Thursday, December 30, 2021

Tim Mah's Recommended Canadian Jazz Albums of 2021















Frequent Four on the Floor correspondent Tim Mah returns once again, offering his extensive yearly list of recommended music released by Canadian jazz artists over the course of 2021. As you will see, read and hear below, there continues to be lots of great music coming out of Canada these days.

Tim's weekly radio program Jazz Today can be heard on CJSW Radio 90.9 fm (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) on Thursday mornings from 530-7am MST. It is also streamed on the CJSW website and available through Apple Podcasts.















Tim Mah's Year in Review 2021

In November 2011, Nicholas Payton published a blog post titled “On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore.” To read this post, go to the below link:  https://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/on-why-jazz-isnt-cool-anymore/ 

The blog post included sentences such as “Jazz died in 1959” and “Jazz is dead.” It also included “Our whole purpose on this planet is to evolve.” and “I say, we are as limited as we think.” The post was controversial and continues to be controversial to some people. Some have interpreted this post as saying that jazz music is dead and others have perpetuated this false narrative. Some people have exploited the phrase “jazz is dead” by using this as a marketing tool. 

My interpretation is that Nicholas Payton said (and continues to say) that the word jazz is no longer appropriate. The music that he creates is part of the evolution of the music. He advocates the term “Black American music” instead of the word “jazz” – Black American music is a broader term and recognizes that this music continues to grow. Ten years later, the term “Black American music” is more widely accepted. 

As quoted in Nate Chinen’s 2018 book called “Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century,” Kamasi Washington said: “I’ve never believed in the idea that jazz is dying and people don’t like it. People who have taken the time to investigate jazz, they like it for their whole lives.”

To quote the final sentence in the afterword of “Playing Changes,” Nate Chinen said: “The music will flow and fluctuate, keep going. And where to? Anywhere. It just happens.” 

The music continues to grow and inspire. Whether you call it jazz, Black American music, social music, improvised music, creative music, stretch music...It’s all about the music. 

Year in Review

As 2021 draws to a close, it is a great time to take stock of all of the new music that was released during the last twelve months. There was an abundance of new music from Canadians, starting with music form Toronto’s Jesse Ryan (“Bridges”) in December 2020 and closing with a flurry of new releases in November 2021, including Toronto’s Carn Davidson 9 (“The History of Us”) and Montreal’s Benjamin Deschamps (“Augmented Reality”). Toronto and Montreal-based artists continue make up the majority of the new releases. 

Given the 2021 Juno award winners in the jazz music categories (Sammy Jackson, Jocelyn Gould and Andy Milne), could we be seeing a change towards more diversity?  

Some artists (Good Information, Andrew Miller and Jacob Wutzke) released singles only, choosing not to release a full album during the year. Caity Gyorgy released a series of singles over the last two years, culminating in the release of her January 2021 self-released album “No Bounds” and July 2021 album “Now Pronouncing” (released by the Brooklyn-based label, La Reserve Records). Could we see more jazz musicians emphasize the releasing more singles before releasing albums, as is the common practice in the popular music world? 

There were several solo instrumental albums released during the year, including albums from Sam Wilson, Jessica Ackerley, Francois Bourassa, Josh Rager, Erin Rogers, Matthew Stevens and Noam Lemish. Will this trend continue going forward, or was this a pandemic-only trend? 

Looking ahead to 2022

Expect new albums from Laura Anglade & Sam Kirmayer, Caity Gyorgy, Florian Hoefner, Jodi Proznick, Michelle Willis, Seamus Blake, In Common (co-led by Matthew Stevens and Walter Smith III - the third In Common album features Kris Davis, Terri Lyne Carrington and Dave Holland), Tania Gill, Dolman/Rossy/Jobin (Aaron Dolman, Sarah Rossy and Eugenie Jobin), and the Up and Over Trio (Chris Andrew, Rubim de Toledo and Jamie Cooper). 

2021 Albums from Canadians

The purpose of this guest post is to bring more attention to Canadian artists. As fans of this music, our role is to be an advocate for the music. Below is a list of my favourite 30 albums, released from December 2020 to November 2021, and led (or co-led) by Canadians. 

