Manne: What I resent is the drummer who falls into the trap of becoming obsessed with the technical aspects of the drums —you know, playing all these figures that come from rudiments. It becomes a […]
Category: playing
Very occasional quote of the day: rehearsal with Charlie Parker
“I’d say, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do?’ He’d say. ‘Oh, you know what to do.’” – Max Roach, Down Beat Magazine, November, 1978, interview with Bret Primack
Warming up with Betty Davis…
As you can see, WordPress now has an AI slop generator as part of their suite of tools. Something else, isn’t it. If you hate it as much as I do, fill out this form […]
Very occasional quote of the day: inferiority complex
“I wasn’t altogether emotionally ready for the gig. I was only 18, and going through what a lot of young musicians go through, because I teach now and I can see it. It’s a paranoid […]
Very occasional quote of the day: play
“What you should do is to play every chance you get. If you are not on a steady job (six nights a week), then rehearse with units as often as possible. But, by all means, […]
I get in fights
Smart person, or contrarian? Or flat out giant pain in the ass? What is the difference between a contrarian and FOGPITA, anyway? I don’t know. I find myself disagreeing with a lot of things said […]
Very occasional quote of the day: tooth and nail
“You’ve got to let the limbs fly-let ’em go just like rubber. Young drummers don’t get into the meat of the drums enough. They seem to be afraid of them. Especially the bass drum—they’re afraid […]
Very occasional quote of the day: don’t talk about the gig
No matter what, you never talked about the music on the bandstand or the gig for that matter. It can ruin a gig. You’re crazy when you’re on the bandstand, vulnerable, without defenses. Tempers can […]
Serving the music
It’s a strange phrase, that people are fond of repeating: serving the music. Me, I like to serve the music, I’m different that way. It sounds good, very pious. And unnecessary. Most people are already […]
Very occasional quote of the day: mistake
“Make a mistake and make it loud.” – Art Blakey, 1978 Modern Drummer interview with Howard Howland
Impure
I am interested in helping you keep your practice from becoming impure.– Shunruyu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind At the same time, they praised him when he didn’t deserve it. “I’d have games when I’d […]
Conductor of form
The general topic here is jazz comping— some general concepts thereof, getting into what I think is missing from a lot of students’ playing, even as they do the basic thing pretty well. The following […]