The Monday Morning Paradiddle

And....we're back.

Sorry for the relatively infrequent posting recently. I've been on the go lately and going a few different directions these days...Anyways, regular posting will now resume (hopefully!) and thanks for all your kind messages.

I recently spent some time in Ireland and had a chance to connect with the Guilfoyle brothers, Ronan and Conor, who, in addition to being two of Ireland's finest Jazz artists, also happen to be two really nice guys. We shared more than a few laughs together to say the least!

Ronan is an exceptional bassist and the author of the acclaimed book "Creative Rhythmic Concepts" and this text comes highly recommended (in fact, NYC tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin recently cited Ronan's text as something he himself was personally currently studying during a recent masterclass at Mount Royal University in Calgary...)

In addition to being a world-class bassist and author Ronan is also quite an articulate blogger and writes some very insightful articles and commentary over at his blog Mostly Music http://ronanguil.blogspot.ca

I read his blog regularly and find his writing always to be quite informative but in particular check out his excellent recent interview with Steve Coleman. The students at the Newpark Music School in Dublin are very lucky to have Ronan as their teacher!

His brother Conor is also a very accomplished drummer, busy educator and he regularly posts some great lessons on his website and via youtube.com. Here is one of Conor's on-line lessons demonstrating how to improvise a snare drum solo using Alan Dawson's Rudiment Ritual as a source for vocabulary:



Conor is also the author of two very fine drum books entitled "Rhythmic Reading for Drummers" and "Odd Meter Clave for Drumset". Check out more of Conor's music at his website: http://www.conorguilfoyle.com

- Who am I listening to these days?

Being on the road recently has afforded me the opportunity to do a lot of listening while driving, flying, waiting in airports, hanging around hotel rooms, etc. Here's a few things that have inspired me lately:

Wynton Marsalis "Black Codes from the Underground" - Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums)

Jason Marsalis "In A World of Mallets" - Jason Marsalis (vibraphone), David Potter (drums)

Jeff "Tain" Watts "MegaWatts" - Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums)

Duke Ellington "Ellington Plays the Music of Mary Poppins" - Sam Woodyard (drums)

Fly "Year of the Snake" - Jeff Ballard (drums)

Milford Graves "Grand Unification" - Milford Graves (drums & percussion)

- Speaking of the one & the only Jeff "Tain" Watts (!) here's a nice one of Mr. Watts in action at the 55 Bar with Oz Noy on guitar and John Patitucci on bass playing "If I Were a Bell":




- Drummer Johnathan Blake never ceases to impress me and here he is playing a very impassioned solo with Kenny Barron:




- I've got an exciting concert coming up on Saturday, April 20 with my jazz orchestra, the Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble:

We'll be featuring our special guest, the great Brad Turner on trumpet from Vancouver on a program of music by iconic Canadian Jazz composer Kenny Wheeler. If you are in Calgary, don't miss this show!

The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble Plays the Music of Kenny Wheeler Featuring Special Guest: Brad Turner on Trumpet

Saturday, April 20
7:30pm

Central United Church
131 7th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB

Adults: $20/$25 Door
Students/Seniors: $10/$15 Door

Advance Tickets Available at:

http://calgarycreativeartsensemble.eventbrite.ca/

Brush Lesson with Greg Hutchinson

What better way to learn how to play the brushes than hanging out with Greg Hutchinson....on a sunny beach!

Drum & Bass: Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier

The connection between the drummer and bass player of any ensemble is obviously the core and heartbeat of any band. If the drummer and bassist aren't hooking up or have a cooperative understanding when they play together, the music doesn't even stand a chance!

Here's Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier, the backbone of the Brad Mehldau trio, demonstrating how they work together and, as such, show the incredible bond these two have when playing together.





I've been on the road for the past few weeks....regular posting will resume shortly!

Klook & Lucky Thompson

Still on the road here these days but here's a good one to keep you occupied for awhile until I return:



Thanks to noted Canadian Jazz author and former Globe & Mail columnist Mark Miller who was nice enough to share this one with me.

Yes indeed, Klook IS the man!!!

