Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break. Now we are back to work, back to school and it's time to get focused, challenge ourselves, get inside the music and hit some drums.
And what better way to get inspired, motivated, organized and productive by joining my friend Quincy Davis' new Jazz Drumset Q/munity.
Quincy has done a great job creating a very cool on-line community that has the potential to be something really special. Come join the fun and....let's go!
Here's a few words from the man himself:
QUINCY DAVIS' JAZZ DRUMSET Q/MUNITY
COMMUNITY OVERVIEW
If you’re looking for a supportive community of drummers who share a passion for jazz, are dedicated to learning, growing, and improving, you’ve found your place! After 10 years of creating video lessons for so many drummers, this community gives me the opportunity to engage with you directly, get to know you better, and help you grow—and vice versa!
INCLUDED WITH MEMBERSHIP
Live Feedback and advice during Zoom calls Personalized Growth Plan and Recommendations Group lessons/Q&A/discussion group sessions Guest pro drummer masterclasses Free access to Recorded Group Lessons Exclusive Discounts: 50% off play-alongs and PDFs 20% off Quincy Davis signature drumsticks
BONUS CONTENT FOR NEW MEMBERS
Free Group Lesson: Advanced jazz drumming techniques Gig Tips: Behind-the-scenes insights from gigs and tours
COST$20/month (7-day free trial available) Price increases after 100 members
Once again, Four on the Floor correspondent Tim Mah offers his generous and extensive annual year-end curated list of music released by Canadian jazz artists over the course of the past year 2024.
As you will read and hear below, there continues to be lots of great music coming out of Canada these days. Thankfully, Tim has a taken a great deal of time and effort to give us a perspective on the current state of jazz music happening today across our country.
Tim's weekly radio program Jazz Today can be heard on CJSW Radio 90.9 fm (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) on Thursday mornings from 530-7am MST. It is also streamed on the CJSW website and available through Apple and Google podcasts and the CJSW mobile streaming app. Tim's weekly radio program and podcast is also recommended by New Music USA.
Thank you once again Tim!
Tim Mah's Recommended Canadian Jazz Albums of 2024:
This year, the Calgary-based jazz dance company Decidedly Jazz Danceworks is celebrating its 40th anniversary season. This company has had a profound impact on my appreciation of the art forms of jazz music and dance. To recognize this anniversary, I have put together a list (in alphabetical order) of forty of my favourite albums from Canadians, released between December 2023 to November 2024.
It’s not possible to be aware of all of the new releases, in any genre. I am sure that there are many great albums that I didn’t have the opportunity to listen to and are not mentioned on this list, and on any other list. We all have different preferences, biases, and interests.
As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and the ear and mind of the listener). I encourage readers of this blog to listen to music and experience live performances, as often as you are able. This list is influenced by my experiences of hearing artists perform shows in Calgary over the last few years.
To close, here is a quote from composer and band leader Maria Schneider, on episode 281 of the podcast “The Third Story with Leo Sidran” (November 2024): Jazz is about listening, being vulnerable, taking risks, not coming in with an agenda. Listening to what is happening around you and following it.
The forty 2024 albums I have selected, in alphabetical order, are as follows:
Andres Vial Percussion Ensemble - “Spirit Takes Form”
Andrew Downing - “Utopia Ontario”
Andy Milne & Unison - “Time Will Tell”
Anna Webber - “simpletrio2000”
Ben Wendel - “Understory – Live at the Village Vanguard”
Brenan Brothers - “Valley of Silence”
Bria Skonberg - “What It Means”
Bryn Roberts - “Aloft”
Caity Gyorgy - “Hello! How Are You?”
Carn Davidson 9 - “Reverence”
D. D. Jackson - “Poetry Project”
Dan Fortin - “Cannon”
Dan Pitt Quintet - “Horizontal Depths”
Dun-Dun Band - “Pita Parka, Part One”
Eric Chenaux Trio - “Delights of My Life”
Erin Rogers & Gelsey Bell - “Skylighght”
Francois Houle (with Kate Gentile & Alexander Hawkins) - “Fatrasies”
H ii Regions (Aaron Leaney, Nicolas Caloia, Jahsun) - “H ii Regions”
Jacob Chung - “The Sage”
Jessica Ackerley - “All of the colours are singing”
Jocelyn Gould - “Portrait of Right Now”
Joel Jeschke - “Time & Place”
John Kameel Farah & Nick Fraser - “Farahser”
Jon Gordon - “7th Ave South”
John Lee (with Peter Washington and Kenny Washington) - “Second Wind”
Kris Davis Trio - “Run the Gauntlet”
Laila Biali “Wintersongs”
Lina Allemano’s Ohrenschmaus - “Flip Side”
Montuno West - “Raices”
No Codes - “Usual Suspects”
Parade - “Lullabies After Storms and Floods”
Peggy Lee and Cole Schmidt - “Forever Stories: of Moving Parties”
Jessica Ackerley - “All of the Colours are Singing”
Official Video
Jocelyn Gould - “Portrait of Right Now”
A few years ago, Caity Gyorgy recommended that I listen to Jocelyn Gould’s album “Elegant Traveler.” Since then, I have heard Jocelyn perform in Calgary twice, in support of the albums “Golden Hour” and “Portrait of Right Now.”