Anna Webber “Idiom”

This two disc album features Anna Webber’s Simple Trio and her Large Ensemble. This is a recording of Anna Webber’s Simple Trio and Idiom VI Large Ensemble concert at Roulette in Brooklyn (September 23, 2021). The music begins at about the ten minute mark: https://youtu.be/N9bLpk0zfcs
































Renee Rosnes “Kinds of Love”  

Kinds of Love

 

Amanda Tosoff “Earth Voices” 

Birdwings (poem by Rumi)

 

Chet Doxas “You Can’t Take It With You” 

You Can’t Take It With You

 

Steph Richards (with Joshua White) “Zephyr” 

Zephyr

 

Andres Vial “When is Ancient?” 

When is Ancient?

 

Benjamin Deschamps “Augmented Reality” 

Augmented Reality

 

CODE Quartet (Christine Jensen, Lex French, Adrian Vedady & Jim Doxas) “Genealogy”

Wind Up

 

Carn Davidson 9 “The History of Us” 

Wisely If Sincerely

 

Dan McCarthy (with Thomas Morgan & Rudy Royston) “A Place Where We Once Lived” 

Cloud Hopping

 

Lina Allemano Four “Vegetables” (feat. Brodie West, Andrew Downing & Nick Fraser) 

Beans (Alternate Take)

 

Badbadnotgood “Talk Memory” 

Talk Meaning

 

Erin Rogers “2000 Miles”

Waxing (Home I)

 

Nick Fraser Quartet “If There Were No Opposites” 

Improvisation (Part 1)

 

Francois Bourassa “L’impact du silence” 

Andante

 

Evan Arntzen “Countermelody” 

Georgia Cabin

 

Josh Rager “Embraceable You” 

You Stepped Out of a Dream

 

Lara Solnicki “The One and the Other” 

Furling Leaf Retrocede

 

Lorne Lofsky “This Song is New” 

Evans from Lennie

 

Matthew Stevens “Pittsburgh” 

Foreign Ghosts

 

Sam Wilson “Into a Heart, Part Two” 

Mourning Motivation

 

Jessica Ackerley “Morning / mourning” 

Morning 2

 

Jessica Ackerley and Daniel Carter “Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel” 

Welcome Our Friends

 

Borderlands Trio (Kris Davis, Stephan Crump & Eric McPherson) “Wandersphere” 

An Invitation to Disappear

 

Beth McKenna “Beyond Here”

Tides

 

Avataar “Worldview” 

Worldview

 

Misc. (Jerome Beaulieu, Simon Page & William Cote) “Partager l’ambulance” 

X-ALT

 

Alex Lefaivre Quartet “Naufrages” 

Reset

 

Jesse Ryan “Bridges”

Bridges

 

Le Jager “Snow Lotus” 

Proclamacion

 


There was an abundance of new releases from Canadians over the last twelve months. Check out the following list (in alphabetical order) of 40 more Canadian artists with new releases that you can check out.

Andrew Downing & Otterville “Lovesome”
BLOOP (Lina Allemano & Mike Smith) “Proof”
BPM Trio (Phil Dwyer, Ben Dwyer & Mark Adam) “Audi Alteram Partem (Live)”
Carl Mayotte “Pop de Ville, Vol. 1”
Caity Gyorgy “No Bounds” and “Now Pronouncing”
Cory Weeds with Strings “What is There to Say?”
Dan Pitt Quintet “Wrongs”
Dave Young “Mantra”
David Restivo Trio “Arancina”
Earl MacDonald “Consecrated”
Elizabeth Shepherd & Michael Occhipinti “The Weight of Hope”
Emily Steinwall “Welcome to the Garden”
Erin Propp & Larry Roy “We Want All The Same Things”
Gabriel Genest Quintet “Triptyque”
Gordon Grdina “Pendulum,” “Martian Kitties" (featuring Jim Black) and “Klotski"(featuring Christian Lillinger, Shahzad Ismaily, and Mat Maneri)
Hanlon Brothers Quintet “NSTX”
James Danderfer & Quincy Davis “All The Flowers” (feat. Oliver Gannon, Brad Turner & Karl Kohut)
Jazzlab Orchestra “Loguslabusmuzikus”
Jester Champwick (Curtis Nowosad & Joel Visentin) “Homework”
Jocelyn Barth “Tell Him I Said Hello”
Joel Untinen Trio “Facing Paradise”
Julien Fillion “Julien Fillion”
Kellylee Evans “Greenlight”
Kevin Dean “Going Down Slow”
L’abime (Hugo Blouin, Alex Dodier, Gabriel Genest, Jean-Philippe Godbout & Jonathan Turgeon) “L’abime”
Levi Dover “Imaginary Structures”
Lina Allemano & Nick Fraser “Trumpet and Drums Remix Festival”
Mark Eisenman “Jazz Classics” (feat. Steve Wallace & John Sumner)
Mireille Boily “Refuges Mouvants”
Montreal Jazz Trio (Steve Amirault, Adrian Vedady, Jim Doxas) “Montreal Jazz Trio”
Noam Lemish “Erlebnisse”
Oscar Peterson Quartet “A Time for Love: Live in Helsinki, 1987”
Philippe Cote with Marc Copland & Quatuor Saguenay “Bell Tolls Revisited” and “Fleur Revisited”
Pluto Juice (co-led by Anthony Fung and Dayna Stephens; with Rich Brown and Andrew Marzotto) “Pluto Juice”
Sarah Jerrom “Dream Logic” (feat. Harley Card, Rob McBride & Jeff Luciani)
See Through 4 (Pete Johnston, Lina Allemano, Michael Davidson & Jake Oelrichs) “Permanent Moving Parts” 
Shannon Gunn “On a Mountain”
Simon Denizart “Nomad”
The Shuffle Demons “All In”
TuneTown (Kelly Jefferson, Artie Roth & Ernesto Cervini) “Entering Utopia”