Fraser Calhoun Quartet featuring Mulgrew Miller

I'm going to be busy and on the go for the next few weeks here so blogging will lighten up considerably for awhile. But I wanted to let you all know about a big show of mine coming up this Saturday night. I'm thrilled to be playing with saxophonist Fraser Calhoun's quartet featuring one of my favorite jazz pianists of all time, the great Mulgrew Miller on piano.

In case you are not familiar with Miller's career he is literally an icon of the contemporary jazz language and someone who really exemplifies a modern extension of all the great jazz piano greats. I'm really honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to share the bandstand with him for several dates over the course of the next week here in Calgary and then in Edmonton. Mulgrew has played with the likes of Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Woody Shaw and countless other jazz greats over the years. Hope to see you all there!


Fraser Calhoun Quartet Featuring Mulgrew Miller

Saturday, March 16 2013 8:00pm (7:30pm door)

River Park Church
3818 14 A Street SW
Calgary, AB

Tickets: $25 Advance/$30 at the Door
Students: $20 Advance/$25 at the Door
Advance tickets available at:  http://frasercalhoun.eventbrite.com/

Featuring:

Fraser Calhoun - Alto Saxophone
Mulgrew Miller - Piano
Rubim De Toledo - Bass 
Jon McCaslin - Drums

Find this event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/347081822064498/?fref=ts

In case you aren't familiar with Mulgrew's work, here he is with drummer Tony Williams to check out:

Greg Hutchinson - Two Bass Hit

I heard this fine band featuring Greg Hutchinson on drums during the late set at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York City following a performance of pianist Bill Charlap's trio featuring Kenny Washington on drums during the spring of 2011. It was a good night for drums, to say the least!

Here's some smoking footage of Greg unleashing with guitarist Yotam Silberstein's Quartet from a recent hit at Small's on John Lewis' classic drum feature "Two Bass Hit":

Carl Allen on Brushes

From 20 years ago, here's a nice brush feature with Carl Allen on drums joined by Benny Green (piano) and Ben Wolfe (bass):



Dig the slick back sticking work that Allen throws into his solo (maybe that should be called "Back brushing?). I learned how to do that back in my high-school drumline days but never really considered it a part of my drum set vocabulary until I saw Carl use this years later. Why not? Although, whenever I pull a stunt like this I usually drop one of my sticks!

Interview with Joe LaBarbera

I first met Joe LaBarbera during the summer of 1997 at the Banff Centre for the Arts and most recently reconnected with him via interviews I've conducted towards my doctoral dissertation. Some friends and I also brought Joe to Calgary last fall and was fortunate to spend some time studying and hanging out with him then. He is a really wonderful human being, a fantastic drummer and an incredible teacher.

Here's an interview with Joe in advance of a performance with his brother's big band at the Rochester International Jazz Festival:



Joe also recently released an album featuring his quintet entitled "Sixth Sense" and here's an edition of this band from a recent performance on the West Coast:



Dig the drum solo (sorry it gets cut off!) and big sound he gets out of the instrument.

Now one thing that has also really struck me is how loose Joe looks when he plays. Watching Joe play has always reminded me to keep a relaxed and proper posture, remember to breath and, most importantly, not be afraid to let the arms stretch out a bit and contribute to the overall stroke. One could easily get carried away with using the arms but the way Joe does it, it combines grace with practicality and, overall, translates into a huge, warm sound on the drums with a beautiful sense of flow.

So with these things in mind, I decided to ask Joe myself via e.mail about his thoughts with regards to how he physically plays the drums. Of course, Joe was nice enough to accommodate my request and offered these words of wisdom:

"Many people have commented on the relaxed motion I use when playing. My wife mentioned it to me recently in connection with a friend who is very active and physically fit but who is experiencing several problems involving arm, leg and foot pains. She went on to say that at 65 years of age I am still able to perform because I use relaxation to good advantage in my performance. I’m sure there is some plain old good luck involved here with the gene pool since both my parents lived to well into their 90’s with only the usual aches and pains. But over the years in my role as an educator I have given serious thought to posture, limb motion and set up of the kit and am on constant lookout for my students to help them avoid developing any bad habits. I think often of Buddy Rich who was plagued by back problems in his later years. Perhaps it was genetic or perhaps sitting as high as he did and playing down on the set with his back arched played a significant role."

