UPDATED 8/27: Added one thing to the pdf. Another page of stuff to play with last year’s smoking John Zorn “Solitaire” practice loop in 7/8, this time developing a very common four-note linear pattern, RLBB— an […]
Year: 2016
Page o’ coordination: “Afro Blues” bell – 02
Another page of coordination patterns for this Afro/shuffle cymbal pattern, which I’ll go ahead and call “Afro Blues” because I feel like it. It came up in my own playing, and I’m not aware of […]
Reed interpretation: triplets with breaks
I don’t why it took me over 30 years to figure this out— I’m always looking for ways to simplify things, to make them more playable. This is an alternative to a very common, popular, […]
Page o’ coordination: Afro shuffle bell pattern
This is something that came up in playing Back At The Chicken Shack, a shuffle by organist Jimmy Smith . We play a pretty open interpretation of the style on that tune, not a strict Blue Note […]
Transcription: James Black – Hook And Sling, pt. 2
This is something very special— it’s probably classical music to anyone well versed in New Orleans music, and anyone in the sampling world, but I only heard it for the first time recently: James Black […]
Page o’ coordination: displacing a jazz groove
As the heading on the page says, this is a fairly ill-advised endeavor we’re covering today: displacing a jazz groove, by shifting the cymbal and hihat rhythm over to the last note of the triplet. […]
New Orleans street beat – Reed method
As promised, another method for developing a NOLA street beat, this one perhaps more musical than the last. Definitely. Here we’ll be using Progressive Steps to Syncopation, by Ted Reed, pp. 33-44— the “Syncopation” section […]
Kenny Clarke at 100
[Oh heck, this is from 2014— oh well. Just saw it on Famoudou Don Moye’s Facebook feed today. Whatever.] Good of NPR’s Kevin Whitehead to take notice of Kenny Clarke’s (“inventor of modern jazz drumming”) […]
Transcription: Airto – Black Narcissus
From Flora Purim’s album Encounter, here’s more Airto— this time playing a jazz waltz: Black Narcissus. I’ve transcribed the head of the tune, and the first couple of choruses of his playing behind Joe Henderson’s […]
Daily best music in the world: Bulgarian singers
h/t to Ralph Hardimon for this one.
New Orleans street beat – Stone method
This is the first of two pretty-easy methods for developing a New Orleans-style street beat— or rather, for expanding on it, and playing it in a “modern” way. They’ll also be good for getting a […]