Brian Blade - Jazz Crimes

Today, a burning solo transcription of drummer Brian Blade from the Joshua Redman album "Elastic".

Here it is as transcribed by Mike Papagni:



Here is the same studio version of the solo as performed by "GM":



And here's a live version featuring Brian Blade with Joshua Redman and Sam Yahel:



Playing like that is a crime indeed !

Frankie Dunlop

I decided today to highlight another favorite drummer of mine, but one who gets little attention in jazz circles - that being the great Frankie Dunlop who held the drum chair with Thelonious Monk's quartet during the 1960s (Ben Riley was another significant drummer who played with Monk around this time). Frankie Dunlop is, somewhat, so obscure that I couldn't even find a photo of him to post on my blog ! (so I settled for the cover of one of my favorite Monk albums he plays on). I was first introduced to Dunlop's brilliant and unique drumming style by now Paris-based jazz drummer Karl Januska. Karl and I went to McGill together during the mid-1990s and I've been a big fan of Dunlop's bouncy, medium tempos ever since. When I studied with drummer/pianist Andre White while pursuing my Master's Degree at McGill, studying Dunlop's approach to soloing and comping were both serious assignments he gave to me - and I sure learned a lot from those !

Frankie Dunlop is a great drummer that we should pay attention to and study. His approach to rhythm was a great compliment to Thelonious Monk's and, while steeped in the bop tradition of drumming, he definitely had his own thing going on. Pay attention to his solos and notice how he will intentionally turn the beat around and play the hi-hat on beats 1 & 3 - and it swings like mad !

*Also interesting to note: I once read in a Jazz Times magazine interview with drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts where he stated that Dunlop was a big influence on him as well. Maybe not such an obvious influence since the influence of Elvin and Tony play such a predominant role in Watt's drumming style. But it's in there !

Anyways, here's a few rare clips of Frankie Dunlop featured with Thelonious Monk:







And here's a clip of Ireland's premier jazz drummer, Conor Guilfoyle, demonstrating his transcription of Frankie Dunlop's solo on the Monk composition "I Mean You":



Conor has a wealth of great drum lessons on youtube.com and check out his website for other great lessons and more transcriptions and such:

www.conorguilfoyle.com

The Greatest Drum Battle of ALL Time

Today, from some concert footage originally aired in the UK comes a drum battle of epic proportions.

Here Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Art Blakey take the stage in one of the heaviest displays of cooperative jazz drumming I've ever seen:







I don't know about you, but if I was ever playing the drums and had Elvin Jones looking over my shoulder, I might be just a tad intimidated ! Just sayin'...

Matt Wilson - Solos: The Jazz Sessions

More great footage today of the master rhythmatist & sound sculptor Matt Wilson in action. This time in a variety of improvised solo spots filmed by director Daniel K Berman for a television series entitled Solos: The Jazz Sessions, produced for the Bravo! channel on Canadian television.

There are several GREAT episodes in the series, all featuring many of the world's leading jazz artists, all performing in an improvised SOLO setting. This was a great idea ! Make a master jazz musician comfortable in a nice setting, let him/her do there thing and film it. Brilliant.

You can also find out more about this great series and even order DVDs from the website here:

www.solosjazz.com

Check out all the heavyweights that contributed to this series !

The Matt Wilson episode is great but I also recently acquired the Matt Wilson/Lee Konitz duet DVD from the same series as well and that is really something else. Matt and Lee have a musical relationship going back several years and it shows. I've also enjoyed their duologue on this particular album:



Incidentally, all the features for the Solo sessions were filmed at the Berkeley Church & Performance space in Toronto, where I played my first gig in Toronto after moving there in 2007. Of course, the music we were playing for the wedding reception taking place in the Berkeley wasn't nearly as hip as these sessions !

Kendrick Scott

Kendrick Scott is a great young drummer who is making waves in Jazz circles these days. I first heard Kendrick in Washington D.C. while playing with vocalist Julie Hardy in 2003. She gave me a CD of her music to learn for our gig and after some listening (like after the first 8 bars!) I was like: "Who the hell is this amazing drummer ???" Of course, it was her friend Kendrick Scott whom she and her husband/pianist Randy Ingram had gone to school with and played with during their days in Boston. I was immediately a fan.

