A short one today but this is a highly significant example from Jazz great Billy Drummond, demonstrating how to play a ballad with the brushes, using the melody of the standard "Laura" as a musical vehicle:
Drummond's brush strokes are beautiful and he creates a nice big, full and flowing sound...but his method of using the melody while playing is a nice reminder that "if you can sing it...you can play it!"
Welcome back and thanks for checking in for what is the very first Monday Morning Paradiddle column of 2019. Incidentally, this coming spring will represent the 10th anniversary of Four on the Floor. Holy smokes! We're still here! Anyways, as per usual, here's an assortment of interesting things to check out:
- Several great articles on the late, great Alvin Fielder (1935-2019) including:
- Ted Panken interviews Jeff Tain Watts with a "Before & After" listening session and another one from JazzTimes magazine
- Ralph Peterson Jr. interviewed by Neon Jazz:
- Pablo Held "investigates" Peter Erskine:
- A short, but quick AND spirited drum solo from Johnathan Blake:
- The Late Show's Joe Saylor with pianist Emmet Cohen:
- Lewis Nash reminds us all how to play a ballad (pay attention now everyone!):
- A very special thank you to Ted Warren, via his fine blog Trap'd, for finding this awesome, recent BBC documentary on the history of the drums, hosted by Stewart Copeland:
- And check out these cool George Way drums (and great drumming!) as played by Vancouver's Jesse Cahill:
Kirk MacDonald "The Atlantic Sessions" - Jerry Fuller (drums)
The Herbie Nichols Project "Strange City" - Matt Wilson (drums)
Kurt Rosenwinkel "Reflections" - Eric Harland (drums)
Dexter Gordon "Doin' Alright" - Al Harewood (drums)
- And today's Final Word goes to Anthony Tidd (via vibraphonist Joel Ross) over at the Facebook:
"Seven Steps to Solving Most Musicianship Issues"
If you are not good at something and, if you wish to improve, you should:
1) Identify said thing.
2) Admit that you are not good at said thing, and dispense with all ego.
3) Find somebody that is great at said thing.
4) If you can take lessons from this person or spend time around this person, do. If not, make a serious study of this person and the thing that you want to learn, using whatever means are at your disposal.
A simple conceptual exercise today, inspired by a lesson I took with Carl Allen many years ago and from Todd Bishop's recent blog post on playing music with "odd" forms. Check out his insightful commentary here.
Basically the above idea is an exercise that involves keeping the form while alternating between playing measures of Time and then improvising on the drums for a pre-determined number of bars. It's also an exercise in becoming comfortable with "odd" phrase lengths as well as shorter ones.
So here's the basic routine:
1) Choose a Time Signature (ie. 4/4, 3/4, 5/4, 12/8, etc.)
2) Pick a Style (Swing, Afro-Cuban, ECM, etc.)
3) Choose a Tempo (slower is always better!)
4) Play Time for the first section, then solo/improvise over the second half. Repeat. Then go on to the next one
5) The idea is that you are free to play whatever you want in each section BUT the form (ie. the number of measures in each section) and tempo must be clear and respected at all times
A few other variations:
- Trying changing the time signature every time you reach a new section
- Stick with one phrase length for the timekeeping sections but cycle through the lengths of the solo sections (ie. 8-8, 8-7, 8-6, 8-5, etc.)
- Mix up the order in which you play each section
- It is advisable to plan these routines out in advance and maybe even write them down such as I did for reference (ie. a road map!)
- Once you are comfortable with each phrase length and the transitions between them, challenge yourself to play over-the-barline phrases within each section.
- Be creative and have fun. Challenge yourself
Anyways, it's not rocket science but I find little games like this really help me break out of my usual vocabulary. Personally I find it can be a bit cold to play like this without any melodic reference or framework but it IS a good exercise in sharpening one's concentration skills and overall attention to phrasing (a tune like Victor Feldman's "Joshua", made famous by Miles Davis and his quintet, comes to mind...)
I also suggest recording yourself while practicing this, listening back afterwards for the clarity and definition of each section. Imagine that you are the saxophone player in the band, listening patiently to the drum solo and anxiously wondering when you need to come back in with the melody!
This one was making the rounds of social media yesterday and I just had to share it. Here is a lesson in sustained musical accompaniment on the drums courtesy of Jack DeJohnette, backing up an all-star saxophone section featuring Michael Brecker, David Liebman, George Garzone and Joshua Redman, anchored by Geoff Keezer on piano and Christian McBride on bass (with a guest appearance by Dave Holland!) on the John Coltrane anthem "Impressions":
Amazingly Jack not only manages to keep a sustained energy and interest going through all those successive tenor solos, never once backing off, but then he takes an epic drum solo himself to cap everything off!
I've been messing around with some interesting cross-rhythm excercises and the idea of poly-rhythmic "layering" lately (more on this later...) and this prompted me to revisit this excellent tutorial from percussionist and rhythm guru Pete Lockett. Take some time to check this one out as there is a lot of great and practical information to be found here:
I'm hitting the road shortly so I will be taking a break from blogging for awhile. However, in the meantime, be sure to check out these latest two instalments from Chris Smith over at The Drum Hang: an episode on Billy Higgins' solo vocabulary AND an excellent tutorial on the how's and why's of feathering the bass drum (perhaps one of the most misunderstood and underrated tools of Jazz timekeeping). These two segments are quite long each of themselves so plenty to dig into while I'm gone. Hope you learn something from these excellent videos. I sure have!
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.
