One of many inspiring moments. I got nothing today, congratulations to everyone on this late move towards national sanity. I suggest watching President Biden’s inauguration this morning if you haven’t. Even after four years of […]
Year: 2021
Very occasional quote of the day: Max Roach fast
“We’d have jam sessions at Minton’s where the tenor players were long-winded,” Roach explained. “Don Byas would play 20 minutes on ‘Cherokee,’ and then Johnny Griffin would play another 20 minutes, and then somebody else […]
Listening: more Freddie
Let’s listen to some more Freddie Hubbard, again with Louis Hayes on drums. The album is The Black Angel, recorded in 1969, same as Hub of Hubbard. With James Spaulding, Kenny Barron, and Reggie Workman— […]
Accents on 8/8 jazz rhythms
A background project lately has been to create some ways of practicing feathering the bass drum as part of a modern, varying, organic jazz texture. This page is related to some things I’m hearing in […]
Syncopation exercise: Accents from Chasin’ the Train – 01
Companion to yesterday’s post: a syncopation exercise based on part 5 of the Chasin’ the Trane transcription— all of the accents played on the snare and bass drum. As usual I’ve followed the Reed convention […]
Transcription: Elvin Jones – Chasin’ the Trane – 05
Here is part 5 of this transcription— the 25th-30th choruses of Elvin Jones playing Chasin’ the Trane, from John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard. The transcription begins at 4:38 in the track. We’re nearing […]
Hemiola funk series: all basic patterns in 3/8
UPDATE: Download link works now! There’s an ongoing political crisis happening in the United States right now, and it’s really hard to write, or do anything else productive. It’s very serious and basically every human […]
Happy end of that
1/7 UPDATE: Bumping this post from the distant past at the end of last month, when, in my sad, ridiculous naiveté, I thought the worst was behind us, and the depths of the current president’s depravity, […]
Reed tweak: bass in the middle of the triplet
Let’s take a break from watching the national degradation of the United States and its democratic form of government reach its apex live on Twitter/TV, wanna? Yesterday I was practicing one of my recent Reed […]
Hemiola funk series: all patterns combined
Continuing to work through the possibilities of the hemiola funk series, in hopes of eventually making a concise, coherent method out of it. It has been great for my students— adult beginners, and kids under […]
Listening: holy shnikeys
A couple of standards from the album The Hub of Hubbard, by Freddie Hubbard. With Louis Hayes on drums and Richard Davis on bass, plus Roland Hanna and Eddie Daniels. Recorded in Germany in 1969 […]
Groove o’ the day: Andy Newmark – Dreamweaver
UPDATE: Download link is active now! I really think people don’t know what groove is any more— I heard the worst thing in the world on the radio* a few days ago, and I WISH […]