Lucky for me I heard Kendrick play later that week and met him backstage at a gig of his in Washington D.C., at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he was playing with Terence Blanchard's band. Kendrick is the regular drummer in Blanchard's band and is really playing great these days.

To me, Scott is a perfect example of a great contemporary jazz drummer who has all the tools necessary to play Jazz music effectively in today's crazy world: great technique, swings hard, grooves hard, nice touch & feel on the drums, impeccable musicality and he is able to switch stylistic gears and combine musical styles effectively without sounding cliched.

Here's Kendrick in a couple of solos spots with non other than Herbie Hancock:





Nice gig to have !

And here's a couple of clips of Scott performing with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene:





And some more nice footage of Kendrick Scott playing with his current employer, Terence Blanchard:





Kendrick Scott also has a couple of albums released under his own name and I would highly recommend these to anyone interested in checking out this fine contemporary jazz drummer.

20 Pieces of Music That Changed The World

For those not aware of this great series presented by the CBC's Sunday Edition radio program, I would highly recommend checking this out. The program is hosted by Michael Enright with music expert Richard Harris. Each program highlights a specific piece of music and they discuss the cultural impact that each piece of music had during its time. Lots of great history there and I guarantee that you'll learn something.

Fortunately this is all available online and I believe that a CD boxset will soon be available.

Check it out on the CBC's Sunday Edition website here:

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/features/20pieces.html

Even More Brush Patterns

Some more important brush patterns posted here today, here explained by Vater drumstick artist James "Animal" Harrison.

The brushes are still a misunderstood aspect of drumming and I'm always encouraging younger students to learn how to play them and explore the textural opportunities they afford. They really are a different animal than a pair of sticks so we, as drummers, really have to pay attention to them and practice them as such. Fortunately, with such great instructional books and DVDs that are available on the market today and dedicated specifically to the art of brushwork, there is really no excuse not to check them out !

Jack DeJohnette & Trio Beyond

More nice concert footage today from Europe, this time from 2006 with Jack DeJohnette on drums, John Scofield on guitar and Larry Goldings on organ and keyboards (what, no Hans Groiner ?)

Trio Beyond was formed as a tribute band in 2003, paying homage to the Tony Williams Lifetime group of the 1970s.

Max & Dizzy

Two of my favorite jazz musicians playing in an intimate drums & trumpet duet:








If you like these clips, then check out this album:



Salt Peanuts !

The Metronome

I've been in the middle of several interesting e.mail exchanges lately with my DMA colleagues Tom Van Seters & Patrick Boyle and future U of T jazz professor emeritus Paul Read about the role and validity of using a metronome in one's practice routine. I was also intrigued by a couple of other posts that have popped up on my jazz blog radar regarding the use of a metronome (or not!)

Check out some interesting discussion at Dave Douglas' blog here where he answers some questions originally put forth by bassist Jeff Berlin on the topic of using a metronome:

http://greenleafmusic.com/blog/2009/12/from-the-mail-bin-jeff-berlin-and-the-metronome.php

Also, another nice follow up commentary on the same topic by pianist Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus here:

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2009/12/metronome-mythologies.html

A quote that really cracked me up here was:

"about the time that someone gave Oscar Peterson a drum machine to play with. After a week of fooling around with it, Peterson reported back, “This is fun, but it drags.”
HA !!!

Interesting. I obviously can't really deny that Peterson swings like MAD so who cares if he speeds up and couldn't match the click. What does this tell us about playing with a metronome ?

I am very interested in the Metronome Debate and in different musicians opinions that exist in regards to whether or not practicing to a metronome really benefits his or her Time and/or Time Feel.

*I'll begin by stating that I don't think these two elements, Time & Time Feel, are necessarily one and the same !*
(more on that later)

Some musicians feel that playing with a metronome doesn't really help you at all (see Jeff Berlin's letter to Dave Douglas) yet
others think that it's an invaluable tool to developing your sense of Time. I always relish at the opportunity to sit down with Montreal trumpeter and McGill professor Kevin Dean to hear about his philosophy regarding Time and how he uses a metronome in practice. After you listen to him preach, you'd swear there was no other way !

