Another in this endless series of tweaks to a basic RH lead system, commonly associated with the book Progressive Steps to Syncopation, by Ted Reed. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Let’s be clear, I am […]
Just throwing it out there…
A quick observation, during this period of light posting: A pattern I’ve noticed when I see people selling off their boutique cymbals: they rarely include any Cymbal & Gong. Every other hip brand of boutique […]
Tresillo unit – 02
Here’s an addendum to a set of stuff I posted back in January— the “tresillo unit.” That was basically a set of variations on a New Breed system. This is a loosely organized collection of […]
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. […]
Very occasional quote of the day: form
“It is easy to forget that the man who writes a good love sonnet needs not only to be enamored of a woman, but also to be enamored of the Sonnet.” -C. S. Lewis
Reed tweak: BRL linear fill
Fun little item here, modifying the straight 8th right hand lead system commonly applied to the book Syncopation. Where there are two or more 8ths of left hand filler, we’ll play 16ths, starting with a […]
Genre rant
A small complaint on genre in music, that has been hanging around my drafts folder a long time. Whenever I’m slow to write any new stuff, and am desperate for content, I dump one of […]
Straight 8ths in funk Afro 12/8
Something I’m working out, that needed to be written out to do it: straight 8ths on the bass drum within a funk-style Afro 12/8 groove. I work a lot with this whole area of groove. […]
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 […]
Beats to fills
Here’s a connecter idea, using some rock beats written normally, a la Funky Primer, but playing them as cymbal accents with fills, as in this rock fill drill— hitting accents on the cymbal/bass drum, and […]