Monday, December 27, 2021

The Monday Morning Paradiddle - December 2021









Thanks everyone for checking in during the holiday season. Here is the final Monday Morning Paradiddle column of the year (and oh what a year it's been...) 

Stay tuned as later this week frequent guest columnist Tim Mah, host of CJSW's weekly radio program Jazz Today, will be offering his annual choices for notable Canadian jazz releases of 2021.

Thanks again for your ongoing support. 

Onwards and upwards in the year ahead 2022.

Stay safe everyone and keep your eye on the prize.

*Just a quick reminder: please consider entering your e.mail address on the right side of the page to subscribe to my mailing list. Don't miss out, subscribe today and receive Four on the Floor directly to your inbox!*











*Click on the link that looks like this, located on the right hand side of the page!*



Okay, so here we are.

Here's a list of interesting and thought provoking pieces to check out and keep you occupied and inspired over the holiday break as we head into the year ahead. Please enjoy.

1) Louis Hayes and Mareike Wiening interviewed by the Improv Exchange

2) Pete Zimmer interviewed by Discussions in Percussion

3) Antonio Sanchez featured on the prolific Drummer's Resource Podcast

4) Check out this rare and unique recording of Kenny Clarke on the album Spotlight on Percussion:














If you visit this website and click on the links you'll be able to hear some great unaccompanied recorded audio footage of Klook playing the snare drum.


5) Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle interviews Ron Carter, continuing his incredible podcast series "The Art and Science of Time":  
    


6) Two interviews with Jabali Billy Hart from Jake Feinberg and WPFW Radio:



7) Joe Chambers interviewed by Samo Salamon:



8) Ali Jackson Jr. recently released his wonderful instructional series through jazzmemes.org entitled Universe of Grooves:


I've purchased his new series and there is lots of great and very informative material to practice and learn from in here.

Also check out this wonderful feature from Jackson on the late Barry Harris:

 


9) Antonio Sanchez with his interpretation of Thelonious Monk's Evidence:

 


10) Quincy Davis continues with his wonderful Q-Tips educational series on YouTube. As always, these are very informative and well done. 

Check these out and learn from the best:



11) Willie Jones III percussive tribute to the late Ndugu Chancler on Something for Ndugu::



12) Berklee's Francsico Mela and vibraphonist Ed Saindon with a duet on Alone Together:



13) A couple of cool timekeeping clips from the always inspiring Allison Miller: 



14) Kevin Dorn offers some insight into the hi-hat techniques of Jo Jones and Gene Krupa:



15) Thanks to the Drum History Podcast who posted this short clip of Dave Mancini with the Maynard Ferguson big band at the Playboy Jazz Festival circa. 1982:

Dave was my teacher at the International Peace Gardens during the summer of 1993 and it was with his help and encouragement that started me on my journey to where I am today. 

Thanks Dave!