"For myself, I have always strived for a fluid sound with a controlled attack so that I could be dynamically expressive with the drums. People who have never seen me play will often comment on the flow they hear in my drumming which is the same thing that others experience when they see me. Years ago when I was with Chuck Mangione, we shared the stage with Chick Corea and Return to Forever. After the gig Chick commented that I looked a Gazelle when I played!"

"I have never formally studied Moeller Technique but what I have learned is the value of a preparation stroke followed by a down stroke. When I am teaching new students how to play the ride cymbal I have them use an accent and rebound motion with exaggerated height and quarter notes only. The accent is on 2 and 4 and the up stroke on 1 and 3. Gradually we will introduce the dotted eighth/sixteenth or “ride” pattern. As the tempo increases the motion becomes more condensed but it is still there. This allows me to play up tempos for extended periods of time without tiring but it takes time and some serious practice to get it. I continue this approach when we work on the pads as well and am quick to comment when I see a student trying to generate all the power from the just the wrists. Maybe you have seen drummers who keep their arms locked when playing the ride cymbal and on the drums as well. Of course it is possible to play this way but it has never appealed to me."

"In a nutshell, I was trying to get a sound and a feel that I was hearing and my technique evolved to meet my needs. Hope this helps."

- Joe LaBarbera, February 2013

Lewis Nash - A View From Above

Welcome back everybody and I hope you all had a nice weekend. I was hoping to get a "Monday Morning Paradiddle" together this morning but things are on the go over here...

So in the meantime, from a recent Art Blakey tribute concert featuring an all-star lineup, here's some nice footage of Lewis Nash paying tribute to the great Art Blakey:

Max Roach en France

Thanks to my European correspondent David Grebil who posted this one via youtube.com, here's the great Max Roach with both Stanley and Tommy Turrentine for you to enjoy:



Max Roach!

Sonny Payne Rolls Again!

Somebody recently asked me about developing roll technique and vocabulary around the drums. Mr. Payne certainly had something to say about that!

Max Roach Quintet Featuring Booker Little

It's Friday folks...and here's some rare footage of the Max Roach Quintet featuring Booker Little on trumpet along with George Coleman on tenor and Ray Draper on tuba to enjoy:



This particular edition of Max Roach's band has long been a big influence on me for sometime. I spent quite a bit of time during the later years of my undergrad degree at McGill transcribing Max's playing on the album "Deeds, Not Words". I dig the use of the tuba as the third voice, particularly in a three-horn configuration with no piano in sight. It's still a rare occurrence by today's standards.

I think Max had a bit of an affinity for the tuba and brass instruments in general. At one point Max even had a short-lived group during the late 90s called "The So What Brass" that featured him with a brass quintet (much like Dave Douglas' current Brass Ectasy project). Unfortunately there is only one recording of this band that I know of it's only one track featured on an album that features Max with a Symphony orchestra. I myself have had an interest in leading a brass quintet + drums project like this for some time.

I think that the piano-less configurations that Max played with in general post-Clifford Brown really allowed him to open a bit more in terms of his comping. His albums "Max Roach + 4" and "Max Roach + 4 Plays Charlie Parker" are also a couple of albums that I've really learned a lot from and Kenny Washington suggested that I really check out these recordings, in particular, for Max's comping vocabulary while playing up tempos.

Michel Lambert Solo Drums

Today's post features a great Canadian drummer from Quebec, the creative Michel Lambert. Here's Michel letting it all hang out in a solo drum set from Montreal's very hip and newest Jazz venue, Cafe Resonance:



I was fortunate to study with Lambert during the last year of my Master's degree at McGill University in 2002. He really encouraged me to "loosen up" my style and approach. We spent a lot of time working on the snare drum (mostly playing rolls) with the goal of getting me to play with a bigger/looser stroke and sound. Michel is a very engaging and free spirit when it comes to improvisation on the drums but, ironically, he was also one of the most technical drum teachers that I've ever worked with.

