Monday, May 11, 2020

THE BRUSHES

I love to play the brushes.

I also love watching other people play the brushes and listening to them share their own unique approach to playing this beautiful instrument. Fortunately for us, there are many great brush players in the world today that we can learn from, if we choose to pay attention.

In today's lengthy blog post (like hey I've certainly got the time these days!) I'd like to offer a few of my favourite resources for brush playing on the world wide web. This is not intended to be an absolute, complete list (and I apologize if I didn't include any worthy constituents...) Instead, this is just a humble offering of things I've seen and heard that have inspired me to keep sweeping...

- Ed Thigpen's drumming with the Oscar Peterson Trio was my first introduction to brush playing. His book The Essence of Brushes was an important source of information for me when I was a teenager.



I actually met Ed Thigpen once, briefly an IAJE Conference in Anaheim, California in 1995. He was nice enough to walk me through a basic brush pattern while manning the Remo booth in the convention area. He was a real gentleman.

- Andrew Dickeson offers this collection of uptempo brush playing examples to study and play-a-long with, conveniently compiled in this extensive Spotify playlist (thank you Andrew!)

- Apparently Philly Joe Jones recorded 18 brush solos over the course of his career (?) and this YouTube user compiled them all into one extended video:



Now, I am a bit sceptical that this represents ALL of Philly's recorded brush soloing legacy but I could be wrong. I will defer to the experts on this one *paging Kenny Washington!* Please let me know if you come across any others.

Anyways, regardless if it's complete or not, it's still a really good collection to check out, transcribe and study. Here is his accompanying playlist to consider (now get to work!)

Philly Joe Jones Brush Solos: 1955 - 1968

1- Awful Mean : Paul Chambers “Go” , 1959
2- Blueinet : Evans Bradshaw “Look Out for Evans Bradshaw!”, 1958 
3- Hello Bright Sunflower: Donald Byrd “The Cat Walk”, 1961 
4- Here’s That Rainy Day: Philly Joe Jones “Mo’Joe”, 1968 intro + solo 
5- I’m Confessin’ : John Graas “Westlake Bounce”, 1957 intro + trades 
6- Joe’s Delight: Philly Joe Jones “Showcase”, 1959 
7- John’s Abbey: Bud Powell “Time Waits”, 1958 
8- The Loop: Dick Johnson ”Most Likely…” 1957 
9- Monopoly: Bud Powell “Time Waits”, 1958 
10- Neat Foot: John Graas “Westlake Bounce”, 1957 
11- On Green Dolphin Street: Bill Evans “On Green Dolphin Street” 1959 
12- Paul’s Pal: Sonny Rollins “Tenor Madness”, 1956 
13- Sneakin’ Around: Betty Carter & Ray Bryant “Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”, 1955 
14- Soft Winds: Chet Baker “Chet Baker in New York”, 1958 
15- Sub City: Bud Powell “Time Waits”, 1958 
16- Tadd’s Delight (alternate take): Sonny Clark “Sonny Clark Trio”, 1957 
17- Threesome: Betty Carter & Ray Bryant “Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”, 1955 
18- What Is This Thing Called Love: Betty Carter & Ray Bryant “Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”, 1955

- Adam Nussbaum is one of the world's great brush players (and a really nice guy!) The nice people over at the Avedis Zildjian Company recently offered this short but insightful brush lesson featuring Adam on their Instagram page (you might have to log in to view this properly...):


Adam was also recently interviewed by Hudson Music's Rob Wallis, offering some brush tips and they also revisit the DVD The Art of Playing with Brushes. This DVD is an incredible resource that features the likes of Nussbaum and Steve Smith along with Billy Hart, Ben Riley, Eddie Locke, Charli Persip and Joe Morello. This should be considered a must have resource for anyone who is serious about playing the brushes.



Here's an example from the DVD, in which Adam demonstrates some basic strokes:



- JazzHeaven.com has been very busy lately, offering regular on-line masterclasses with a diverse compliment of contemporary jazz artists. There is always great information and things to learn here! Ralph Peterson Jr.'s  Jazz Drumming Demystified, in particular, is a great resource and I wish I had access to this sort of information 25 years ago...Here's an excerpt from Ralph's exceptional series featuring his approach to brush playing:




- Clayton Cameron offers this article entitled Brush Methods of the Masters via DRUM! Magazine

- I was watching Jason Tiemann's masterclasses on Facebook awhile ago and he is not only an exceptional player but a very articulate teacher too. Here's a clip of Jason demonstrating the "Conventional" brush stroke pattern (this is always a good place to start):



- I always look forward to UNT professor Quincy Davis' instalments of his Q-Tip series. Check out this previous episode in which he addresses many important brush essentials:



- Alan Dawson was a Master drum teacher and playing with the brushes was very much a part of his pedagogy.

Here is a grainy clip of Dawson demonstrating his approach to the brushes:



And here he is playing his legendary Rudimental Ritual with brushes (aka this is a chop buster!):



- No conversation about the brushes is complete without mentioning the great Jeff Hamilton. In this video Hamilton stresses the importance of using lateral/horizontal strokes when playing the brushes, to achieve a bigger sound.



- Portland's Mel Brown demonstrates the patterns found in the legendary Philly Joe Jones brush instruction booklet Brush Artistry:



- I've always really admired Marty Morell's brush work with the Bill Evans trio. Watch this two-part series in which Morell demonstrates his own personal approach:





- Kenny Washington has always been one of my personal favourite brush players. His touch, phrasing and sense of dynamics never disappoint and always impress (with sticks too I might add!) Here is a segment in which Washington switches to the brushes for a brief solo:



Be sure to check out Kenny's playing with Bill Charlap's trio and on Tommy Flanagan's album Jazz Poet (dig his uptempo brush work on "Mean Streets" heyyyooo!)

- Drumeo offers this hour-long brush lesson with Peter Erskine. I am always impressed by Erskine's articulate nature, his light touch and attention to sound:



With Erskine, it's always "all music...all the time!"

- Ted Warren (author of the always informative blog Trap'd) is an incredible brush player who is continuously exploring and expanding the creative and musical possibilities of the brushes and the drum set as a whole. Ted has been offering examples of this on his blog for many years now (I really wish Ted would write a book or something about his brush patterns!)

Check out these cool and inventive patterns and ideas with brushes:









Check out the archives of Ted's blog and his YouTube channel for many more great ideas and unique brush patterns.

Ted Warren is one of the most creative and musical drummers I know. In fact, why not check out his live-stream solo concert this coming Wednesday, May 13th 5pm EST on his Instagram page (*and you're welcome Ted...you can repay me in slices of Western Pizza! No pineapple please. The Sauce is Boss!)

- Check out this new brush series by Greg Hutchinson from Open Studio:



Ulysses Owens Jr. (who also hosts several great jazz drumming instructional programs through Open Studio) offers this quick brush tutorial:



- And finally, let's all take a moment to appreciate the artistry of Jo Jones:



Without him, there's no us!

(didn't Max Roach say something to that effect?)

Okay, that's all for today. Now grab your pair of brushes and go practice!






1 comment:

  1. Supposedly, Zutty Singleton "invented" the wire brushes. He said his great regret was that he didn't patent them. They were modified fly swatters.

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