One thing is for sure though, GREAT musicians consider having great Time a priority (almost to the point of being like a religion) and not something to be taken lightly.

However, how the metronome plays into that equation is still up to debate.

So here are some questions I'd like to address in this blog over the course of the next while and I would certainly appreciate any feedback from anyone out there who is reading this and cares : )

- Are metronomes useful tools for developing ones' sense of time ?

- Why or why not ?

- If Yes, what different ways can you use a metronome to practice ?

- If No, what tools or approach do you use instead to develop your sense of Time ?


Yes, folks - Time is not just a magazine !

To be continued...

Mark Sherman & Tim Horner

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all have a great 2010 ! Welcome back to Four on The Floor and I'm looking forward to another year of posts relating to jazz drumming and other things (like my favorite recipes, among other things...). Thank you for your continued support.

Over the holidays I've had some nice down time and the opportunity to check out some new music and grab lots of great things off the web. These days I'm a big fan of the live streaming video feed from Small's Jazz Club in New York City.

Follow this link: http://www.smallsjazzclub.com/index.cfm?itemCategory=32338&siteid=272&priorId=0&banner=a

I check in often and we are lucky to have this great web resource. I'm often amazed at the number of great artists that I'm introduced to via this site aside from the other jazz greats that I get to listen to in real time if I can stay up late enough. They also have a number of shows audio archived for later listening.

One gig I caught not too long ago that caught my attetion featured vibraphonist Mark Sherman with drummer Tim Horner, two great musicians I was not familiar with. I sat up quite late that evening (they were playing the late set !) and enjoyed their set immensely.

Here's some footage of both Mark and Tim in action from a previous gig at the Sweet Rhythm jazz club in New York City, with Joe Magnarelli on trumpet:

John Hollenbeck & The Claudia Quintet Wish You A Happy New Year !

A double dose of good concerts here today at Four on The Floor, in the spirit of ringing in the New Year.

Here's a killing concert from Europe featuring drummer/composer John Hollenbeck and his Claudia Quintet:













Hollenbeck is an exceptional contemporary drummer and composer, first introduced to me by Montreal bassist Miles Perkin and Brandon University professor Greg Gatien. Unfortunately I don't know much about his music but look forward to checking out much more of his music in the near future. During my time at the University of Toronto, Paul Read also hipped to several of his large ensemble projects. I understand that he was a disciple of Bob Brookmeyer's and really seems to be at the forefront of contemporary "jazz" composing (I'm not even sure he would call his music "jazz", not that that really matters!) I really dig how "in tune" he is with the sounds he and his musical counterparts are making and how they are able to manipulate a soundscape. The guy really knows how to listen ! Quite a minimalist compositional influence in there as well.

Looking forward to more Hollenbeck in 2010.

Herbie Hancock a Vienne

Some ridiculous concert footage today with Herbie Hancock leading an all-star band from 2004.

This band consists of:

Herbie Hancock - piano
Wayne Shorter - tenor & soprano saxophones
Dave Holland - bass
Brian Blade - drums















Whoaaa !!!

(Brian Blade has obviously been eating his chowder....)

Turkey & Corn Chowder

Here's a new favorite recipe to use up your leftover turkey from Christmas. There were only four of us over for Christmas dinner this year and the smallest free range turkey we could find was 19 lbs (!) so we've got a fair amount of leftover turkey meat sitting in the fridge.

Here's a very friendly recipe if you are into soups:

Turkey & Corn Chowder

1 onion
2 celery stalks
2 green onions
3 garlic cloves
1/2 green or red pepper (optional)
2 cups of diced potatoes
2 cups of water
2 cups of milk
1 chicken bullion cube
1 can of creamed corn
2 cups of leftover turkey

Fry up the diced onion, garlic and celery in a large pot with some butter. Simmer.

Add water, chicken bullion cube and potatoes. Allow to boil until potatoes are cooked and soft.

Add turkey (in small pieces), diced green onions, milk, corn and diced green pepper. Mix well and allow to cook at medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add pepper to taste.

