Ornette Coleman playing in Berlin, 1971, with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell. It occurs to me that I don’t think I’ve seen any decent video of Blackwell playing before— there have long been […]
Category: free jazz
The Freedom Principle
I used to think I was a free jazz drummer, now I just want to play tight arrangements.– Todd Bishop The book The Freedom Principle, published in 1984, by John Litweiler, was my my listening […]
Daily best music in the world: Art Ensemble of Chicago – 1983
While I figure out how to work Musescore, here’s some Art Ensemble of Chicago. My German friends told an interesting story last year about how they got all of this Paiste gear… by some rather […]
Daily best music in the world: Ornette Coleman in Berlin – 1971
Newly uploaded video of Ornette Coleman playing Berliner Jazztage in 1971, with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell: h/t to Hank Shteamer, uploaded by Bay Area drummer Jay Korber.
The Wizard
More music in that 90s zone, from my personal archives. This really captures the spirit of my whole attitude towards playing the drums for that decade. Recorded in 2000, I think, when my group Flatland was […]
Reassessing some free jazz drummers
There was a period of about five years where I was listening to a lot of early free jazz— Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp. Ornette (and his circle) is the only one […]
Daily best music in the world: Sunny Murray
Getting ready to head to Germany in a week, so content will be a little light. Here’s a cool record by Sunny Murray— usually the outest free guy in the world, here doing some swing […]
Daily best music in the world: Ronald Shannon Jackson with Albert Ayler
Ronald Shannon Jackson playing with Albert Ayler on the Live at Slug’s Saloon album, recorded in 1966. Jackson wasn’t recorded a lot at this stage of his career, and it’s really interesting to hear him […]
Paul Motian podcast
Here’s one you’re going to want to follow: Uncle Paul’s Jazz Closet. The caretaker of Paul Motian’s recorded archives has made a podcast that includes selections from his recordings— released and unreleased, live performances, rehearsal […]
Playing free
“No chaos, damn it!” —Jackson Pollock responding to a critic who called his work chaotic. Here at CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER! there are some subjects we don’t talk about much— not because they’re not important, but […]
Han Bennink practice tips
Not a lot of action on the other drumming blogs these days, but Ted Warren of Trap’d has this amazing thing for us, courtesy of Jon McCaslin of Four On The Floor, courtesy of some […]
Daily best music in the world: Leo
Rashied Ali’s band playing my favorite piece from Interstellar Space. With Carlos Ward.