Remo Roto-toms, Tama Fibrestar bass drums, Tama snare drum, Paiste cymbals, Camco pedals, surely a Synare in there somewhere The calm before the storm, here— there are some big, cool, things coming starting Monday, as […]
Month: May 2015
Milton Banana
Here’s a video of Milton Banana, one of my favorite Brazilian drummers, performing near the very end of his life. I don’t know how much he was slowing up chops-wise at this point, but the fundamentals of […]
Half-time feel to regular 4/4
We’ll be marking time a little bit this week, saving up the big, good stuff for our fund raiser, which is going to be next week. As I mentioned in our last half-time feel funk […]
Very occasional quote of the day: reasons
“Where did the ride cymbal pattern come from? Why does ding-dinga-ding exist? Where did that come from? Why is the hi-hat played on two and four, and not on one and three? Why was the […]
Daily best music in the world: Bennie Maupin — Ensenada
Here’s a beautiful piece, Ensenada, from Bennie Maupin’s 1974 album The Jewel In The Lotus, with Billy Hart on Drums and Freddie Waits on marimba:
George Colligan on playing the ride cymbal
THAT cymbal— listen and copy the sound. Some good advice from former-New York/now-Portland/Jack Dejohnette-sideman/pianist/(and drummer, too) George Colligan, on the importance of your ride cymbal interpretation in jazz. The context is that he was judging […]
“How do I become a successful musician?”
From an Ask Andrew W.K. advice column in the Village Voice: Reader: “Since I was very young, I’ve always wanted to be a successful musician. I have practiced and played in many bands and done […]
Half-time feel funk: the “Syncopation” section — 01
Here’s a new chapter to our recent half-time feel funk series, using Progressive Steps To Syncopation, by Ted Reed. Here we’re going to get into the “Syncopation” section of the book— pp. 32-44 in the […]
Linear phrases in 5/4, mixed rhythm — 02b
Here’s another set of Gary Chaffee-style linear phrases in a mixed rhythm, in 5/4— a continuation of part 2, which has four beats of triplets and one beat of 8th notes. I’ve found this to […]
Ornette live in ’58
Here’s something remarkable: Ornette Coleman recorded live in LA in 1958, just before his big national exposure in New York. The band includes the musicians in his famous quartet: Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy […]
Service announcement
Be advised that posting will be spotty for a couple of days while I undergo, and recover from, a lovely big ol’ dental procedure. On the up side: we’re going to have a fund raiser […]
Groove o’ the day: Tony Williams — Lopsy Lu
This is a super-classic bit of 70s fusion, from Stanley Clarke’s first self-titled solo record, with drumming by Tony Williams. I got this album used for 3 bucks around 1985, when I was buying everything […]