From the Modern Drummer digital archive, here are some excerpts from a 1978 interview with Tony Williams. I’ve edited out the large hunks of it where they discuss single-headed toms, the merits of fiberglass drums, […]
Category: interview
Frankie Dunlop on Monk
UPDATE: Scott Fish has posted some of his interview recordings of Dunlop, and they are hilarious. Much about playing with Monk in this interview with Ben Riley from 1986 as well. Do check out my Dunlop […]
Massive Mel Lewis interview
More great stuff from Jon McCaslin at Four on the Floor: extended radio interview of Mel Lewis by Loren Schoenberg, discussing the history of the drums in jazz from Baby Dodds to Elvin Jones. An […]
Hal Blaine interview
Great article and interview with Hal Blaine at Jazz Wax, absolutely worth reading. If you haven’t heard of him, Marc Myers’ introduction should pique your interest: Except for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and a […]
All About Jazz interview: Alvin Fielder
Here are some extended excerpts of an Allaboutjazz.com interview by Clifford Allen with drummer Alvin Fielder. Fielder was a student of Ed Blackwell’s, and a founding member of AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative […]
Andrew Cyrille interview by Ted Panken
Here’s another in my series of choice, drummer-relevant bits of other people’s interviews, this time with Andrew Cyrille, by Ted Panken: Ted Panken: Are there different challenges for you in dealing with, let’s say, the […]
1997 BBC interview: Tony Oxley
I could not locate my Tony Oxley Modern Drummer interview, so instead here is a BBC interview with him, in which he discusses his unique set up. There seem to be quite a few of […]
Bob Moses interviews Rashied Ali
January 2003 interview of the late Rashied Ali by another great drummer, Bob Moses. This is only available through jpegs, so I can’t quote it without typing it out, and you should read the whole […]
1985 Modern Drummer interview: Alan Dawson
Have I mentioned lately what a great resource the Modern Drummer digital archive is? Here are my excerpts from a 1985 Modern Drummer interview with one of the great teachers of the drums, Alan Dawson. […]
Charlie Haden interview by Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus
As I mentioned, I’m doing a lot of thinking about Ornette Coleman, and happened to find this excellent, extended 2007 interview with one of my favorite musicians ever, Charlie Haden, by Bad Plus pianist Ethan […]
1996 Paul Motian interview, part 4: Rumba Beat on a Tom Tom
Fourth part of my excerpts of Chuck Braman’s 1996 Paul Motian interview: FREE: Chuck: When you first heard people actually playing free, how did it strike you, coming from a background rooted so strongly in […]
1996 Paul Motian interview, part 3: ding ding GA-ding
Third part of my excerpts of Chuck Braman’s 1996 Paul Motian interview. TIPS AND COMMENTS: Chuck: Did any of the musicians you worked with ever offer you any advice or make musical comments that struck […]