What Do Artists Do All Day?: Evelyn Glennie

From the BBC series "What Do Artists Do All Day?", here's a wonderful feature on percussionist Evelyn Glennie:





Incidentally, the other features in this BBC series, featuring diverse artists from a variety of disciplines, are all very good as well and worth checking out.

And if you are looking for even more inspiration/motivation, the fellow who posted these videos also curates a great youtube.com channel entitled "Art Documentaries" worth exploring:

https://www.youtube.com/user/taran333tula/videos

Doctoral Studies: Melodic Jazz Drumming

A little over a year ago I successfully defended by doctoral thesis "Melodic Jazz Drumming" at the University of Toronto. This project was the culmination of many years of hard work and I learned a great deal from the experience. I am very fortunate to apply the concepts and ideas I learned every time, it seems, whenever I sit behind a set of drums or work with a student.

My dissertation is now available on-line and if you are interested in taking a look, check it out here:

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/69408/3/McCaslin_Jonathan_D_201506_DMA_thesis.pdf

Tain Revisited

I originally posted this series of interviews with Jeff "Tain" Watts back in 2010 and they are still up on youtube.com so I recently decided to watch these again and repost for a little motivation and inspiration:







Here's a great JazzTimes article on the legacy and innovations of Watts:

http://jazztimes.com/articles/170486-jeff-tain-watts-how-he-revolutionized-jazz-drumming

And a couple more clips to remind us of what a bad ass he is on the drums!

Buddy Rich Paris 1970

I guess it's Buddy Rich week over here at Four on the Floor….Thanks to Brad Shigeta who passed along this one that I haven't seen before:



And here's a condensed version featuring just the drum solos:



I think the organ is a nice change of pace for this music and dig the over head camera angles. Class is now in session!

Rich on Brushes

From the 1974 Buddy Rich album "Tuff Dude", here's Rich sticking with his brushes on a trio rendition of "Billie's Bounce" along with Kenny Barron on piano and Anthony Jackson on electric bass:



And here's another example of Rich's fine brush playing with his big band from an appearance at the Montreal Jazz Festival:

Brad Mehldau "All The Things You Are" 7/4

Today's guest post is brought to us by Toronto pianist and my good friend Gerry Shatford. This is an extensive analysis of Brad Mehldau's 7/4 version of "All The Things You Are" from The Art of the Trio, Volume 4.

Shatford has painstakingly taken the time to transcribe AND learn Mehldau's playing note-for-note (see the videos below) and he was also kind enough to offer (at my request) an extensive rhythmic analysis of this performance.

Thank you Gerry for all your hard work putting this together.

Vinnie Meets Zakir

Thanks to Chris Worthington who passed along these good ones of Dave Holland's band at the SF Jazz Center featuring Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Zakir Hussain on tabla:

Andre White

Montreal's Andre White has long been a huge influence on me for over twenty years now. And not only is he an incredibly swinging Jazz drummer, he plays the piano with an affinity towards Bill Evans and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Jazz history too. I learned a great deal from Andre during my days studying at McGill and still do, to this very day.

I recently heard Andre play in Gatineau, Quebec last October with Steve Grossman, Fred Henke and Ron Seguin (a sort of reunion band, as it were) and I was quickly reminded of how much influence he's had on my drumming and my being a Jazz musician over the years. Mr. White is all ears, all music and all about playing for the musicians around him.

Here's some recent footage of Andre in action with Toronto saxophonist Kirk MacDonald featuring Harold Mabern on piano.



Burnin' !

And here's a full concert from their recent appearance at New York's Jazz @ Lincoln Center:



And, lastly, here's a track from an unreleased trio album offered to us from Montreal's Mike Rud, a nice little swinging jaunt on "Cherokee":

Dave Black

Thanks to Phil Stewart who posted this one via the Facebook:



Black was one of the great post-WWII swing drummers who, among others, played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Apparently, as legend has it, he was also one of the very few drummers that made Buddy Rich nervous. From the footage above, perhaps you can hear why...

Billy Drummond Clinica de Bateria

From a recent clinic in Buenos Aries, here's Billy Drummond doing what he does best:

Max Roach Interview

As always, when the Masters speak, we listen:




Check out Roach's 1998 feature with Marian McPartland on NPR's "Piano Jazz":

http://www.npr.org/2008/02/22/19269815/drumming-legend-max-roach-on-piano-jazz

Farnsworth en Italia

A few nice highlights of Joe Farnsworth's masterclass from a recent workshop in Italy:

Happy New Year!

Billy Martin: Percussion Ensemble & Drum Solo

A nice find today of Billy Martin directing a percussion ensemble and featured in a solo feature:



This will be my last post of 2015. Time for a wee holiday, me thinks. Thanks again for your support, drive safe and see you all in 2016!

More Hammer...

Thanks to the kind people over at Jazz @ Lincoln Center, here's a few more lessons with Jeff Hamilton:

- Jeff talks about his mentors and formative influences:




- Hammer discusses the importance of learning the rudiments and how to play them around the drum set:

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

This column is a little bit late today but hey, it's Monday morning "somewhere" in the world (!) so here you go...This will likely be my last "Monday Morning Paradiddle" column of 2015 and I've tried to include a backlog of things that have been collecting on my desktop lately. So here's what's happening around the interweb these days in the wide world of Jazz drumming:

- John Hollenbeck, the most recent addition to the Jazz faculty at McGill University, and his large ensemble is featured at CBC Music:

http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2015/10/Live-webcast-John-Hollenbeck-Large-Ensemble-plays-Montreal

