The Monday Morning Paradiddle

It's hard to believe that three years and over a quarter-million hits later (!) that this blog is still going strong. Thank you all for your continued support.

(just a quick favor to ask of you: if you notice any links or youtube.com clips that are inactive in any of my posts, please let me know!)

Well it's Monday and, as per usual, here's an assortment of random things on the go here at Four on the Floor:

- Thanks to everyone who came out to my CD release in Edmonton, AB at the Yardbird Suite last Saturday. There were lots of drummer's in the crowd that night! (good ones too!!! No pressure there haha...)

Special thanks and a quick shout-out to:

Jim Head
Jim Brenan
Tom Van Seters
Stefano Valdo
Jasiek Poznanski
Adrian Albert
Nicolas Arnaez
Curtis Jacobs
Roger Levesque
Jonathan Eng
Efa Etoroma Jr.
Shaquille Headley

- Congrats to Calgary bassist Kodi Hutchinson who recently took over as the on-air host of the radio program "A Time for Jazz" on Alberta's CKUA radio station. Tune in to Hutchinson's program every Saturday from 12:00-3:00pm and rebroadcast on Sundays from 12:00-3:00am at 93.7 fm. www.ckua.com

- Speaking of radio, WBGO has a several great interviews and conversations with some great drummers archived on their website these days:

Here's Charlie Persip:

http://www.wbgo.org/blog/drummer-charli-persip-with-wbgos-michael-bourne

And here's Matt Wilson:

http://www.wbgo.org/blog/attitude-for-gratitude-matt-wilson-with-wbgos-michael-bourne

There is serious wisdom and inspiration to be heard from those two...

- Sundays are always an interesting day for me (and, in particular, Sunday evenings...there is something about that time of day and bringing a close to the week while preparing for the week ahead. I think I'm even going to compose a tune that affect haha!)

Here's a recent article on how Dafnis Prieto spends his Sunday's from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/nyregion/for-dafnis-prieto-sunday-is-a-time-for-meditation-and-his-sticks.html?_r=2&smid=tw-nytimesmusic&seid=auto

- What can I say? Bobby Hutcherson is my all-time hero on the vibraphone....Here he is unleashing on John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice":




- Here are a couple nice clips of my friend Johnathan Blake who's playing really great these days, as always.

From a recent performance in Toronto, here's Blake in a duet with Tom Harrell on "Blue n'Boogie":



And here he is in a solo spot playing with Kenny Barron's trio:



Dig Johnathan's very unique cymbal set-up (or should that be "set-down"?)

-I also admire Peter Erskine's beautiful touch and compositional flow on the drums, no matter what the context. Here's a nice feature for Erskine that demonstrates that:




- Billy Martin recently toured as part of a collection of instrumental solo performance artists entitled The Alone Together Tour. Here he is on his piece "Treehouse":




- What am I listening to these days?

Elvin Jones - "On The Mountain" - Elvin Jones (drums)

Herlin Riley - "Cream of the Crescent" - Herlin Riley (drums)

The Moving Instant - "The Moving Instant" - Gavin Sorochan (drums)

Oscar Peterson - "The Way I Really Play" - Bobby Durham (drums)

Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts - "An Attitude for Gratitude" - Matt Wilson (drums)

Owen Howard - "Drum Lore" - Owen Howard (drums)

Louie Bellson - "East Side Suite" - Louis Bellson (drums)

Terry Gibbs - "Take It From Me" - Louis Hayes (drums), Terry Gibbs (vibraphone)


- My hometown CD release for my new album Sunalta (cellar live) is coming up very soon!


The Jon McCaslin Quintet - Sunalta CD Release

Appearing at:

The Beatniq Jazz & Social Club www.beatniq.com

811 - 1st Street SW 

Calgary, AB

Friday, May 18

Saturday, May 19

9:00pm

Featuring:

Jon McCaslin – Drums 

Brad Turner - Trumpet (Vancouver)

Jim Brenan - Tenor Saxophone

Tom Van Seters - Piano (Edmonton)

Rubim de Toledo – Bass

Canadian jazz drummer Jon McCaslin is proud to present his latest release Sunalta on the Cellar Live record label, a collection of 12 original contemporary jazz compositions that feature an all-star quintet comprised of Brad Turner (trumpet), Phil Dwyer (tenor saxophone), Tilden Webb (piano) and Jodi Proznick (bass) with additional special guests on two septet numbers. This recording is a highly anticipated sequel to McCaslin’s 2003 debut release McCallum’s Island and features his hard swinging cymbal beat, tight ensemble work and musical drum solos in the context of a diverse selection of melodic and dynamic original compositions. With all the tunes on this album penned by one of Canada’s emerging jazz drummers, these pieces are inspired by the people, places and journeys that have shaped his life over the past ten years.

CD available at: www.cellarlive.com