16) A great clip of vibraphonist Terry Gibbs with Barry Harris (piano), Alan Dawson (drums) and Sam Jones (bass):

 


17) A fun early animation from Muppets and Sesame Street creator Jim Henson featuring Chico Hamilton on solo drums:



18) Congratulations to José Mendeles on the release of his latest book A Drummers Ethos:












Purchase his wonderful new publication and his other book The Stoic Drummer through The Revival Drumshop.


19) What am I listening to these days?

Phineas Newborn Jr. "We Three" - Roy Haynes (drums)

Antonio Sanchez "Three Times Three" - Antonio Sanchez (drums)

Rich Perry "Beautiful Love" - Victor Lewis (drums)

Morgan Childs Quartet "On the Street of Dreams" - Morgan Childs (drums)

Neil Swainson "49th Parallel" - Jerry Fuller (drums)

Steve Swallow "Damaged in Transit" - Bill Stewart (drums)

Max Richter "SLEEP"


20) And today's Final Word goes to Dan Weiss with a wonderful piece of advice given to him via his teacher during a summer jazz workshop he attended at the Berklee College of Music, shared with us via one of Dan's many inspiring and informative daily shares on Instagram:

*Please note that I read this one very quickly on IG awhile ago so I am paraphrasing as best I can so the wording is not exact Lol but it's an important message on the art of discipline nevertheless...thanks Dan!*


"If you are serious about wanting to be a musician you have to:

Wake up when you don't feel like waking up.

Work when you don't feel like working.

Practice when you don't feel like practicing."







Monday, December 20, 2021

On Drums: Stewart Copeland










An enjoyable and informative documentary on drums, drummers and drumming from Stewart Copeland:

Monday, December 13, 2021

Jo Jones 1957















Special thanks to Andrew Dickeson who shared this amazing footage of Jo Jones circa. 1957:

 

Monday, December 6, 2021

Elvin Jones UNT 1984



















Special thanks to Chad Anderson who forwarded me these videos of Elvin Jones & the Jazz Machine from a series of workshops at the University of North Texas circa. 1984 (formally known as North Texas State University).

Here are the links to the individual pages and citations:




As per usual, when the Masters speak....we listen.

Monday, November 29, 2021

Quincy Davis: Q-Tips Part 1
















Those who have been following my blog for sometime know that I am a big fan of Quincy Davis' regular video lessons that he posts on YouTube. Quincy teaches jazz drums at the University of North Texas and up to great things as both a player and teacher. 

There are tons of people offering great content on the internet these days (and, unfortunately, even more offering mediocre, or less!) I think what Quincy has been offering is among the best out there and we are very lucky to have access to his knowledge. I recommend digging into what Quincy has to offer. As Kenny Washington once imparted on me during a lesson: "Watch, Listen and Learn."

I usually try to share his videos as he releases them but I got behind (!) so I'll be sharing his most recent videos in instalments, over the course of this coming week.

Quincy is also offering a series of on-line group lessons coming up soon so check out his website for more information and to register:

https://www.quincydavisjazz.com/projects-6

I also highly recommend checking out his series of play-a-long recordings that he's produced. These are excellent resources to practice along with (in fact Q talks at length about the importance of playing along to recordings in his most recent video).

Check those out here: https://qsdigitaldownloads.sellfy.store

Also, make sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel to keep on top of his regular updates.







Monday, November 22, 2021

The Monday Morning Paradiddle - November 2021

Well, I got so busy last week that I neglected to post anything (!) however now that things have calmed down for a bit, here's the November edition of the Monday Morning Paradiddle with more than enough interesting items for you to peruse.

Check it out:

1) Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones both featured extensively in the Howard University Jazz Oral History Project

2) JazzTimes Magazine with tons of great jazz drumming content including features on Kenny and Peter Washington Willie Jones III Billy Drummond and a Before & After listening session with Joe Farnsworth

Joe Farnsworth also shares this important lesson from the great Art Taylor:

 

3) Ireland's Ronan Guilfoyle continues with his excellent podcast series The Art and Science of Time in this episode featuring Eric Ineke:

     

4) Carl Allen interviewed by Zoom sound recorders and here's some outstanding footage of Carl with Benny Green on piano and Ben Wolfe on bass from way back:

 

5) This piece is five years old (but new to me!) Here's Jabali Billy Hart with the WDR Big Band:

THE BROADER PICTURE: BILLY HART & THE WDR BIG BAND arranged and conducted by CHRISTOPHE SCHWEIZER from christophe schweizer on Vimeo.