Check out these drum duets from Michel's website featuring himself with the likes of Hans Bennink, Rakalam Bob Moses, Montreal's John Heward and Daniel Humair:

http://www.michellambert.com/projects/drumduets/index.html

Michel also lived and worked in Toronto for a number of years and played quite extensively with bassist Dave Young's band. The album "Fables" featuring Lambert with the Dave Young/Phil Quartet has always been a favourite.

Hutch Grooves

Here's a fun one to get our Monday off to a good start, the hard-swinging Greg Hutchinson demonstrating a few different swinging tempos:

Brian Blade Fellowship @ The Vanguard

To finish off "Brian Blade Week" over here at Four on the Floor, here's some clandestine home footage of Blade's Fellowship ensemble from a performance at the famed Village Vanguard brought to us by a very brave concertgoer (no pictures or video please!!!)

Brian Blade - Drums & Guitar

Since this is now my self-proclaimed "Brian Blade Week" here at Four on the Floor, I thought I would feature today the dynamic duet of Blade and guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel. I posted some of their recorded work on Monday but here's a nice live clip to chew on:



I really appreciate Brian's joyful spirit when he plays the drums and the diverse influences he blends together while still grounded in the Jazz tradition. The open texture of the drums/guitar combination offers some really nice space for both of these accomplished musicians to play off of each other.

I haven't checked this one out but look forward to hearing this album that they put out a couple of years ago:

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

A few people have inquired as to what I've been up to lately and where I can be heard in the next couple of months. So here's a few interesting gigs of mine to take note of:

January 25 - Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble Big Band featuring Ralph Bowen presented by the National Music Centre's Summit Jazz Series

February 3 - Big Band Clinic @ The University of Calgary

February 5 - Ralf Buschmeyer  Trio hosts the Wine-Oh's Jazz Jam Session

February 6 - Carsten Rubeling Quartet @ The Cliff Bungalow Jazz Series

February 8 - The Yardbird Suite (Edmonton) with The Brenan Brothers

February 16 - The Invertigo Trio with Jim Brenan and Rubim de Toledo host the Broken City Jazz Jam 3-6pm

March 15 - Brad Shigeta Swing Band

March 16 - Fraser Calhoun Quartet featuring Mulgrew Miller @ Riverside Church

March 17 - Fraser Calhoun Quartet featuring Mulgrew Miller @ The Yardbird Suite (Edmonton)

March 18 - Fraser Calhoun Quartet featuring Mulgrew Miller @ Grant MacEwan University (Edmonton)

March 19 - Fraser Calhoun Quartet featuring Mulgrew Miller @ The Ironwood Stage & Grill

March 20 - 22 - Optimist Band Festival (Regina, SK)

March 23 - Guest Artist with the Regina Jazz Orchestra (Regina, SK)

Please drop by and say hello!

Here's a few things that have been making the rounds lately around the Four on the Floor offices. Enjoy!

- Brian Blade is indeed one of our generations most influential Jazz drummers (and for good reason!)  His work as a leader with his Fellowship ensemble and as sideman with the Wayne Shorter Quartet are two examples of why Brian has been leading the charge over the past ten or so years.

I've really been enjoying his duo work with guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and this track is a good example of the interesting music this drums/guitar duet is capable of:



And if you like that, here's another bass and drums duet featuring Blade with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa from his album "Prayer" on Sonny Rollins' "Oleo":



More interesting Brian Blade clips coming this week...

- Drummer Marcus Gilmore, who also happens to be the grandson of Jazz great Roy Haynes (!), has been making quite an impression lately. Here's a nice article on Gilmore courtesy of NPR's A Blog Supreme:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2013/02/06/171249897/when-your-grandfather-is-the-greatest-living-jazz-drummer

- Lewis Nash was recently in Calgary with the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour and it was incredible. Nash has always been a favorite of mine. Here's a couple quick ones of Lewis in action from the same recent tour:





- Pianist Benny Green was also on that bill and, as far as I was concerned, really stole the show (and that's saying a lot considering how well everybody played!)

