The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Hello everyone and welcome back. It was a super busy weekend for me, having just finished up a very brief but action packed tour with my quartet featuring Jason Marsalis on the vibraphone. We played music that was all penned by the late Herbie Nichols and had a great time playing for some enthusiastic crowds in both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. It was a lot of fun and we got our collective butts kicked by Herbie's quirky and challenging music. I hope to see this project continue again in the future.

Anyways, as always, here's a round of things to check out from around the interweb:


- Why is the Clave rhythm so awesome? Well, this is why:
http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2013/why-is-son-clave-so-awesome/


- Irish bassist and blogger Ronan Guilfoyle offers this fine tribute to the late Keith Copeland who passed away in February: http://ronanguil.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-extraordinary-mr-copeland.html


- New York percussionist Bobby Sanabria penned this fine essay on the history of Salsa music and Latin Jazz in New York City: http://www.drummagazine.com/hand-drum/post/explosion-de-clave-afro-cuban-sounds/


- Ethan Iverson over at his blog Do The Math gives us this GREAT interview with the little known drummer Steve Lyttle (whose playing credits include playing with Duke Ellington and the Sesame Street band): http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-steve-little.html

Also via Ethan we get "Traps, The Drum Wonder" by Mark Stryker, an interesting piece on Buddy Rich: http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/traps-the-drum-wonder-by-mark-stryker.html


- Here's Chick Corea with some ideas on how to improve your time: http://chickcoreamusicworkshops.com/blog/video-rhythm-time-secret/?inf_contact_key=9e31b5338eb48a9ba436b0df06344a5a82a34be9bcb095438c7333b0f38c7537


- From over at Jazz Profiles, here's a series of pieces on Joe Morello to check out:

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2015/02/joe-morello-in-big-band-setting.html

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2015/02/joe-morello-interview-with-les-tomkins.html

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2015/02/joe-morello-drum-talk-down-beat-march.html

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2015/02/a.html


- The University of Manitoba's Quincy Davis continues to impress with his series of very informative, weekly Jazz drumming tips:





As long as he keeps making these, I'll keep posting them!


- While unfortunately his efforts were not recognized by the Academy Awards, Antonio Sanchez still came up with a very brilliant improvised drum soundtrack to the movie"Birdman" (I've already seen it twice! And no, I haven't seen "Whiplash" yet....thanks for asking!)

Here's Sanchez in the BBC studios taking about and demonstrating his approach to playing drums for this film:






- Here's a nice one of Toronto's Robi Botos with bassist Mike Downes and Ali Jackson Jr. on drums:




- Playing with Jason Marsalis recently was a real eyeopener and learning experience for me. He's an incredibly dedicated drummer, vibraphonist and can talk enthusiastically at length about any topic related to Jazz and Jazz history (and we did!) And as you can see below, he's also a very creative and patient individual as well:




- And finally, here's a clip of New York/Cuban Jazz drummer Francisco Mela in action...




- What am I listening to these days?

Terry Gibbs Dream Band "Main Stem, Vol.4" - Mel Lewis (drums), Terry Gibbs (vibes)

Herbie Nichols "Love, Gloom, Cash, Love" - Dannie Richmond (drums)

Matt Wilson Quartet  "Humidity" - Matt Wilson (drums)

Jason Marsalis "In a World of Mallets" - David Potter (drums), Jason Marsalis (vibes)

Barry Elmes Quintet "Red Shift" - Barry Elmes (drums)

- Today's Last Word goes undoubtedly goes to this gentlemen:



Any questions?

Well, thanks again for checking in on my blog. Have a great week everybody!