A compilation today of interviews and close-up footage featuring one of Jazz drumming's modern-day Masters and innovators, the inimitable Bill Stewart.
- Leo Sidran (son of another great Jazz interviewer, Ben Sidran) interviews Bill Stewart via his exceptional podcast, The Third Story:
We are wrapping up a long weekend up here in Canada, so kick back, relax and enjoy these two clips of Joey Baron and Robyn Schulkowsky, engaged in a true "percussion discussion":
This is the first post of what will hopefully be a series of guest blog posts brought to us by my friend and very fine Irish jazz drummer/educator, Conor Guilfoyle. Conor has been sharing wonderful lessons and excellent practical drumming information via YouTube and his website for some time now and I'm thrilled that he will be able to share his great explanations here as well:
"Applying Rumba to the Drumset" - Conor Guilfoyle
Cuban Rumba with its heavy African influences has a vast and rich tradition. It was developed in the cities of urban Cuba at the end of the 19th Century, where it still thrives today, before moving to the USA and then the rest of the world. While there have been some changes in instrumentation and phrasing, its ability to develop while still keeping the original structures in place has kept it relevant today.
In my lesson I'm looking at just one form of the Rumba, the mid-tempo style called "Guaguanco", and to be honest it's just a toe in the water of this vast musical ocean. I also purposely avoid using any percussion extras such as the claves or cowbells but rather use the standard drum kit to recreate the sounds. A rumba ensemble consists of three conga players, a stick percussionist, and singers as well as dancers. We cannot possibly hope to recreate that sound, so instead I focus on the interaction between the clave and the standard conga pattern. If you wanted to take it a step further you replace the clave pattern with the "Cascara", which is a common stick pattern used in many styles of Cuban music including Rumba.
You'll find this pattern and other common Cuban rhythms that I have applied to the standard kit at this link here:
The key of course is to listen to the music. Below is a list of some of the great exponents of this style. Just put their names into YouTube and it will yield a treasure throve of great music. Be careful though, you might never come back!
Conor
Recommended Listening:
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas
Los Papines
Pancho Quinto
Tata Guines
Mongo Santamaria
Potato Valdes
Totico
Joaquin Pozo
Today's blog post features a nice side profile view of the great Joe LaBarbera in action, featuring baritone saxophone Master Gary Smulyan with the ever swinging John Clayton on bass:
This next one is brief and obviously a commercial for Gretsch Drum's current stock of snare drums BUT it's also a great excuse to check out Joe's exceptionally fluid and loose snare drum technique:
Thanks to Calgary's Andre Wickenheiser who passed along this interview with the great Dennis Mackrel, from trombonist Michael Davis' on-going series web series Bone2Pick:
Thanks to the kind people over at the Memphis Drum Shop and Zildjian Cymbals, here's Adam Nussbaum with a few short but very important drums lessons to take note of:
If you dig further on their YouTube channel you'll also find many, many clips of Adam demonstrating an assortment of Zildjian's latest cymbal offerings and they all sound great!
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.
