“I think there’s a tendency to overplay with most young drummers. Rushing is common in trying to force things to swing by playing on top a little bit. If things weren’t swinging by forcing it […]
Category: Scott K. Fish
Very occasional quote of the day: too loud
Another choice item from a 1981 column in Modern Drummer, in which Scott K. Fish talks to a lot of great bass players, about drummers: “Faults I hear in drummers? Mainly that they play too […]
Very occasional quote of the day: futuristic
“A lot of drummers try to be futuristic and more modern, but they lose the groove and find themselves nebulous instead of in contact with what it really is. So all of the interesting things […]
Max on the bass drum
An exchange on the evolution of the bass drum in jazz, from Max Roach, circa 1981, from his Modern Drummer interview with Scott K. Fish. SF: Back in the ’50s and ’60s jazz drummers were […]
Max wants you to turn off YouTube
“We used to listen to records and take off the record what the person was doing. You didn’t see the person. You’d just hear it. We’d figure out what was happening with our ears. Then […]
Happy holidays
Merrry Christmas and whatnot everyone, here’s a playlist with all 5 1/2 hours of Scott K. Fish’s 1984 interview with one of my favorite drummers, Frankie Dunlop. Put this on while your turkey cooks, or […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Motian on time
“I believe that ‘time’ is always there. I don’t mean a particular pulse, but the time itself. It’s all there somehow like a huge sign that’s up there and it says time. It’s there and […]
FRANKIE DUNLOP SPEAKS
This is incredible: AUDIO from Scott K. Fish’s interview with Frankie Dunlop. A long, hilarious story— and ultimately hair-raising, when you get to the part with Tony Williams et al in the audience— about Monk […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Max Roach – how you build a solo
Max Roach by Jean-Michel Basquiat “What makes a piece an art piece is design. Design. If you play any instrument, if you don’t create design…. If the artist doesn’t know how to utilize space and […]
Very occasional quote of the day: the drummer’s job
“Your job is to make everyone in that band feel like playing. It’s a very idealistic way of looking at it, but you have got to. Because that’s your outlet.” — Ed Soph, interview with […]
Daily best music in the world: Roy Haynes Hip Ensemble
This is a nearly forgotten early fusion project by Roy Haynes: Roy Haynes Hip Ensemble. I read about the group in the Jack Dejohnette/Charlie Perry book, and was lucky enough to find a banged up […]
New book, and Dunlop and Krupa
While I’m feverishly working on a new rock-and-funk book for the masses (or maybe a rock volume and a funk volume, if the thing grows out of control), visit Scott K. Fish’s blog, where there […]