It took me a long time to come around to accepting the type of method we’re going to use here; for years the Syncopation-based interpretive method– in which you think more like a horn player, […]
Category: music
Groove o’ the day: On the Corner
Today we’ve got Jack Dejohnette’s James Brown-like groove on Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X from Miles Davis’ On The Corner: There’s an overdubbed part by Al Foster that’s more forward in the mix, so it’s a […]
Cracking 5/4: the library
Essential. Again following my normal process of doing the easy stuff first, here is the library of practice materials I’ve used for finally getting my act together in 5/4. Normally you would put this at […]
Hemiola applications: funk
Here are some very straightforward funk applications derived from the 3:2 polyrhythm in 4/4 in the hemiola basics post. By isolating each measure, revoicing the parts slightly, and adding obvious things like a downbeat on […]
Cracking 5/4: listening
Here’s the first in a series on playing in 5/4. Since everything in music follows from listening (and this is the easiest type of post for me to write), we’ll start with some recorded examples: […]
Groove o’ the day: Ed Blackwell
Here’s another simple afro feel played by Ed Blackwell on Mu, the duo record with Don Cherry. It’s also available on the Cherry album Cool. This also could’ve been written as two measures of 3/4 […]
Transcription: intro by Art Taylor
This is Art Taylor’s 8-measure intro from the tune Jackie-ing, from Thelonious Monk’s 5×5. I’m working on a long, challenging Joey Baron transcription and needed a little palate-cleanser, that’s all… What he plays doesn’t seem […]
VOQOTD: Hit it loud.
“Hit it! Don’t be afraid to hit it— loud, you dig? Hit it loud.” -Thelonious Monk <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/SkSbbiQeGpU” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Groove o’ the day: Ed Blackwell stick and brush
This is one of my favorite things ever, anywhere: Ed Blackwell’s opening groove on Charlie Haden’s tune Chairman Mao from the first self-titled Old And New Dreams record, on Black Saint (there’s another one on […]
Transcription: the Birthday break
For once there’s not much to say– here’s one of my favorite drum breaks in the world, played by Ringo Starr on Birthday, by the Beatles: Get the pdf YouTube audio after the break:
Scholar’s corner: Elvin Jones plays the ride cymbal
We’ll see how long this new feature lasts. I’ve been coming across a good number of scholarly works online, most of them not worth sharing– in fact, I have a draft of a long post […]
DBMITW: Can YouTube do this?
See, another reason I like my turntable is that I can just reach over and hit one button and it will replay side B of The New Miles Davis Quintet for the tenth time in […]