6) Victor Lewis interviewed by The Pace Report:

 

7) Mike Clark interviewed by Ken Micallef:

 

8) Two episodes from Ali Jackson Jr.'s 'Bout It series featuring Al Foster...

 

...and Louis Hayes:
 
 

9) Jake Feinberg interviews Charli Persip:

 

10) Adonis Rose interviews Herlin Riley on the legacy of New Orleans drumming from Jazz Congress 2021:

 

11) Quincy Davis interviewed by the Avedis Zildjian Cymbal Company:

 

12) Rochester's Mike Melito interviewed by Drummer Nation:
 
 

13) Outstanding drumming from Brazil's Edu Ribeiro!

 

14) Ulysses Owens Jr. continues with his excellent regular interview series The Drummer's Perspective (thanks for the shout out!) featuring:

Greg Hutchinson 

 

Cindy Blackman Santana

 

George Fludas 


15) Thanks to my good friend Jesse Cahill who shared this footage with me of the Chris Laurence Quartet in concert with Martin France on drums:

 

16) Check out Curtis Nowosad's trio set from the on-line Kensington Market 2021 Virtual Jazz Festival (his portion starts around the 1hr 53min mark):

 

17) A recent hit from Toronto's Terry Clarke on drums with Kirk MacDonald on tenor saxophone and Mike Downes on bass:

 

18) The alway super swinging and super musical Kenny Washington with pianist Bill Charlap and bassist Peter Washington:


19) What am I listening to these days?

Rob McConnell "Tentet" - Terry Clarke (drums)

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints "Scandal" - Joey Baron (drums)

Bill Charlap Trio "Street of Dreams" - Kenny Washington (drums)

Antonio Sanchez "Bad Hombre" - Antonio Sanchez (drums)

Scott Colley "This Place" - Bill Stewart (drums)

Roy Haynes "A Life in Time" (compilation) - Roy Haynes (drums)


20) And today's Final Word goes to whomever came up with this art installation in downtown Calgary, Alberta:















Yes, it most certainly is...

Monday, November 8, 2021

4-Way Linear Coordination Using Stick Control + The Jon McCaslin 4tet +1 appearing at the King Eddy!

Here are some simple but effective linear exercises that I've been working on with a student lately. I like practicing these because they put my limbs in different combinations and make me play things that I'm not used to (always a good thing in my opinion...)

These were inspired by some linear "flow" concepts that Matt Wilson assigned me when I studied with him in 2004 which, I believe (?), were derived from some exercises he had learned during his own time studying with Ed Soph and George Marsh (my apologies as it was a long time ago and my mind is a bit fuzzy with the details Lol). George is well known for his book Inner Drumming (highly recommended) and of course Ed Soph is a legendary drum set educator who taught at the University of North Texas for many years (see my previous blog post from Christopher Smith featuring both Ed Soph and Steve Houghton).

Anyhow, I digress (!) and the point of these exercises that I've come up with is to develop a connected and unified sense of flow around the drums, between the hands and feet.

Here's how it works:

Use the hand-to-hand sticking patterns from the first few pages of Stick Control as a template and apply the systems below, all while playing a steady stream of 8th notes. You could also use any single, double or triple paradiddle combination as well.

A few suggestions:

- Play all the Right hand parts on the ride cymbal, Left hand on the snare drum

- Play the Right hand on the snare drum, Left hand on the left side crash/ride

- Play the Left foot on the hi-hat both both closed and open (ie. splash)

- Take John Riley's suggestion and play through all of these variations not only as 8th notes but at a triplet rate as well 

*ed. note: the idea of using Stick Control as a template for different exercises also comes from my studies with John and I believe this was a concept used by Joe Morello as well (credit where credit is due, just saying!)

And don't forget:

Take it slow and make it groove!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now a Four on the Floor Public Service Announcement
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey everybody! 

If you find yourself in Calgary, Alberta this weekend please come check out my band and new project presented by the 2021 TD JazzYYC Canadian Festival:

The Jon McCaslin Quartet +1 
featuring Lisa LaTouche

Friday, November 12th - 830pm

Appearing at the King Eddy 
(Studio Bell - West Block)

438 9 Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta 
CANADA


Featuring:

Jon McCaslin - drums & cymbals

Jim Brenan - tenor saxophone

Josh Krushel - piano

Jonathan Wielebnowski - bass

Lisa LaTouche - tap


I am excited to play with this great band on Friday night. We'll be performing my new original compositions, most of which were written over the past year.