Enjoy !

Klook

An important drummer we should all check out and recognize is Kenny Clarke. "Klook" (as he was nicknamed) was one of the most influential jazz drummers of his time and revolutionized jazz drumming by focusing his method of timekeeping on the ride cymbal (as opposed to the hi-hat or snare drum). Klook was THE bebop drummer of his time and laid the foundation for future jazz drummers to follow. Later establishing himself in France for a good portion of his life, he remained an influential drummer on the European jazz scene.

One of the first jazz records I ever obtained when I was a kid had Kenny Clarke on it. My jazz combo teacher at the time, Brenda McAlpine, recognized that I was struggling with trying to figure out what jazz drummers to listen to. So she went to the Regina Public Library, took out a stack of LPs and made me a series of cassettes of things to check out. An album that she gave me and STILL influences me to this day was "Kenny Clarke Meets The Detroit Jazzmen", a very swinging date featuring Kenny Clarke with a host of jazz musicians originally from Detroit including: Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Pepper Adams and Kenny Burrell. His cymbal playing, brushwork and TIME on that album is really something else ! One of my desert island albums, for sure.

Once I attended McGill University as an undergraduate student, studying Kenny Clarke's ride cymbal beat was standard fare around those parts and required material assigned by my teachers Chris McCann and Andre White. My friend Jesse Cahill, who was also a student at McGill at the time, was really into Klook and would often hip me to different albums and things to check out.

Furthermore, when I studied with drummer Terry Clarke in Toronto a couple of years ago, one of my assignments was to read the Mike Hennessy biography entitled "Klook: The Story of Kenny Clarke". Unfortunately this great book is out of print, but if you dig around you might still be able to find it. Took quite a bit of detective work on my part, but I'm glad was able to track it down. This book is an excellent insight into the life and music of one of jazz drumming's iconic figures.

Here's some of my favorite footage of Klook that is floating around youtube.com. The following is some great music with Clark Terry and tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen (I would like to know more about this guy! Is he still alive?):





Here with Sonny Stitt, J.J.Johnson and Howard McGhee in a tribute to Charlie Parker:



And here with a long time musical associate of Klook's, Bud Powell:





Kenny Clarke fronted a number of his own groups while living in France (of course, one most notably being the Clarke/Boland big band) and had a number of steady engagements at several prominent Parisian jazz clubs during his time overseas.

Here he is playing with one of his small groups featuring George Gruntz on piano and other European musicians:

Louie Bellson - Gone But Not Forgotten

Drummer Louie Bellson, who sadly passed away earlier this year, was one of my first early influences as a jazz drummer. In my early teens I would often listen to a late night jazz program on CBC Radio entitled "Easy Street" hosted by Margaret Pacsu. This program was a great introduction into the world of jazz music. The format of the program would often focus on retrospectives of specific jazz artists, usually from the swing & big band era. I still have many of the cassette tapes I used to dub those programs in real time ! One such episode that had a profound impact on me featured the career of drummer Louie Bellson.

I was lucky to see Bellson play in person, with his L.A. big band, at the 1995 IAJE conference in Anaheim, California. His drumming was impeccable and he drove his band with taste and an uncompromising sense of swing and musicality. I was also to witness a tour-de-force drum feature that lasted well over 15 minutes ! Louie pulled out all the stops and I'll always remember that concert. Afterwards I met Louie outside the theatre where he was signing autographs and posing for photos at his merchandise table (!) I still have my autographed Louie Bellson "dish towel" around here somewhere (yes, I am serious!) Bellson was a complete gentlemen as I shook his hand and he thanked me for my kind words.

Here are a few of my favorite clips of Bellson doing this thing:



Bellson featured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra:



And here, with his own big band from the Cork Jazz Festival circa. 1980:



A couple of nice clips showing Bellson soloing in the studio:





And here's another EPIC Louie Bellson drum solo that features him with brushes, sticks, "jingle" sticks and, at one point, four sticks (two in each hand!):



Here's one from a 1957 date in Europe with saxophonists Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins:



Thanks Louie !

