The Monday Morning Paradiddle - March 2021

And...we're back. 

Thanks again for tuning in and there are lots of great jazz drumming related pieces, old and new, to check out today. Special thanks to those of you who passed along and shared many great articles and videos with me over the past month. If you have anything you'd like to share, please drop me a line at fouronthefloorblog@gmail.com and I'd love to hear from you.

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Here's what's been circulating around the Four on the Floor offices this month:

1. My weekly interview series Four on the Floor *Live* is still happening every Tuesday evening on my Instagram page @fouronthefloorblog at 7pm MST (9pm EST). Thanks to everyone who has been watching. 

Tune in this week (tomorrow night) for my interview with Ulysses Owens Jr.!

On March 30th I'll be featuring drummer/composer Mareike Wiening from Germany (at 12pm MST!) and on April 6th I'll be speaking with the great Carl Allen (7pm MST/9pm EST).

2. The second instalment of The Three Bloggers series continues featuring Four on the Floor, Ted Warren of Trap'd and Todd Bishop of Cruiseship Drummer collectively offering these thoughts on the seminal Miles Davis album "Milestones: 

The Three Bloggers - Part 2: Milestones by Jonathan McCaslin

The three bloggers listen to Milestones by Todd Bishop

The Three Bloggers Part 2 : Thoughts on Milestones by Ted Warren

Round #3 will be coming around the end of the month or so. Look out for our general thoughts about the idea of Technique (What does it mean? Is it even important? How much does one need?)

3. Jazz Portraits was a series produced for CBC Radio in 2008 and hosted by pianist Renee Rosnes. Click on the link and check out the episode featuring Canadian jazz drumming great Terry Clarke (well, listen to all of them!)

4. Cindy Blackman Santana on Tony Williams from SFJazz

5. The legacy of Milford Graves featured in WIRE magazine

6. Stanton Moore and Marcus Gilmore each sit down with Mike Dolbear and talk technique in these features from Zildjian cymbals

7. I've really been digging Adam Osmianski's blog lately, particularly his analysis and discussion of Brazilian rhythms in his regular offering That Drum Blog. 

Check out his transcription of Edu Ribeiro's solo piece Diddle Diddle:

 

8. The late Ralph Peterson Jr. was recently featured in the New York Times, on NPR radio and in Jazz Times magazine.

Here's a few clips of the master in action including a cadenza from a fiery version of A Night in Tunisia from the Mount Fuji Jazz Festival, recorded a few years back (playing double drums with Lewis Nash no less!)

 

...a more recent performance of "Steppin' in Minor" featuring Chris Potter, Orrin Evans and Buster Williams:

 

...and an example of Peterson demonstrating his unique approach to melodic drumming, recorded at the 2013 PASIC convention:

9. David Garibaldi, Mike Clark, Michael Shrieve, Lenny White and Greg Ericco have teamed up to create On the Corner with the Stick People. Check out this recent episode in which they speak with Peter Erskine:

10. Edu Ribeiro continues with his great, ongoing interview series through Open Studio, this time featuring the always inspiring Allison Miller:

 

11. Make sure to check out Allison Miller's wonderful webinar on creative music making as well:

12. Joe Chambers interviewed by Don Was, speaking about his latest album on Blue Note Records:

 

13. John Riley offers this lesson on uptempo time keeping:

 

...and this story about working with Michel LeGrand:

 

14. Lewis Nash trades with Hank Jones!

15. Quincy Davis continues with his incredible Q-Tips series, offering practical advice and insightful ideas to work on, no matter your skill level or experience. I play through all of these and learn something every time I watch them. I also think it's important that others know about them as well, so here they are. Thank you Quincy and keep up the great work!

 

Also, make sure to check out Quincy's excellent ongoing Drummer 2 Drummer live interview series on Instagram IGTV at @qdjazz

16. Speaking of which, I really enjoyed Quincy's recent IG interview with Marvin "Smitty" Smith and that lead me to find these two incredible videos, found on Smith's own YouTube page:

WOW!

17. Thana Alexa & Antonio Sanchez with a vocal + drums collaboration on Sanchez' Bad Hombre:

 

18. I'm not sure about you but despite being able to practice a lot of drums these days, I sure do miss playing with people. It will happen eventually! To that point, Steve Fidyk offers this useful advice on building behind a soloist in a big band:

 

19. I shared this one a long time ago, but here it is again. Billy Drummond demonstrates the groove to his original 7/4 composition Dubai:

 

I could listen to his ride cymbal beat all day!

20. Jazz Talk has been offering regular interviews on their YouTube channel, hosting contemporary jazz greats.

Check out these interviews with Nasheet Waits:

 

 Carl Allen:

 

 Jeff "Tain" Watts: 

 

...and Billy Hart!

 

As always, when the Masters speak, we listen!

21. The Ottawa Jazz Festival recently presented an online version of its Winter Jazz Fest and there was lots of great music and Canadian drummers to hear.

Kirk MacDonald's Generations Quartet featuring Toronto's Morgan Childs:

 

Montreal's Ranee Lee with Jim Doxas on drums:

 

And, also from Montreal, the JazzLab Orchestra featuring Michel Lambert on drums:

22. I've really been enjoying this ongoing, regular series from Joe Lovano (recorded last summer in his backyard) featuring the always dynamic Lamy Istrefi Jr. on drums:

Yeah!

23. And finally, here's some swinging organ trio music with Milt Buckner, Slam Stewart on bass and the one and only Jo Jones!

 

24. What am I listening to these days?

Charlie Christian & Dizzy Gillespie "Jazz Immortal - After Hours: Monroe's Harlem Minton's - Live" - Kenny Clarke (drums)

King Curtis "Live at the Fillmore" - Bernard Purdie (drums)

BPM Trio "Audi Alteram" - Mark Adam (drums)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "Live at WOMAD 1985"

Charlie Parker "Swedish Schnapps" - Kenny Clarke, Max Roach (drums)

Warren "Baby" Dodds "Talking & Drum Solos"- Baby Dodds (drums)

Artemis "ARTEMIS" - Allison Miller (drums)

Walter Davis Jr. "Scorpio Rising" - Ralph Peterson Jr. (drums)

25. And today's Final Word(s) go to Terri Lyne Carrington with her inspiring performance piece I am the Drums...

...and Matt Wilson, with this poem:

Human Moments - In the Moment (for Frank Kimbrough)

Rhythm is the result of sound and space.

Value and trust, the beauty of the sound.

Value and trust, the spirit of the space.

The space?

The space is where the mystery and faith resides.

Celebrate human moments - in the moment.

the sounds.

the spirits.

the rhythms.

the spaces.

Be grateful and rejoice.

Matt Wilson       January 2021