Come on by and tell them that Four on the Floor sent you!

For more information and tickets please visit:



Monday, November 1, 2021

Bad Hombre: Antonio Sanchez with Martin & Facundo Lombard

I'm obviously late to the party seeing as this was released a year ago (!) but nevertheless I still think this is really quite amazing and want to share this with you all. 

Here is drummer Antonio Sanchez with tap artists Martin and Facundo Lombard from a short film they produced together.


Yeah!

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Chris Smith @ Memphis Drum Shop



Chris Smith, curator of the excellent jazz drumming web resource The Jazz Drum Hang and author of The View from the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis joins the long list of accomplished drummers featured by myCymbal.com and the Memphis Drum Shop.

Check out these informative lessons offered by Chris:







Monday, October 18, 2021

Billy Hart Solo!


If nothing else, please take one minute and forty one seconds of your day to appreciate the great Jabali Billy Hart!

 

Monday, October 11, 2021

Different Paths with Ed Soph and Steve Houghton

Chris Smith, author of The Jazz Drum Hang took the time to produce this extensive series of interviews with Ed Soph and Steve Houghton, two very important and prolific drum set teachers. This is an incredible resource and I encourage anyone who is interested in teaching drums to check this out.

Here is what Chris had to say about this project:

These interviews revolve around indepth essays that Ed and Steve wrote about their backgrounds, influences, teaching styles, suggested listening, common problems on the drumset, and how to become a serious player. 

A treasure trove of information that is free for you and available at the Google link below:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...

This project is about two friends (Ed Soph and Steve Houghton) both highly regarded drumset teachers, players, and authors, who recently retired from teaching. What became clear after numerous personal discussions was that education, as well as early and ongoing musical experiences shaped their teaching methods and lesson content, creating a very wide menu of drumming ideas and musical concepts. The common thread of course was always jazz drumming.



For further information from Ed and Steve follow the links below:

Featured Tracks

• (Steve Houghton) Steve Allee: Three Hip Mice 

• (Ed Soph) Joe LoCascio Trio: The Days Run Away  https://youtu.be/OUGI4TriqlI

• (Ed Soph) Woody Herman: Be-Bop and Roses 

• Steve Houghton Trio: A Beautiful Friendship https://youtu.be/YO1kyQII0Mg


More From Steve Houghton: 

• Website: https://www.houghtonmusic.com/

• With Lyle Mays: 

• Interview: The Happy Musicians Podcast 

• Vic Firth Education Series 


Interviewers:

Hannah Johnson - Part I: Backstories and History 

Tanner Guss - Part II: Influences 

Chris Smith - Part III: Teaching















Monday, October 4, 2021

The Monday Morning Paradiddle - October 2021


And...we're back!

Now that October is upon us I hope that everyone is well into their Fall routine. Things obviously haven't quite returned to "normal" yet (!) but I think it's important to, as Clark Terry used to say, "Keep on Keepin' on."

This is the first Monday Morning Paradiddle column in awhile now (since last June in fact!) but I enjoyed a nice break over the summer. Here is today's collection of interesting things to check out.

But first a few updates from our sponsors:














Falk Willis continues to offer great, regular content through his wonderful site Jazz Heaven.

Here's what Falk has to say:

Because of drums not really coming across well sonically during our weekly live masterclasses, which we ran for over 2 years now (over 100 at this point and with no end in sight) we sadly hardly did any live masterclasses with drummers, but with lots of other fantastic Masters from Fred Hersch to Gary Thomas and many, many more. The exception being one with Richie Barshay on Alexander Technique for Musicians (he also played some drums). 

And...one with Bill Stewart, Larry Goldings & Peter Bernstein that was great, informative and, you guessed it, at times very funny! We just released the recording of this live masterclass:
LARRY GOLDINGS, PETER BERNSTEIN & BILL STEWART: Ask Them Anything! JazzHeaven.com/gbs (There is a 3-day free trial.)




















Also, awhile ago we launched a community part on our site https://community.jazzheaven.com/ (think "Facebook for Jazz") This also includes a "corner" for jazz drummers:  https://community.jazzheaven.com/group/jazz-drummers

So far it's still a bit "quiet" there. Feel free to pay it a visit and change that. This can hopefully develop into a nice resource for all of us to exchange knowledge and ideas.