Victor Feldman

I've been enjoying this album quite a bit these days. A great straight-ahead date featuring Victor Feldman on vibraphone and piano, supported by the "Original Original" Stan Levey on drums and Scott LaFaro on bass. This album actually represents the only album I've ever heard LaFaro play on outside of the Bill Evans trio dates !

*Note that in addition to being a great vibraphonist and pianist, Victor Feldman was a very accomplished drummer as well (!) Yep, he was one of THOSE guys...maybe he's related to Don Thompson !

Here's a couple of samples from that album:





Some brisk tempos there ! Smooth sailing...

Speaking of which...
Stan Levey looks quite cute in the sailor hat, wouldn't you agree ? Of course, I would never have said that to his face back in the day. Stan, in addition to being one of the greatest bebop drummers of his time (at one point he was Max Roach's roomate!), he was also a very competent boxer and didn't take any crap from anyone !

But I did actually meet Stan Levey at the 2005 IAJE convention in Long Beach, California and he was very nice to me then (sans the sailors cap of course!). He had a booth promoting a great DVD documentary produced about his life entitled:
"Stan Levey: The Original Original"

Check that out here: www.stanlevey.com

Anyways, back to Victor Feldman, there is also some nice live footage floating around youtube of Feldman in action:

Tony Williams Quintet

Some footage today of one of the great Jazz quintets to come out of the 1980s & 90s, The Tony Williams Quintet, featuring:

Tony Williams - drums
Wallace Roney - trumpet
Billy Pierce - tenor saxophone
Robert Hurst - bass
Mulgrew Miller - piano









I consider myself very fortunate to have attended a drum clinic with Tony Williams about fifteen years ago, at an IAJE conference in Anaheim, California. Tony began his clinic with a very looooooong and awe-inspiring drum solo to a room packed full of students, educators and jazz legends. He then proceeded to give many honest answers to questions from the audience regarding everything from his tenure with Miles Davis to his technical approach to the drums.

In fact, I remember one humorous anecdote from that clinic in which someone asked Williams to describe his approach to brush playing. "Brushes?", exclaimed Williams, "I make a better spaghetti sauce than I play the brushes !" Tony Williams then proceeded to describe his favorite recipe and I wish I had written that down at the time...Incidentally, I must imagine that his sauce must be pretty damn good considering that I think his brush playing to be amazing by all accounts ! (check out his great brush playing on his Blue Note album entitled "Spring" for an example of some fine Tony Williams brush playing)

Anyways, that was quite an inspiring experience for a young jazz drummer at the time, such as myself.

I really dig Tony's yellow Gretsch drums with the three-floor tom configuration. Never did figure out those big black dots on the drumheads, though. However, he sure made them sound great !

Jazzy Chocolate Guinness Cake

A Christmas dessert tradition in my house !

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

1 cup Guinness
1 cup butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

CAKE PREPERATION:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool completely in the pan.

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS SAUCE:
1/4 cup Guinness draught stout
4 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until smooth. Allow to cool.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE:
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Turn off heat and stir in chocolate until sauce is smooth and creamy.

Apply ganache, vanilla ice cream and sauce to cake.

Drink leftover Guinness.

Enjoy !

Jo Jones - Born To Swing

Well, one more post here before we put on our Santa's Christmas hats and break out the eggnog (among other beverages!)

This segment is from a 1970s documentary entitled "Born to Swing" and followed a studio recording reunion date featuring several alumni members of the Count Basie band from the 1930s. There is some great footage of the great Papa Jo Jones here. Check out his brushwork around the 5:28 mark. It's unbelievable how HIGH his brushes are coming off the drum head at that tempo !!! In my opinion, that's just scary...



Furthermore, can you imagine having Jo Jones as your own personal drum teacher ? (as seen in the video) Well, I can dream can't I ? From what I understand, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams were also teaching out of Frank Ippolito's Manhattan drum shop around that time (!)

Anyways, here's a few more amazing shots of Jo Jones in action:









Some people are quick to dismiss this style of drumming as old and irrelevant nowadays. But I think it swings like mad and we should all be very lucky to even come close to capturing the joyous feeling that Mr. Jones was able get out of a set drums !