Here's another clip of Benny Green and his trio featuring Kenny Washington on drums:



Dig the very explicit accents that Kenny displays during his drum solo. Time for me to revisit my Wilcoxin snare drum solos, me thinks!

And here's a nice interview with Green talking about his days as a Jazz Messenger, mentored by the great Art Blakey:



- What am I listening to these days?

Mulgrew Miller Trio "Live at the Kennedy Center" - Rodney Green (drums)

Danny Grissett "Form" - Kendrick Scott (drums)

JJ Johnson & Stan Getz "Live at the Opera House" - Connie Kay (drums)

Oscar Peterson Trio "West Side Story" - Ed Thigpen (drums)

Jim Hall "Live!" - Terry Clarke (drums)

- Carl Allen recently gave an excellent masterclass at this year's edition of the JEN Conference in Atlanta on his approach to playing the ride cymbal. Here's a highlight of his session courtesy of Bret Primack, the "Jazz Video Guy":



- My good friend and fellow McGill alumni Rich Irwin recently launched his own on-line drumming school:

http://virtualdrumschool.com/

More on Rich and this exciting project coming soon!

- New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley is always a pleasure to listen to. His modern approach of dealing with New Orleans Second Line music and infectiousness groove always inspires me:



I've been checking out this album of Riley's lately too and enjoy not only his unique playing but interesting compositions as well:

- Special thanks to Chad Anderson who hipped me this special one (audio only!) of Max Roach:



- And finally, to finish off today's extensive Monday Morning Paradiddle, here's a little Tony Williams that has inspired me of late and should provide more than enough "fuel to the fire" to motivate me in the old woodshed this week!

Ignacio Berroa "Cascara"

I was going to post a drum lesson today that I've been working on but it's been a really busy week between nightly gigs and other commitments. So instead I give you today somebody else's drum lesson (!) featuring the great Cuban jazz drummer Ignacio Berroa demonstrating a couple of his own concepts courtesy of the nice people over at Latin Percussion:





And here's a clip of Ignacio with his trio putting these ideas into action:

Herbie Hancock 4tet with Billy Higgins

Thanks to Chad Anderson who sent me this full-length concert featuring Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, George Coleman and the great Billy Higgins on drums:



Than you Chad (in more ways than one!)

Chick Corea & Roy Haynes - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs

Hope you all had a nice weekend. Was there a football game going on something? Sorry, I'm not into four-down football...Go Riders!

Here's one to get the week started featuring a reunion trio of sorts with Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes on drums:

Ari Hoenig & Edmar Castaneda

I've posted some clips of these two before but I dig this music so much, here's some more of a great duet featuring drummer Ari Hoenig and Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda to enjoy over the coming weekend:

Jimmy Cobb - A View From The Side

Just a quick one today with a nice view of Jimmy Cobb in action:

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Thank you to everybody who came out to our big band show last Friday evening at Calgary's National Music Centre with the Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble featuring tenor titan Ralph Bowen on saxophone. The band played great and we played to a very enthusiastic, full house. We are already looking forward to our next show on April 20th featuring Brad Turner on trumpet and the music of Kenny Wheeler. Thank you all for your continued support.

Now that I can catch my breath following that epic show (!) here's a few things making the rounds over here at Four on The Floor:

- This has been a great few weeks for Jazz drummers in my hometown of Calgary, Alberta. In the last two weeks I've heard Jesse Cahill with the Cory Weeds/Steve Davis Quintet at Wine-Oh's (formerly known as the Beatniq), Lewis Nash with Christian McBride and the Monterey Jazz All-Stars and, this weekend, local drummers Tyler Hornby and Jon May with Ralph Bowen (also at the National Music Centre). Canadian Jazz drummer Morgan Childs will have his group through town this coming weekend and I'm quite looking forward to that.

