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] […]
Mozambique inversions
Library item that occurred to me while writing that last post. That Mozambique bell rhythm seems significant beyond just using it to play a Latin beat, hence this page, running it through its inversions. Half […]
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, […]
Very occasional quote of the day: no such thing as better
“We have only to fight as well as the men who stayed and fought at Shiloh. It is not necessary that we should fight better. There can be no such thing as better.” – Ernest […]
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 […]
Stewart Copeland interview
New interview with Rick Beato talking to Stewart Copeland, that is quite entertaining— he’s an entertaining guy talking about things he knows about, like his own career. Here he mostly talks about how making all […]
15th anniversary at Revival Drum Shop
I had a nice time hanging out at Portland’s Revival Drum Shop last night— an excellent, unique drum shop featuring mostly vintage gear, with a lot of interesting new percussion instruments, and new and vintage […]
Ruffs, drags, and general correctness in snare drumming
The correct way to play ruffs (or drags if you prefer) on the snare drum is an extremely attractive topic for repeated, endless debate. Evidently. I’ve seen it again and again, people going nuts for the topic. 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 […]
CYMBALISTIC: Oh, what the heck…
UPDATE: Bumping this to the top of the blog. CYMBALISTIC: Oh, what the heck, business has been a little slow lately, so let’s goose this thing a little bit, and do a special on cymbals. […]
Max Roach / Stan Levey duo transcription: Milano Blues
Here’s a composed drum duo played by Max Roach and Stan Levey, on their album Drummin’ The Blues. They trade off on some parts, and play in unison on others. I believe the whole thing […]