Joel Jeschke - “Time & Place”
Koskela
John Kameel Farah and Nick Fraser - “Farahser”
Flatland
John Lee - “Second Wind”
It’s a Blue World
Jon Gordon - “7th Ave South”
Kris Davis Trio - “Run the Gauntlet”
Laila Biali - “Wintersongs”
Rocky Mountain Lullaby
Lina Allemano’s Ohrenschmaus - “Flip Side”
Heartstrings
Montuno West - “Raices”
Montes (recorded live during their album release show at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, AB)
No Codes - “Usual Suspects”
The Quest
Parade - “Lullabies After Storms and Floods”
Do You Know Where Your Friends Are Right Now? - Official Music Video
Peggy Lee and Cole Schmidt - “Forever Stories: of Moving Parties”
Blame
Raagaverse - “Jaya”
Saajan - Official Music Video
Ratchet Orchestra - “Ratchet Orchestra Alive”
Extraterrestrial
Sam Wilson - “Wintertides”
(Live at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival)
Sarah Jerrom - “Magpie”
The White Elk
Seamus Blake - “From Angels”
En la Orilla del Mundo (At the Edge of the World)
Steph Richards - “Power Vibe”
Teri Parker’s Free Spirits - “Peaks and Valleys”
Unconditional Love
Tommy Crane - “Dance Music For All Occasions”
Italian Weekend
If you are looking for more suggested listening, here are thirty more album suggestions, listed in alphabetical order:
Allison Au, Jodi Proznick & Mili Hong - “Dunbar Heights”
Anthony Fung - “New World”
BADBADNOTGOOD - “Mid Spiral”
Bea Labikova (with William Parker and Germaine Liu) - “no beginning, no end”
Brett Hansen - “Confluence”
Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra - “Harbour”
Curtis Nowosad & Andrew Renfroe - “Primordial”
Danae Olano Trio - “Children’s Corner”
Erika Angell - “The Obsession With Her Voice”
FYEAR - “FYEAR”
Gabriel Genest - “As It Is”
Gordon Grdina (with Christian Lillinger) - “Duo Work”
Jacques Kuba Seguin - “Parfum no. 2”
Jeremy Ledbetter Trio - “Gravity”
Julien Fillion - “ego”
Lex French - “In the World’s First Summer”
Luka Kuplowsky - “How Can I Possibly Sleep When There is Music”
Luke Sellick - “Discovery”
Kalya Ramu - “Trio”
Kari van der Kloot - “Window”
Michael Sarian - “Live at Cliff Bell’s”
Mike De Masi - “A Moment of Introspection”
Mike Downes - “The Way In”
Neil Swainson - “Here for a While”
Sahara von Hattenberger - “1Q84”
Sean Fyfe - “Stepping Stones”
Simon Denizart - “Piece of Mind”
Stephanie Urquhart Jazz Orchestra - “Fight or Flight”
Thanks to Jake Reed for sharing this wonderful interview with Peter Erskine. Many great lessons in life and music to be found here.
Just over a year ago I heard Erskine play and speak on numerous occasions at the Jazz Education Network's annual JEN Conference in New Orleans (unfortunately I'll be missing this year's conference in Atlanta...)
His early morning drumming with Charles Pillows' electric Miles Davis large ensemble project was brilliant as was his inspiring masterclass on how to support a band with musical taste, dynamics, groove and a relaxed feel.
I was also reminded of the time I interviewed Peter for my doctoral dissertation Melodic Jazz Drumming (UofT 2015) in which he offered a simple but yet one of the most compelling statements I've ever heard.
On making personal and in the moment musical choices as a drummer, improviser, composer, etc...Erskine commented that: "really it comes down to this question: what do you want to hear next?"
Good question!
As per usual, when the Masters speak...we listen.
This will be my last blog post of the year before frequent Four on the Floor contributor and CJSW Jazz Today radio host Tim Mah offers his yearly picks of significant Canadian jazz recordings of the year 2024. With an ear to what's going on across the country and in today's jazz landscape, Tim always takes the time to come up with a compelling list of great music to check out and listen to.
I'll then be taking a wee bit of a break in the New Year while I hit the shed and prepare for some big orchestra shows coming up early in January.
So in the meantime stay tuned, thanks again for your all support in 2024 and enjoy the holiday season!
A wonderful new jazz drumming book showed up in my inbox the other day. Argentinian jazz drummer Pedro Ahets has compiled an impressive collection of 65 drum transcriptions, featuring solos by iconic jazz drummers such as Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Billy Higgins, Louis Hayes, Max Roach and many, many more.
Pedro was nice enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his new book.
Pedro Ahets - Diggin' Into the Source
1. Tell us all about your new book! What is it all about and what are the goals of your text?
"Diggin' Into the Source" is a compilation of drum solos that I’ve transcribed over the course of the past eight years.