Peter Hum over at jazzblog.ca recently caught up with Morgan Childs here:
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/01/28/five-questions-for-morgan-childs/

And here's a little preview of what to expect from this group featuring Morgan on drums, Kelly Jefferson on tenor saxophone, Dave Restivo on piano and Jon Maharaj on bass:



- I was searching for something else this morning and came across this brief but cool footage of Dafnis Prieto from a recent clinic performance in Toronto at Long and McQuade:





- From George Colligan over at his blog Jazz Truth, here are some words about the great Jack DeJohnette: http://jazztruth.blogspot.ca/2013/01/and-jack-dejohnette-is.html

- Check out this full-length concert of Bill Stewart with Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier:



- What am I listening to these days?

Jerrold Dubyk "The Maverick" - Jesse Cahill (drums)

Jim Brenan "January" - Dana Hall (drums)

Cannonball Adderley "Things Are Getting Better" - Art Blakey (drums) and Milt Jackson (vibes)

Bobby Hutcherson "Natural Illusions" - Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Bobby Hutcherson (vibes)

Dave Douglas "Spirit Moves" - Nasheet Waits (drums)

Tardo Hammer "Look, Stop and Listen: The Music of Tadd Dameron" - Joe Farnsworth (drums)

Chick Corea "Light as a Feather" - Airto Moreira (drums and percussion)

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

- Playing recently with saxophonist Ralph Bowen was really quite an experience, to say the least! The guy really knows his drums. While I don't have any footage of my own playing with Ralph and the CCAE big band from last Friday, here's a good one of Bowen playing with my fellow Canadian Jazz drumming blogger Ted Warren (on drums) from Toronto's Rex awhile ago on Bowen's catchy minor tune "Soul Proprietor":



Go Ted Go!!!

Thanks again everybody and have a great week y'all!

Matt Wilson Interviews Roy Haynes

When the Master speaks, we listen! Here's some inspiring words to muse over the weekend, from the great Roy Haynes as interviewed by Matt Wilson:

The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble Featuring Ralph Bowen

The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble strikes again! My big band that I co-lead with saxophonist Mark DeJong hits the stage at the National Music Centre in Calgary this Friday evening. We'll be featuring our special guest, acclaimed jazz saxophonist Ralph Bowen, on a program of his original music arranged for Jazz orchestra. Don't miss this exciting evening of music. It's going to be epic!!!

The RBC Summit Jazz Series Presents:

The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble with special guest saxophonist Ralph Bowen

Friday, January 25 - 7:30pm

National Music Centre
134 11 Avenue SE
Calgary, AB

Free admission!

https://www.facebook.com/events/126014167559684/?fref=ts

KWash with Benny Green

On Sunday evening I heard the "Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour" at the Epcor Centre in Calgary. The band featured an all-star lineup with the likes of Chris Potter, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride, Benny Green and Lewis Nash. It was a great show and really featured the strengths and talents of the diverse musicians. In particular, the hook-up between bassist McBride, Benny Green on piano and drummer Lewis Nash was impeccable and a lesson in itself in the art of rhythm section playing. This was definitely one of the better shows I've heard in recent memory.

I searched around for some recent footage of Benny Green and came across this good one of his trio featuring Kenny Washington on drums:



Really dig the deep, relaxed, swinging and soulful groove that Washington gets at this slower tempo, especially when he switches to sticks. Now THAT is hard!!! In fact, I recall from an interview with Washington in a Modern Drummer magazine from the early 90s where Kenny stressed the importance of checking out Mel Lewis' slow cymbal beat on track "The Night Time Is The Right Time" from the album "Presenting Joe Williams and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis - The Jazz Orchestra".

One should never underestimate the importance of practicing one's ride cymbal beat at a VERY slow tempo. This is something that my teacher at McGill, Chris McCann, stressed way back during my undergrad days and I feel that being able to play that cymbal pattern in a relaxed AND accurate fashion really separates the men from the boys! I think it also really establishes one's ability to feel a definitive triplet subdivision and sets the stage for a really authentic sounding/feeling Jazz cymbal beat.

Ed Thigpen on Jazz Drumming

I've posted some segments from this before, but here and in it's entirety (!), is an excellent drum master class featuring the legendary Ed Thigpen:



Special thanks to my European correspondent David Grebil who dug up this one!

