This is an excerpt from a pretty amazing 1981 Modern Drummer article by Barry Altschul, in which he discusses the drummer’s relation to tunes, form, and melody, and playing melodically: It is […] the drummer’s […]
Month: May 2015
Natural sticking timing exercise
This is something I’m working on with some students: a timing exercise using natural sticking, modified slightly from something we used to play in drum corps. Natural sticking, briefly, is a method of sticking hand-to-hand […]
DBMITW: Ornette Coleman live, 1968
A little change in gears as we near the end of our little fund raising drive. A big thanks to the mighty few who have made donations and purchased books— if any of our other […]
CSD! 2015 fund raiser happening NOW
NOTE: This post will be pinned to the top of the blog until June 1, but I’ll be posting heavily, so be sure to scroll down and hit the older posts link so you don’t […]
What it is: being a professional
Obligatory Venn diagram One area where I see a lot of misconceptions is around the idea of being a professional musician. Usually, people seem to think it means that you make all your money from […]
Partido Alto practice loop and basic grooves
Another practice loop, sampled from the tune Partido Alto, from the Azymuth album Light As A Feather. Ivan Conti is on drums. As I mentioned before, Partido Alto is the name of a Brazilian rhythm, […]
Ed Blackwell on playing with Monk
Another choice bit from Ted Panken’s interview with Blackwell— Blackwell played with Monk in 1972: I’ll tell you what happened with Monk. During the course of the gig, after about a week… He used to […]
Transcription: Famoudou Don Moye — Funky Aeco
I was going to take care of some other business today, but then I saw that it’s Famoudou Don Moye’s birthday, and wanted to pay tribute by giving one of my favorite things of his […]
Happy birthday, Archie Shepp
While I regroup and get stuff together for next week, let’s celebrate saxophonist, poet, and composer Archie Shepp’s 78th birthday with Attica Blues. Play this loud: And The Magic of Juju, with Ed Blackwell playing […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Kurt Cobain
“Learn how to not play your instrument.” —Cobain diary entry, from the HBO documentary “Montage Of Heck” (h/t to Mark Wooley)
Groove o’ the day: Jabo Starks — The Payback
I don’t know karate, but I know karazy. Here’s Jabo Starks playing James Brown’s classic, The Payback, which, if you don’t already have the record, you may know from Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels, […]
Daily best music in the world: Andrew Cyrille with Grachan Moncur III
Just a nice track from a record I’ve never heard, by Moncur, a famous trombonist, with Andrew Cyrille on the drums: