Joe LaBarbera recently visited the Avedis Zildjian Cymbal factory while sporting his brand new, limited edition 10th anniversary Four on the Floor t-shirt (and a pair of some nice new hi-hats!)
You can own one too! (I mean the t-shirt...you'll have to contact your local drum shop about the hi-hats...and only while supplies last!)
Drop me a line at fouronthefloorblog@gmail.com and I'll set you up asap (for ordering details please see my previous posts).
Some burning playing from Karriem Riggins on drums along with Mulgrew Miller on piano, Warren Wolf on vibraphone and Joe "Infinity" Sanders on bass, playing Gene Perla's "Tergiversation". What a great way to start the week!
These two clips are all too brief but totally awesome and worth it! Check out this blazing footage of Joe Lovano getting a double dose of some heavy drums with Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart (recorded at the Knitting Factory in New York City, circa. 2000):
It's nearly Jazz festival season here in Canada and things kick off this week in my hometown of Calgary, AB with the annual JazzYYC Summer Jazz Festival running June 12-16 in various venues across the city. There is lots of great music happening this week and, in particular, many great drummers to check out.
So on that note, here's my very biased and drummer-centric picks of several not-to-be-missed shows to attend and the great drummers that will be performing this week (and in no particular order...)
- Toronto's Larnell Lewis has been making waves around the world with his deep pocket, grooves and chops to spare with artists such as pianist Laila Biali and the band Snarky Puppy. Last November's performance with bassist Mike Downes at Calgary's BuckingJam Palace was a real demonstration of sensitive dynamics and musical inventiveness from behind the drum kit. This guy can roar...but he can also whisper too.
This time Larnell is bringing his own sextet and original music to Calgary on the heel's of his recent Juno nomination to play at the Ironwood Stage & Grill on Saturday, June 15th starting at 7pm.
Larnell will also be offering a FREE drum workshop on Saturday afternoon starting at 2pm, appearing at the National Music Centre.
- Pianist Benny Green's trio featuring bassist David Wong and drummer Aaron Kimmel will undoubtedly be, for me anyways, the highlight of this year's Jazz festival.
Following in the footsteps of the many other great drummers that Green has played with (see Kenny Washington, Carl Allen, Lewis Nash, Jeff Hamilton, etc.) Kimmel's drumming and hard swinging style is no exception and will not disappoint.
Check out the discipline and control that Kimmel maintains at this breakneck tempo:
I know where I'll be on Friday evening starting at 8pm! (appearing at the Studio Bell)
Benny Green will also be offering a FREE workshop on Friday at noon (also at NMC) and I am quite looking forward to this as well.
As per always: when the Masters speak, we listen!
- Toronto's Stich Wynston has been grooving behind the Shuffle Demons for as long as I can remember and it's always a treat to hear him lay it down from behind the drums in his unique way:
Hear Stich and the Shuffle Demons at the Ironwood on Wednesday evening starting at 7pm.
- Montreal's Mark Nelson is a drummer I've long admired since I first met him at the Banff Centre ten years ago. Nelson is appearing with Elizabeth Shepard at the King Eddy on Saturday evening (930pm) along with a great band featuring Michael Occhipinti on guitar, Jacques Kuba-Seguin on trumpet and Calgary's own Jon Wielebnowski on bass.
Here's a brief clip of Nelson demonstrating some inventive rhythms on some nice Gretsch drums:
- Drummer Dan Brubeck, son of the late Dave Brubeck, will be appearing with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet at Studio Bell on Saturday evening (8pm).
- Cody Iwasiuk will be laying down some dirty grooves and greasy backbeats with the Dirty Catfish Brass Band out of Winnipeg on Thursday evening at the Ironwood (7pm)
- When I lived in Toronto I would often check out Glenn Anderson playing drums with a variety of trad Jazz groups including the likes of the Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band at the Rex on Sunday afternoons. Anderson will be bringing his swinging beat to Calgary, backing up vocalist Alex Pangman on Friday evening at the Ironwood (7pm).
- I first met drummer Mackenzie Longpre at the University of Toronto while I was pursuing my Doctoral studies in Toronto circa. 2007-2009. Mack sounded really great back then and he now he's even better! Longpre will be performing with trumpeter/vocalist Tara Kannangara at the Ironwood on Sunday evening (7pm)
- Calgary tap dancer Kelly Steele has been making a name for herself around town over the past couple of years, faithfully attending jam sessions and gigs, initiating local audiences to the possibilities of Jazz & Tap. Check out Kelly's tap Jazz quartet at the King Eddy on Saturday evening featuring local young lion Harry Faunt on the drums (6pm).
- Once you've seen whatever concert you've chosen, make sure to head down to the Ironwood Bar & Grill Thursday through Saturday evenings (10pm) to hear pianist Dave Restivo and his trio host the late-night festival jam session. Local phenom Colin Adhikary will be holding down the drum chair and I'm sure there will be exciting things to come out of these sessions.
- While not officially part of the festival, but definitely most worthy of any serious Calgary Jazz fan's attention, is the Redline Trio featuring Jeff Sulima on drums at Betty Lou's in the basement of Devinish Building, just off of 17th Avenue and 8th Street SW.
Along with veteran saxman Mark DeJong, these guys have been holding court at this hip cocktail bar every week for well over a year now and it's a great place to relax, enjoy a nice beverage and dig some great music in a hip room. Check them out every Thursday evening starting at 7pm.
- Speaking of regular gigs, the very tasteful Nate Chiang on drums also leads a trio at the Deane House (809 9th Avenue SE) every Sunday night featuring the always well dressed Nate Waters on tenor saxophone. The band starts at 6pm, swings hard and the restaurant menu is awesome.
- And last, but certainly not least, here's a couple of notable gigs of my own coming up this week:
I'll be appearing with guitarist Joel Untinen at the Gravity Espresso & Wine Bar as part of the JazzYYC Jazz Walk on Sunday afternoon from 2-4pm (FREE admission!) Joel is home for the summer following his first year of graduate studies at New York University, studying with guitarist Peter Bernstein so this should be a fun one indeed.
And last, but certainly not least, I am also very excited to present my own "Tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers" on Thursday, June 13th at the King Eddy (930pm). I am very proud of the band and music I've assembled for this performance and hope that you can join us for this special evening of music.
For more festival and ticket information, visit the JazzYYC website at www.jazzyyc.com and remember, tell them that Four on the Floor sent you!
I have a cool gig coming up in a few weeks and I hope you can all make it.
Art Blakey has been a significant influence on me since I first started playing the drums and on this occasion I've put together a great band to pay tribute to one of Jazz music's most important band leaders and hardest swinging drummers (Blakey was born in 1919 and would have been 100 years old this year!) I've spent hours and hours listening to and studying Art Blakey's music of the years and his example as a hard swinging drummer that truly serves the music has long left an impression on me.
It's rare that I'm asked to put together a tribute project such as this (although recently I did present a trio project with pianist George Colligan and bassist Jodi Proznick to play the music of pianist Herbie Nichols last February at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, AB) but when I do it's because it is music that I believe in and has had a profound influence on me.
I never met Art Blakey or had the opportunity to hear him play live so I suppose musical opportunities such as this are my small way of saying "Thank You".
Presented by JazzYYC, we'll be playing at the newly restored King Eddy Hotel, now part of the National Music Centre, located in the East Village (Calgary, AB). I also have a great group of world-class musicians to play with and look forward to an evening of high-energy, hard-swinging music for you all to enjoy.
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JazzYYC Summer Jazz Festival Presents:
Jon McCaslin's Tribute to Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
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.