Trilok Gurtu "Maati"

I've always admired percussionist Trilok Gurtu's sense of the term "World Music" and his blending of Indian classical music with Jazz, electronica and whatever else inspires his imagination. Here is a cool documentary courtesy of The DeWarists to enjoy over the weekend:

Bobby Hutcherson meets Joey DeFrancesco

Just a nice one today of my vibraphone hero, the great Bobby Hutcherson with Joey DeFrancesco on the B3 Hammond Organ:



I think the vibes and organ make for a great combination and will certainly make a point of checking out the album these two did together, "Organic Vibes".

Ali Jackson Jr. Drum Lesson

Ali Jackson Jr. demonstrates a few different grooves to some very lucky young drum students:



In particular, check out his loose right hand grip while playing the ride cymbal!

Three Over Second Line

Today's drum lesson deals with playing a three-beat phrase over a popular New Orleans bass drum pattern. I've been messing around with this pattern for a few weeks now and it really twists your sense of timing around.

The inspiration for this exercise comes from mainly three sources:

First of all I have to credit Ted Warren over at his blog Trap'd http://trapdted.blogspot.ca/. Ted has a real knack for coming up with these ingenious (and very difficult) patterns and polyrhythmic exercises that will surely twist ones brain (and limbs!)

Also, I was fortunate to spend some time studying with drummer Yoron Israel at Berklee while I was performing in Boston for an extended period of time with the touring violin troupe Barrage back in 2004.

One of the things that Yoron had me practice was the rudimental etudes from Charles Wilcoxin's classic snare drum text "The All-American Drummer".

Except (and in the spirit of Alan Dawson!) Yoron had me play all the excerpts with the following New Orleans-inspired bass drum and hi-hat pattern accompanied in my feet:

If you haven't tried something like this I highly recommend it as it really helps one apply the rudiments to the drumset in a very practical and musical manner.

Furthermore, years ago while I was studying with Montreal drummer Michel Lambert while completing my masters degree at McGill University Michel often had me play familiar sticking patterns with some kind of foot ostinato. However, he would also have me place accents in odd places and spread them around the drums, hence taking me out of my comfort zone and creating fresh patterns and new ways of playing things I had already played a million times. Very clever, I thought...

So with those three drummers in mind I came up with this pattern to mess around with:

You'll see that this pattern is a three-bar phrase with the eighth-notes played in three-note groupings while the feet play the New Orleans groove underneath 4/4 (also known as the first bar of a 3-2 clave or the first bar of the "Bo Diddley" beat.)

Really emphasize the accents and play the eighth-notes as a hand-to-hand sticking RLRLRLRL etc. Because the accents of the snare drum and bass drum don't always line up, it has a bit of a sideways feeling to it.

Now here are some sticking variations to make things more interesting:

RLL RLL RLL RLL

LRR LRR LRR LRR

RRL RRL RRL RRL

LLR LLR LLR LLR

Once you've got that together then start moving the lead accent around the drums (for the two patterns that start with a double stroke, I keep them together).

- Move the lead hand around the drums in a clockwise direction

- Move the lead hand around the drums in a counter-clockwise direction

- Alternate the lead hand accents between the high tom and floor tom

*All the inner or "unaccented" notes stay on the snare drum

Obviously there are many more variations one could come up with but as Bob McLaren always like to say: "This is enough to keep you off the streets for awhile!"

Carl Allen

Some friends of mine recently returned from the JEN conference in Atlanta and raved about, among many other things, Carl Allen's drum clinic entitled "The Shape of the Ride Cymbal". Carl is a great player that I've admired for a long time and he is also an excellent teacher and clinician (who also currently serves as the department head of the Jazz department at Juilliard). In fact, during some trips to New York about ten years ago I spent some time studying with Carl and absorbing his wisdom. To this day I still think about the important concepts about swing and music he laid on me.

The first time I heard him play live was during the summer of 2001 at the Montreal Jazz festival with Michael and Randy Brecker, pianist David Kikoski and bassist Peter Washington in a group labeled as "The Acoustic Brecker Brothers". It was a great band and a shame that they didn't record together (although I think there are a few bootlegs out there...)

