The Monday Morning Paradiddle - February 2020

Somebody recently asked me: "Jon, what IS a Monday Morning Paradiddle anyways???"

Well, that's a very good question!

(Do other rudiments get their own day of the week too?)

I don't really have a good answer for you BUT I've really enjoyed following Rod Pedersen's NHL/CFL sports blog for a number of years now and he calls his weekly column to start off the week the Monday Morning Goalie and I kind of liked the sound of that and thought it was catchy. Anyways, nothing really all that earth shattering but it is what it is...

So here's what's making the rounds around Four on the Floor world headquarters these days:

- Two very important and equally amazing drummers recently passed away: ECM icon Jon Christensen and Boston's Bob Gullotti. Both drummers had very unique and creative styles and both influenced many other drummers.

Here's Nate Chinen's piece on Jon Christensen from WBGO and also a feature on Bob Gullotti.

I didn't really know Gullotti very well but we spoke over the phone extensively about ten years ago and he was a big help with my doctoral dissertation and research into the concept of melodic jazz drumming.

- Here's a couple of great pieces from DRUM! Magazine including Antonio Sanchez on his current cymbal set-up and an older 2017 feature on Jeff Tain Watts entitled "Soul of a Drummer, Mind of a Composer".

- Todd Bishop continues to offer great content over at his fine blog Cruiseship Drummer including a thought provoking article on snare drumming vs. drum set playing and dealing with bad time.

Todd also offers this excellent summary of a clinic he recently attended at Portland State University featuring none other than the great Billy Hart.

Oh yes, while you're at it...make sure to buy one of Todd's wonderful books while you are perusing his fine blog Cruiseship Drummer.

- Thanks to Jim Johnston who shared this wonderful photo essay entitled The Voyage of the Drum: from Africa to the Americas

- Ever wonder how Zildjian makes their cymbals? Dig this:




- Quincy Davis is back with another instalment of his Q-Tip series, this time addressing how to play practical and good sounding drum fills:




- Lewis Nash from a recent masterclass at the Hartt School of Music:




- Leon Parker in a solo feature with bassist Ugonna Okegwo's quartet from a recent hit at New York's Smoke:




- Jason Marsalis from his ongoing solo drum series:




- Colleen Clark and her band perform Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" (check this out!):




- Stanton Moore with the LSU Drumline featuring some groovy drum set/drumline combos:




- VSU's Hans Verhoeven offers some tips on developing a good groove using a metronome:




- Aubrey Dale with some Max Roach solo ideas:




- Those who have seen me play around town know of my occasional use of a Gretsch 16x12 inch bass drum (which used to be a 16x16 floor tom that I purchased from Montreal's Norman Marshall Villeneuve then promptly converted into a bass drum!) The hardworking and insightful folks over at Sounds Like a Drum bring us these tuning strategies for these small wonders:




- Brushmaster Clayton Cameron interviewed by Sean J. Kennedy in his podcast Backstage at the Enharmonic:




- Master drummer Jimmy Cobb interviewed by the Drum Channel (but where's Part Two???):




- What am I listening to these days?

Elvin Jones Trio "Live at the Village Vanguard" - Elvin Jones (drums)

Miles Davis "Miles in the Sky" - Tony Williams (drums)

Mark Anthony Turnage "Fractured Lines" - Peter Erskine (drums), Evelyn Glennie (percussion)

Gerry Gibbs Sextet featuring Ravi Coltrane "The Thrasher" - Gerry Gibbs (drums)

Joe Lovano "Quartets" - Lewis Nash (drums), Billy Hart (drums)


- And today's Final Word(s) go to two esteemed gentlemen including filmmaker David Lynch and renowned drum teacher Michael Carvin:

"Ideas are like fish.

If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.

Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They're huge and abstract. And they're very beautiful.

I look for a certain kind of fish that is important to me, one that can translate to cinema. But there are all kinds of fish swimming down there. There are fish for business, fish for sports. There are fish for everything.

Everything, anything that is a thing, comes up from the deepest level. Modern physics calls that level the Unified Field. The more your consciousness - your awareness - is expanded, the deeper you go toward this source, and the bigger the fish you can catch."

- from David Lynch's Catching the Big Fish


"Stop listening to what you're playing and pay close attention to what you are doing!"

- Michael Carvin (via George Coleman Jr.)


Okay that's all I've got today. See you next time!