Billy Higgins playing on a funky vamp with some kicks in it, on Blackjack, from Donald Byrd’s album of the same name. It sticks with the rhythm figure all the way through, and Higgins plays […]
Category: jazz
Daily best music in the world: Tootie with McCoy
Here’s a nice performance on brushes by Tootie Heath, on Five Spot After Dark, from McCoy Tyner’s album Today And Tomorrow. I don’t know how it passed under my radar that he died just last […]
Groove o’ the day: two by Elvin Jones
I have a couple of larger transcriptions going right now, from a couple of Elvin Jones live albums, but don’t have time to complete them, so here are the major grooves from them. The first […]
Leading with SD/cym accent
I don’t know what to call this category of thing— I was listening to some Jack Dejohnette, where he would play something on the snare drum, beginning with a unison accent on the snare and […]
Daily best music in the world: Louis Hayes with Cannonball
Here’s an item from jazz writer Mark Stryker, which caught Peter Erksine’s attention on Twitter. Cannonball Adderley playing a fast tempo with Louis Hayes on drums, on an Adderley record I’ve never owned, Nippon Soul. […]
Solo transcription: Billy Higgins – Third World
Here’s a drum solo by Billy Higgins, from the tune Third World on Freddie Hubbard’s album Bolivia. I’ve never played this tune and didn’t count out the form. It starts with 8 bars of an […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Joe gives advice
“When I was playing the Vanguard with Freddie Hubbard, I went back to the kitchen and Philly Joe was there. He said, ‘You’re playing good. You gotta kick Freddie’s ass, make his lips burn.’ All […]
Embellished filler with RH lead triplets – 01
I’m pretty sure I’ve written something like this before, but navigating my voluminous archives is no easier for me than it is for you. This is a sketch of some ideas in an upcoming[??? -tb] […]
Elvinized Mozambique
An item I was working out with a student— making an Elvin Jones-like Latin groove/texture out of a Mozambique rhythm, for medium tempos, with swing 8th notes. It’s an entry, just the first, most obvious […]
Building a hybrid Reed interpretation
A short item— that’s all I have time for lately: some hybrid Syncopation-based systems are brewing, where we do one basic thing, and alter it one step further, creating some connections between ideas, and opening things up, […]
Daily best music in the world: four by Steve Gadd
Taking a moment to dispel a totally absurd impression of Steve Gadd that has somehow formed in recent years: that he is some kind of conservative “groove” player, which… …no. He’s extremely influential on the […]
Groove o’ the day: Elvin waltz by Kenny Washington
Here’s Kenny Washington playing an Elvin Jones-type of waltz groove on Simple Waltz, on Clark Terry’s 1991 record Live at the Village Gate. It’s kind of an obscure item now, I bought the record then […]