Page o’ coordination using the rhythm from the bass line on Tekufah, a John Zorn tune from which I recently made a practice loop. The cymbal rhythm is actually an inversion or mode of the […]
Month: September 2019
Alternating singles vs. other stickings
This is an elementary question I often get from students, when learning different ways of playing 16th notes: why learn to play a paradiddle when you can do the same thing with alternating singles? They […]
Reed method: 32nd note linear lick
Another easy little practice method, for playing soloistic stuff, using Progressive Steps to Syncopation, which you can play in conjunction with this other recent item. This one uses a favorite Gary Chaffee linear lick that sounds […]
Very occasional quote of the day: mistakes
“The idea of a mistake is beside the point, for once anything happens it authentically is.” – John Cage
Transcription: Ed Blackwell intro
A 16-bar drum intro played by Ed Blackwell on The Way You Look Tonight, from Mal Waldron’s album You And The Night And The Music. I like to post these things to shame myself for […]
EZ 32nd note Reed method
Well— cut time 16th notes, which are 32nd notes functionally, if “common time” is our reference point. Perhaps a subject for another occasion. This is a very simple drill for playing fast singles in context as […]
Hemiola funk series – beginner sheet
Continuing to develop a method for this hemiola funk idea. Please forgive the repetition— when this is a finished method, I’ll release it as an e-book. In the mean time, I’ll be posting a lot […]
Very occasional quote of the day: spirit
“Now-a-days the technical information is available. A lot of people have it, which proves all the more that it’s not the key to the music. The key is what’s inside, the life you live, and […]
Transcription: Al Foster – Egg Head
A smoking short drum solo by Al Foster, playing with Cecil Payne and Duke Jordan on their album Brooklyn Brothers. The tune is Egg Head, a little three minute burner. It’s a blues, and Foster […]
Groove o’ the day: Neftali Santiago – Positive Thing
Groove o’ the day by Neftali Santiago of the band Mandrill, one of the people you should be listening to to get a real 70s funk thing happening with your drumming— along with Jerome Brailey, […]
Transcription: Fred Braceful – All That Funk
Here’s an interesting performance by Fred Braceful, a drummer from Detroit who lived in Germany for most of his career, and recorded mainly with German artists. He also recorded a couple of albums with Mal […]
Notes on a Lenny White performance
I got to see Lenny White play last night, with the pianist George Colligan and bassist Buster Williams, at Portland’s 1905 Club. Here are a few impressions. Between watching a performance and writing a blog […]