My objective in transcribing drum solos was to discover and understand how those phrases were constructed and how they relate to each other. Also, I wanted to analyze the common threads and differences between different drummers, highlighting the subtleties of each one’s style, and what makes each one unique. The solo selections were based on the drummers that inspire me.
2. What was the motivation and inspiration for putting this together?
I was motivated by my desire to understand the musical language within each solo, and to search out ways to incorporate it in my own playing. I’m also fascinated by the ways in which the masters of the instrument used rudiments to construct and combine their phrases in order to develop a powerful musical statement.
3. How do you recommend students and teachers approach working through this?
I recommend memorizing the solos, phrase by phrase. Feel the balance and the identity of each phrase, and then learn the next one.
It’s also important to disassemble each phrase, re-orchestrate it, stretch it, and shrink it. Try to find what you like, and if you find something good, keep it, repeat it and try to improvise with it.
4. What future book projects do you have in mind?
I think I'm going to do an exercise book based on the solos or maybe a compilation of comping transcriptions.
-----------------
Learn more about Pedro, his wonderful book and his music at his website www.pedroahets.com
You can also contact and order his book from him directly at pedroahets1@gmail.com
Thanks to frequent Four on the Floor contributor and CJSW Jazz Today radio program host Tim Mah for sharing this great interview with Herlin Riley.
I've borrowed the title of today's blog post Jazz Truth from pianist George Colligan's wonderful blog of the same name which, unfortunately, hasn't been updated in some time.
However, I used this as so because I think it's really important to acknowledge the wisdom that Masters such as Herlin Riley share with us.
Check out this insightful interview with Herlin Riley and Stanton Moore:
I'm also reminded of something I once heard Kenny Washington say: Watch, Listen and Learn
As always, when the Masters speak...we listen.
Incidentally, I also recently subscribed to Stanton Moore's on-line Drum Academy and look forward to digging into a wealth of material to practice in the year to come.
This is a blog about jazz, jazz drumming and all things unrelated. Thanks for stopping by!
A Bit About Me...
Jonathan McCaslin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. Jonathan began playing the drums at the age of nine. He progressed through the Regina Lions Junior Band and the music program at his high school, Campbell Collegiate, soon developing a passion for playing the drums and jazz. Ultimately, Jon's interest in music led him to enroll in the Jazz Studies program at McGill University, graduating with distinction in 1999.
While at McGill Jon had the opportunity to study with some of the finest jazz educators in the country including Gordon Foote, Kevin Dean, Jan Jarcyzk, Chris McCann, Andre White, Michel Lambert and Dave Laing. He also attended the prestigious summer jazz workshop presented by the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1997, where he performed with Canadian jazz greats Hugh Fraser, Don Thompson and Kenny Wheeler.
Jon has also been fortunate to have performed with many of Canada's jazz elite including Charlie Biddle, Brian Hurley, Louise Rose, Alaister Kay, Mart Kinny, Gary Guthman, Mike Rud, Hadley Caliman, Greg Clayton, Chase Sanborn, Andre White, Tilden Webb, John LaBelle, Kevin Dean, Dave Turner, Ralph Bowen, Don Thompson, Dionne Taylor, Jim Vivian, Kelly Jefferson, Ian McDougall, Brad Turner, Jim Brenan, The McGill Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Johnston, Lorraine Desmerais, Steve Amirault, Hugh Fraser, Chucho Valdes, Kieran Overs, The Altsys Jazz Orchestra, Pat LaBarbera, The Regina Symphony Orchestra and The Montreal Jazz Big Band.
In the spring of 2002 McCaslin completed his Master's in Jazz Studies at McGill University where he studied jazz drumming, improvisation and composition.
In January 2003 Jon released his debut CD, “McCallum’s Island”. Featuring his quintet, the CD contains an exciting collection of McCaslin’s original compositions, featuring himself and his band. The release of this CD was followed by a twenty-day tour of Western Canada, performing to enthusiastic, capacity audiences. During March of 2003 Jonathan was the recipient of a fellowship from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and attended the “Betty Carter Jazz Ahead” residency in Washington, D.C. Along with twenty other distinguished young jazz artists, McCaslin was featured with such jazz icons as Terence Blanchard, Carmen Lundy, Winard Harper, Curtis Fuller and John Clayton.
McCaslin’s quintet performed at the 2003 edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival and was nominated for the General Motors Grand Prix du Festival (awarded to the most outstanding Canadian group). From 2004 until 2006, Jon toured North America, Asia and Europe with the high-energy, critically acclaimed music production troupe “Barrage”. Featuring a cast of seven world-class fiddlers and a four-piece band, this dynamic show featured high-energy music and fiddle traditions from around the world set to upbeat choreography and movement.
In 2015, Dr. McCaslin received his Doctorate through the University of Toronto and completed his dissertation on the conceptualization of contemporary melodic jazz drumming. He is currently based in Calgary, Alberta where he maintains a busy performing and teaching schedule across Canada.
