I was working on our upcoming Book of Intros, and came across this cool Latin groove from a teenage Al Foster, playing on Blue Mitchell’s album The Thing To Do. The tune is Chick’s Tune, […]
Category: grooves
Groove and totally gratuitous lick o’ the day: James “Diamond” Williams — Fopp
I was listening to some Ohio Players, and this, from the intro of Fopp, jumped out at me. It’s not the greatest thing in the world ever, but it’s fun: The 32nd notes are legato, […]
Groove o’ the day: now exclusively an Al Jackson feature
I include these Al Jackson grooves not because you can’t figure them out for yourselves, but because in this current technocratic, amazingness-fetishizing period of drumming, I like to keep in the front of my memory […]
Page of Mozambique
So here’s what we were setting up with that last thing— a page of Mozambique for the drum set: Work up each pattern individually until it feels good, and then combine parts as you see […]
Groove o’ the day: Chico Hamilton — Conquistadores
Here’s a little 60’s funky LA cha cha (or guajira? Or something— it’s not a standard style) from the relatively unsung drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. This is Conquistadores, from his 1965 album El Chico: The right hand […]
Transcription: Superstition — groove variations and fills
Experimenting with a different kind of transcription here. Stevie Wonder’s Superstition— from the album Talking Book, drums played by Wonder himself— is mainly a groove piece, but the groove is highly variable, and writing out […]
Groove o’ the day: Freddie Waits — African Village
Here’s another afro 6 alternative— we haven’t had any new ones lately. Played by Freddie Waits, on the tune African Village on McCoy Tyner’s Time For Tyner, released in 1968: I’ve written this in a […]
Northern Brazilian drumming
From the Vic Firth site, here’s a nice clinic on northeastern Brazilian drumming, by US drummer Scott Kettner. He discusses the folkloric/authentic forms of the Baião and Maracatu rhythms, which have a history of being […]
Groove o’ the day: Robertino Silva — Saídas E Bandeiras
Been having a little bit of writer’s block in finishing several longer pieces this week, so let’s do something easy. Here’s a simple rock beat in 5/4 by one of my favorite Brazilian drummers, Robertinho […]
Groove o’ the day: more Al Jackson
This one goes out to my man Ed Pierce; I’ve really been getting into the Al Jackson this week. Here’s most of what he plays on Soul Jam, by Booker T. and the MGs, from […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Jackson
Here’s something from the great R&B drummer Al Jackson, on the light little instrumental tune Overton Park Sunrise, from the Union Extended album by Booker T. & The MGs. On the A section he plays […]
Groove o’ the day: Take Your Dead Ass Home
This is pretty much definitional as to what funk drumming is. Here are another couple of Funkadelic grooves, from Take Your Dead Ass Home, on the album Tales of Kidd Funkadelic. The drummer is the […]