Another long-time favourite of mine is Justin Varnes' extensive library of lessons on various topics at Jazz Drummers' Resource.

Here is Justin's update:

Now that the Jazz Drummer’s Resource video library contains nearly 300 lessons on everything from up-tempo technique and vocabulary to jazz theory and form for drummers, the site’s focus has turned more to individualized attention and something we call workouts.

A “workout” is just that; grab your sticks, sit down at the kit, press play, and in 20 or 30 minutes you will have learned a new piece of vocabulary or technique. This is a streamlined way to help solve one of the biggest issues we all have: what to practice and how to practice it.











I've been a fan of Chris Smith's Jazz Drum Hang since he first launched his platform and lesson series. His regular informative and relevant content and his enthusiastic, articulate delivery makes it a worthwhile investment in my opinion. I'm always impressed when I check into his site and see what he's come up with.
























Be sure to check out Jochen Rueckert's excellent video lesson series found on his website www.jochenrueckert.net

This is a great collection of lessons on a variety of topics in which Rueckert offers a lot of very tangible and practical information informed by his extensive work as both a sideman and a leader.


Okay, now get to work! 

Here's todays collection of things to check out:

1) Check out the new Paul Motian documentary Motian in Motion!


2) NPR's Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride features Sketches of Tain: Music and Stories from Drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts

A link from that page led me to this past concert featuring pianist Mulgrew Miller and Wingspan and also this older piece from NPR featuring Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista and a concept known as Anthropofagia (or "Musical Cannibalism"!):


3) Billy Drummond interviewed by ECM Records


5) Barry Elmes celebrates 30 years of his quintet from Toronto's JAZZ.FM and also this interview with Andre White from his long-time jazz webzine Jazz View.

Be sure to check out Time Warp's recent re-release Down to Earth on Cornerstone Records featuring the drumming of Barry Elmes, originally released on cassette in 1985. 

Order or download that here













6) Fresh Air Archives with this piece featuring Max Roach on playing with Duke Ellington

7) The late Dottie Dodgion remembered in The New Yorker

8) Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle recently launched his amazing new podcast series The Art and Science of Time


Make sure to bookmark his page and check out his very insightful and informative conversations about rhythm with the likes of Dave Liebman, Jim McNeely, Ramesh Shotham and many more to come.

9) Toronto's Nick Fraser interviewed on the heels of his latest album No Opposites by Industry Tactics with Friendly Rich

Also here's a great lesson with Nick from Larry Graves' The Garage Sessions: Keeping Time with Nick Fraser

 

10) Jack DeJohnette interviewed by Jake Feinberg:

 

11) Jazz Talk interviews Lewis Nash:


12) Ulysses Owens Jr. continues with his excellent weekly interview series The Drummer's Perspective featuring regular interviews with the great jazz drummers of our time including, among others, the likes of:

Billy Drummond

 

Matt Wilson 
  

Johnathan Blake 

 

13) Neon Jazz interviews Gerry Gibbs about his fantastic new release Songs from my Father dedicated to his father and vibraphonist Terry Gibbs:


14) Joe Farnsworth & Dan Weiss trade on Thelonious Monk's Evidence:

 

Joe Farnsworth pays a visit to John Ramsay's house to celebrate the great Alan Dawson:

 

And finally a preview of Farnsworth's latest piano trio outing Sounds of the City with Kenny Barron and Peter Washington:

 

15) Sherrie Maricle offers this warm-up routine using different roll combinations:


16) Billy Higgins! 

 

17) Kenny Clarke!

 

18) Here's a very interesting one that I hadn't heard before of Max Roach with the J.C. White Singers from Germany circa. 1974:



19) What am I listening to these days?

Allison Miller "5am Stroll" - Allison Miller (drums)

Joe Farnsworth "Sounds of the City - Joe Farnsworth (drums)

Roy Haynes "A Life in Time" - Roy Haynes (drums)

Rob McConnell "Tentet" - Terry Clarke (drums)

Renee Rosnes "Kinds of Love" - Carl Allen (drums)

Steve Swallow "Real Book" - Jack DeJohnette (drums)

Stanely Turrentine "Up at Minton's" - Al Harewood (drums)

Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller "Blues for Mr. Hill"


20) And today's Final Word goes to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie: