John Riley - Developing Flow on the Drums

Well, we're in full Summer mode over here at Four on the Floor these days. It was a busy jazz festival season up here in Canada at the end of June and beginning of July and I just spent an inspiring ten days participating in an artist residency at the Leña Artist & Research Centre on Galiano Island, in the Gulf Islands, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It was a productive week and I'm excited to share my new music and some exciting new projects in the year to come. Stay tuned.

This will be my last blog post for the time being while I take a break for the rest of the Summer. Regular blogging will resume in September.

In the meantime, check out John Riley's latest lesson from the folks over at the Memphis Drum Shop. In this video lesson Riley shares some very practical patterns and ideas for developing a sense of flow, moving around the drums. As always, John's lessons and teaching are excellent and well explained.

Check it out:

And while we're at it, here's a video of John demonstrating the new line of Kerope ride cymbals from the Avedis Zildjian Company. I haven't played these yet, but look forward to trying them out once they make it to Western Canada.

And I've shard these before but make sure to check out this excellent series of lessons featuring John from Zildjian:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54RwBpIPLWfgUA3pTJr9dmMY6U5yQR1C

Christian Vander - "Un Homme...Une Batterie"

Well, last week's post featuring Christian Vander's solo and duo drumming album really resonated with a lot of people who read this blog and I received many emails and messages regarding Vander's drumming following this post.

Thanks to Michael Griener for sharing this interesting French documentary on Christian Vander (subtitled in English): "Un Homme...Une Batterie" (1988).

There's some really unique, powerful and interesting Elvin Jones-inspired drumming here, and worth checking out for sure:

In this video, French drummer, composer and founder of the progressive rock band MAGMA, Christian Vander remembers how he started playing the drums, talks about his philosophy on music and his personal approach on drumming. He makes particular reference to the influence of John Coltrane's music and how Coltrane's spiritual quest eventually had an impact on him as a composer. Furthermore, it is obvious the influence of Elvin Jones, drummer of Coltrane's quartet.

Christian Vander - Fiesta in Drums

I was first introduced to Christian Vander's name and drumming via a Modern Drummer interview with Brian Blade many years ago. Vander is best known for his work with the French progressive rock band Magma.

Here's a rare and pretty intense album of solo and double drumming featuring Christian Vander and Frank Raholison from 1973.

Fiesta in Drums (1973)

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Fiesta in Drums (10:56)
2. Suite Exotique (7:45)
3. Suite Malgache (19:35)

Total Time 38:16

Line-up / Musicians

- Christian Vander / drums (tracks 1,2)
- Frank Raholison / drums (tracks 1,3)

Artwork: Pierre Caron

LP Palm ‎- PALM 3 (1973, France)