Here's a nice shot of Carl in action with the reformed Jazztet with Benny Golson, Art Farmer and Curtis Fuller. Dig his solo that starts around the 1:25 mark:



And here's Carl with Christian McBride's exciting band "Inside Straight" featuring the awesome vibraphone playing of Warren Wolf on vibes:



Allen was also a member of the Benny Green Trio during the 90s and recorded some great albums with Benny including "Greens" and "Testifyin'!: Live at the Village Vanguard". Here's a good one to give you an idea as to what that trio was all about:



Carl has recorded extensively as a sideman and as a leader, however my personal favorite album that he appears on is a Rodney Whitaker date on the Criss Cross label entitled "The Brooklyn Sessions: Ballads and Blues":

The Monday Morning Paradiddle 2013

Welcome back everyone and I hope you all had a safe, sound and restful holiday season with you and yours. Thanks again for all your support and nice emails. All of us over here at Four on the Floor are looking forward to another year of blogging anything and everything related, or not, to the wide and wonderful world of Jazz drumming, the Jon McCaslin universe and beyond.

I personally had a great holiday at home over the holidays with my family and dug up these fine items for your perusal:

- I accidentally made a glaring omission in my "Best of 2012" list from my last post. While I consider Pimento's Pizzeria in Calgary's Bridgeland neighborhood to be my favorite pizza joint in town in fact I should mention that Vancouver's Pizzeria Barbarella http://pizzeriabarbarella.com/ is actually THE best pizza I've ever tasted. Thanks to Phil Dwyer who introduced me to this East Broadway gem last spring. Proprietor Terry Deane is also a fine Jazz tenor saxophonist as well. Check it out and you won't be disappointed (although please consider eating your pizza with a knife and fork at your own risk!)

- Drummer Eric Harland has been making some waves over the past few years with a variety of projects. I first heard Eric at the late-night jam session at the Blue Note in New York about ten years ago, playing with saxophonist Rick Margitza and was impressed even back then. Harland is quite the in-demand drummer these days and from this footage of him performing at a Berklee event, you can clearly see why:



I first heard Harland's name mentioned to me via some classmates of his who attended the Manhattan School of Music with him during the late 90s. Lately I've been really enjoying his work with Charles Lloyd and in particular the ECM record "Tales of Rumi" in which Lloyd and Harland are joined by tabla great Zakir Hussain.

- Joe Lovano has long been one of my favorite Jazz saxophonists and I really admire how he embraces such a wide spectrum of improvisation, dealing with straight-ahead standards to freer, more open contexts as well and all with great ease and a personal style. Here's Lovano demonstrating is affinity for playing with great drummers, in this case with the great Milford Graves:



- As I mentioned before, I was fortunate to spend some time studying with the great Joe LaBarbera earlier this fall. When I asked Joe what he considered to be Buddy Rich's "finest moment" Joe replied, and without hesitation: "The Hague 1978". Here's an excerpt from that concert (now available on DVD) and you can clearly see why (here's a hint: it's the blue sweater and large white collared shirt...)



- For my good friend Bryan Niblock, here's yet another one of Peter Erskine from a recent hit in France:



- I had the pleasure of playing a lot of Duke Ellington's music in December with several great big bands, including Duke and Billy Strayhorn's re-arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite. Ellington's music cannot be underestimated nor dismissed and it was a real lesson studying the drumming of Sam Woodyard and Louie Bellson, in particular, in advance of those gigs.

Here's a great one I recently discovered of tap dancer Bunny Briggs featured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra circa. 1965 with Louie Bellson on drums (possibly playing with a single bass drum?):



- I've been listening to and absorbing a lot of Bobby Hutcherson's music lately and I came across this wonderful article in which Hutcherson describes an incident while rehearsing with Eric Dolphy:

http://stopsmilingonline.com/story_detail.php?id=1051

I strongly feel that Dolphy's message in that "Love Conquers All" still resonates today. Words to live by indeed...

Welcome back and have a great week everybody!