, 5-7%? And […]
1/2 of a concert with 3/5 of the Four & More band
First I want to acknowledge that headline… that just happened… OK… Does it seem like we’re in a Billy Higgins trough right now? I don’t feel like he’s getting talked about a lot— the current […]
Variations on Stone flam patterns — triplets and 16ths
Lately I’ve been doing a lot with modulating between triplets and 16th notes, using similar stickings/coordination patterns. I’ve observed that it’s a thing with Elvin Jones’s drumming that he will play similar things in either […]
Groove o’ the day PLUS: Roger Hawkins — Mustang Sally
Another Groove o’ the day on steroids, from the studio drummer Roger Hawkins, of the famous Muscle Shoals rhythm section— we last checked him out on him on Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools. Here we’re […]
The Lulu line
Here’s a little four measure phrase by Thelonious Monk, which has been a big influence on my thinking, in playing the drums. It’s a little microcosm of the way you develop a melodic idea in […]
2014 Book of the Blog now available!
2014 Book of the Blog Scroll down for new posts— I’ll keep this pinned near the top of the blog for a few days. All right, continuing our frenzy of new product, the 2014 Book […]
Page o’ coordination: anticipations
Here’s a set of exercises which will force you to really get to know the &s of beats 2 and 4, and, by their frequent absence, beats 1 and 3: Swing the 8th notes. Listening […]
Good lord, that’s a deep pocket…
Here’s Levon Helm— if the question on your mind after seeing this is not “my God, how do I make my time sound like that?”, you may need to reexamine your priorities as a drummer… […]
A few items for sale
Just FYI, I have a few things for sale right now: Pearl 12″x7″ snare drum — $150.00 It’s a “popcorn” size drum, but it’s a real drum, well put together, with a nice, fat (8-ply?), maple […]
Very occasional quote of the day: inspiration
“Inspiration is for amateurs— the rest of us just show up and get to work.” —painter Chuck Close (h/t to Michael Shrieve)