- Antonio Sanchez talks drums, music and movie soundtracks over at the Drummer's Resource Podcast:

http://www.drummersresource.com/antonio-sanchez-interview/

- Matt Wilson is currently on the road with his "Christmas Tree-O" project. Hear what he has to say about his recent happenings:

http://straightnochaserjazz.libsyn.com/podcast-408-a-conversation-with-matt-wilson

- A great recent Jazz Times article on the legacy of contemporary Master drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts:

http://jazztimes.com/articles/170486-jeff-tain-watts-how-he-revolutionized-jazz-drumming

And an older Jazz Times article featuring Max Roach's reflections on the legacy of Tony Williams:

http://jazztimes.com/articles/24823-max-roach-remembers-tony-williams

- More on Max Roach via Scott K. Fish's excellent blog:

https://scottkfish.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/max-roach-a-great-drummer-looks-back-at-influences-1958/

- Jerry Granelli, the drummer on the original Charlie Brown sessions with pianist/composer Vince Guaraldi, reflects on the iconic "Charlie Brown Christmas" sessions:

http://observer.com/2015/12/jerry-granelli-reflects-on-a-charlie-brown-christmas/

- A BBC Radio interview with British Jazz drummer Martin France:

http://bbc.in/1MemNjp

And here's some footage with France demonstrating his drums and cymbals…



- WWOZ's "New Orleans Calling" offers this piece on Johnny Vidacovich:

http://neworleanscalling.wwoz.org/portrait-of-a-drummer/

- Thanks to Adam Nussbaum who passed along this great article from Vanity Fair, a piece from drummer Gregg Field about his days playing with Frank Sinatra:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/12/frank-sinatra-final-concert-gregg-field-drummer- Jeff 

- A great story testifying to the generous spirit of the great "Big" Sid Catlett:

https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/the-generosity-of-a-great-artist/

- From Noel Martin Jr., via the Facebook, here's a great piece on developing your left hand, Traditional Grip from the perspective of Tony Williams:



- "The day Elvin Jones fired up Milwaukee's Lakefront Festival of Art in 1972":

http://kevernacular.com/?p=6713

- Ralph Peterson Jr. laying it down with his brushes!



Get well soon Ralph!


- Johnathan Blake stretches out with Joe Lovano and Chris Potter from their interpretation of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme":



And here's a great recent interview with Blake from Jazz Times:

http://jazztimes.com/articles/171205-melody-in-mind-drummer-composer-johnathan-blake

- Some up close drumming from Jack DeJohnette from his appearance at the Drum Boogie Festival in Woodstock, New York:



And more DeJohnette with the Jack DeJohnette All-Stars from the Newport Jazz Festival:

http://livejazzlounge.com/2010/2012/12/08/jack-dejohnette-all-stars-newport-jazz-festival-august-2012/


-  An interview with contemporary Jazz drumming icon Brian Blade:




- This is brilliant!




- What am I listening to these days?

Barry Harris "Luminescence" - Lenny McBrowne (drums)

Duke Pearson "Sweet Honey Bee" - Mickey Roker (drums)

Bob Sheppard "Close Your Eyes" - Antonio Sanchez (drums)

The Fensters "Vol. X" - Alan Jones (drums)

Kevin Harris "Bird Interpretations" - Francisco Mela (drums)


- And today's Final Word goes to Toronto's Mark Kelso:

"The Power of Rhythm" by Mark Kelso

"Rhythm is mystical. Rhythm is spiritual. Rhythm is powerful. It has coexisted with mankind since the dawn of time. There are large rhythmic cycles like the change of the seasons, the orbit of the earth around the sun, the swelling of the sea. Smaller rhythmic cycles like the life of a tree, the life of a person, the sun rising and setting and then smaller cycles again like a baby’s rapid heartbeat or an adults slower heartbeat, the barking of a dog or the clapping of hands. Everything has a rhythm to it and it’s what lets us know we are alive.

As Drummers, we are chosen as vessels to keep rhythm important, to make peoples bodies move, to spread joy, fear, create tension, keep time and most importantly, to make music feel good. The power of rhythm is not to be taken lightly by anyone who ventures down its rhythmic path. If you pick up the sticks, you should know there’s a long journey ahead of you. Rhythm is a living thing and it is embedded deep into our DNA. Everyone’s DNA.The knowledge we have today, as sophisticated as we know it to be, comes from a very old place. From the 5000 year old practice of playing a rattle to a newborn baby, to watching an infant react and instinctively dance when they hear rhythm being played, we can see it’s magic. It’s fascinating to watch when we play a rhythm and it affects a persons physicality. Rhythm can do that! That’s when you can see its power in action. That is when you understand why we play the drums. It’s a gift and we give that gift to everyone who joins in the rhythmic cycle and connects on a deep level to what we do. It is our passion. It is our goal. It is our life."

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Thanks again for all your support and I'll be back soon with a few more posts before my annual holiday break. Have a great week.

Mark Kelso "Making Metronome Practice More Fun"

Thanks to the kind folks over at Drumeo, here's Toronto/Humber College's Mark Kelso with his very informative session entitled "Making Metronome Practice More Fun":



Mark also has his own full-length DVD in the works, "Musician First, Drummer Second", so be on the look out for that as well. Check it out: http://groovydrums.com/musician-first-drummer-second/

Art Blakey: Caravan

Thanks to Bill Steiger who passed along this inspiring and action packed clip of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers:

Wallace Roney: The Great Jazz Drummers

Trumpeter Wallace Roney shares his thoughts about the great Jazz drummers:

Here's the complete series:

http://snapshotsfoundation.com/index.php/articles/135-wallace-roney-interview

And few excerpts via YouTube.com:

Billy Martin Solo Drums

A very musical set of solo drums/percussion offered by Billy Martin: