Oral History with Albert "Tootie" Heath

There are many great lessons and other great Jazz related things over the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz Academy youtube.com page worth checking out. I really enjoyed this three part interview with the great Albert "Tootie" Heath:

Eddie Gladden with Dexter Gordon

Thanks to Bill Steiger for passing along these wonderful and BURNING clips of the underrated Eddie Gladden from a 1979 North Sea Jazz Festival featuring Dexter Gordon, Kirk Lightsey and Rufus Reid:

Bobby Sanabria LP Basics

Thanks to the kind people over at LP Percussion, here's drummer/percussionist/educator extraordinare Bobby Sanabria demonstrating several Afro-Cuban rhythms as applied to the drum set:

Guest Blog Post: Max Senitt

Today's challenging guest blog post comes from Toronto-based drummer extraordinare Max Senitt. I used to hear him play around town all the time while I was living in Toronto five, six years ago and he's also written a series of great articles on drumming for Canadian Musician Magazine.

A little about Max:

Toronto based drummer, Max Senitt, has been playing music for longer than he can remember. He started in his crib, kicking the side with a surprisingly steady pulse. By the age of seven, interest in "skillful banging" continued to escalate, and a drum set was appropriately purchased. Now with more than 30 years of drumming under his belt, Max shows no signs of slowing down. The beautiful sounds of music from all around the world continue to inspire and feed his deep thirst for musical knowledge. 

Max maintains a busy freelance career playing a wide range of musical styles with many highly acclaimed Juno and Grammy Award winning artists. Past and present credits include working with the likes of Alex Cuba, Gord Sheard, Hilario Duran, Carol Welsman, Zebrina, Eliana Cuevas, Gary Morgan and Panamericana, Etienne Charles, The Flying Bulgars, Canefire, Elizabeth Shepherd and Odessa Havana.

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"The 5 stroke Roll/Venezuelan Merengue Exercise" by: Max Senitt

That’s right! Here is a fun and challenging little exercise that combines an application of the 5 stroke roll inspired by my friend, master drummer/teacher Pedro Barahona, who I met earlier this year while in Chile (you can read an article about that meeting here: http://issuu.com/drumsetc.ca/docs/drums_v26n2_web/21?e=6697883/7572137 ), and two foot ostinatos that come from a very interesting Venezuelan Folk rhythm called “Merengue”. The Venezuelan Merengue is quite different from the more popular “Merengue”, which originates from the Dominican Republic. The biggest difference between the two rhythms is the time signature. The Venezuelan Merengue in 5/8, whereas the Dominican version is in Cut Time or 4/4.

To begin, become acquainted with the first 5 hand patterns. You will notice that they are essentially just 5 stroke rolls leaving out the pause after the single hit that we are all accustomed to doing. This is the element that I learned from Pedro. You will also notice that patterns 2-5 are simply permutations of the first one, or the same pattern shifted over to have the single accented hit fall on each part of the beat. The technique of permutation is a frequently reoccurring theme in my teaching and practice, due to its completeness and challenging qualities.

Once you have a handle on the hand patterns, begin to add the feet. The basis of the Venezuelan Merengue shown in foot pattern, is quite similar to a 6/8 rhythm found in many parts of South America. This rhythm is created by adding one extra 8th note rest at the end of bar. Some of the names of the 6/8 version are: Joropo in Venezuela, Chacarera in Argentina, Cueca in Chile, and Lando in Peru. The 5/8 rhythm has been know to be called the “Drunken Six” due to its limping sensation. As you become comfortable with each hand pattern over the 2 foot ostinatos, have some fun orchestrating the accents around the drums. You can also apply buzz strokes and “diddles” to the accents.

One thing I recommend as you are researching deeper on the Venezuelan Merengue (which you will do of course!), try searching “merengue venezolano” and you will find the 5/8 goodness a lot easier! You can also find some nice Venezuelan Merengue on the latest album from pianist Edward Simon: http://sunnysidezone.com/album/venezuelan-suite
 

Thanks for reading this article, and if you have any further questions or would like to book a private or skype lesson with me, I can be reached though my website http://www.maxsenitt.com and also found on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube.com, and Instagram.

Drums & Bass with Ed Soph

Here's an interesting recital featuring bassist Fred Hamilton with UNT drum professor Ed Soph in a creative and musical demonstration of how to play in duet a with only bass and drums:



This is something that I'd actually like to see more of. In fact, this idea reminds somewhat of an old record featuring Jo Jones and Milt Hinton, playing duets entitled "Percussion and Bass". Montreal bassist Alec Walkington also reminded me a number of years ago about a recording of Paul Chambers and Art Blakey playing duets on the album "Drums Around the Corner" on the pieces "What is This Thing Called Love" and the Irving Berlin tune "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" that were quite illuminating. I also remember having a discussion with Toronto bassist Mike Downes about how he used to sit down with drummer Ted Warren and practice together on a regular basis to get their groove together when they were students at McGill.

Anyways, the lesson here is that it's always a great idea as a drummer to sit down with a bass player and make some music together even if it's just the two of you!

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Well today is officially the first day of Fall and I'm still trying to figure out where my Summer went....anyways, despite the changing seasons our foreign correspondents over here at Four on the Floor are still hard at work, collecting a myriad of things to share with you today. I hope you all enjoy these bits and pieces and learn something in the process...


- Toronto bassist Steve Wallace is up to great things over at his blog and wrote this GREAT column on the career of the very underrated drummer Osie Johnson entitled "The Strange Case of Osie Johnson":

http://wallacebass.com/?p=3160

Check it out and let's hope that Steve keeps writing about his favourite drummers!

Here's some rare footage of Osie Johnson with Thelonious Monk from the CBS television special "The Sound of Jazz":




- Montreal pianist Josh Rager is back blogging over at X..Y.. Jazz after a brief hiatus. Here's a couple of recent posts dealing with rhythm and how to develop your "inner drummer":

http://xyjazz.blogspot.ca/2014/09/strengthening-your-inner-pulse-think.html

http://xyjazz.blogspot.ca/2014/09/strengthening-your-inner-pulse-think_17.html

Welcome back Josh!


- Irish bassist and rhythm guru Ronan Guilfoyle completes his excellent three-part interview with Keith Copeland over here:

http://ronanguil.blogspot.ie/2014/08/conversations-with-mr-kc-keith-copeland.html

The video quality isn't the greatest but here's some KILLING footage of Ronan with Dave Liebman and Jim Black, recorded at the 55 Bar a few years ago:




- Matt Wilson hosts this fun episode of NPR's "Drum Fill Friday":

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/08/15/340443920/drum-fill-friday-with-guest-host-matt-wilson?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=jazz&utm_term=music&utm_content=20140815

I got 4 out of 5 right!


- Speaking of Matt, here's an old article I dug up where Wilson talks about his favourite ride cymbal "melodies":

http://jazztimes.com/articles/30058-artist-s-choice-matt-wilson-s-favorite-ride-cymbal-melodies


- Also from NPR here's a great series on rhythm entitled: "Rhythm Section: Spending a Week Trying to Catch the Beat":

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/16/322561463/rhythm-section-spending-a-week-trying-to-catch-the-beat?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

Thank you to Regina, Saskatchewan percussionist Joanne Crofford who sent this one my way.


- Here's an interview with drummer/vibraphonist with the ever insightful Jason Marsalis to check out:

https://soundcloud.com/torontojazzbuzz/talking-swinging-episode-1


- Thanks to Toronto drummer Max Senitt who hipped me this great website: The Drummers Resource. There is a lot of great information to be found here including several audio podcasts:

http://www.drummersresource.com/podcasts/

Make sure to check out the inspiring and motivating interviews with Peter Erskine, Michael Carvin and Jimmy Wormworth!


- Another nice article over here on Dutch improviser and drummer Han Bennink from "The Highway is my Home":

http://thehighwayismyhome.com/2014/08/han-bennink-improvisator-drummer-artist/

Thanks to Toronto guitarist Reg Schwager for these finds!




- Thanks to Adam Nussbaum who forwarded these gems of wisdom from the late Chuck Silverman:

http://www.chucksilverman.com/ProTipsBlog.html

There is a wealth of great ideas to learn from here!


- I recently purchased a copy of the latest issue of Rhythm magazine from the UK http://www.musicradar.com/rhythm/ featuring a nice cover story on Tony Williams. However, I was also thrilled to find a great article on British drummer Allan Cox who is currently holding down the drum chair with the Monty Python production in London.

Allan and I have a few mutual acquaintances and he is also the producer of "Meet the Bass Player", a wonderful Jazz drumming play-a-long resource that Terry Clarke first introduced me to when I studied with him and I highly recommend it to all my students and colleagues.

Learn more about Allan and "Meet the Bass Player" over at his website:

http://www.allancox.co.uk/allancox/Home.html


- Support your local drum shop and/or music store! Here's an article on someone who's trying to make a difference in Toronto via The Grid:

http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/hows-business-century-drum-shop/

Best of luck to Toronto's Century Drum Shop!


- Chris Smith has recently written and published a great new book on the life of Mel Lewis that I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on and reading:

https://untpress.unt.edu/catalog/3616

- Of course no Monday Morning Paradiddle column would be complete without a few videos of my favourite drummers to share with you all!

Here's John Riley with trumpeter Joe Magnarlli in a duet version of "Invitation" from a recent summer Jazz workshop in Italy:




- I've only recently been introduced to the drumming of Sebastian Whittaker but man, he's great! Here is some really mean brush playing, another duet, on "The Surrey with a Fringe on Top":




- Okay, more duets! Here's a fun one between Jeff "Tain" Watts and percussionist Eliel Lazo to dig your claves into:



I'd love to see Tain and Pedrito Martinez go at it together someday. Just sayin'...haha


- From a recent performance at the Albany Jazz Festival, here's the great Jack DeJohnette in action:




- I've also been listening to this Chris Potter album a lot lately with Lewis Nash and Christian McBride. Here's a killing version of "Solar":



While I was living in Montreal during the early 2000s, many albums recorded on the Criss Cross label (such as this one) were making the rounds of all the used CD shops in Montreal's Plateau district. Why? I have no idea but that was sure a great time to discover new music and that label has exposed me to a lot of great music over the years, great stuff that otherwise might go under the radar.


- What am I listening to these days?

Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" - Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White (drums), Don Alias (percussion)

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers "The Big Beat" - Art Blakey (drums)

Freddie Hubbard "Without a Song" - Louis Hayes (drums)

Branford Marsalis "Trio Jeepy" - Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums)

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

Steve Wilson/Lewis Nash Duo "Duologue" - Lewis Nash (drums)

Chris Potter "Presenting Chris Potter" - Lewis Nash (drums)

Benny Carter "Further Definitions" - Jo Jones (drums)

Teddy Edwards & Howard McGhee "Together Again!!!" - Ed Thigpen (drums)


- And the Last Word today goes to....this guy!



Whaaaaa????

Erskine

Thank you to my friends over at Cymbalholic.com for passing along these great lessons with Peter Erskine, explaining some important and basic concepts, courtesy of The Drum Brother:

Billy Martin Talks Rhythm

A few clips today of rhythm Master Billy Martin giving a group lesson, demonstrating a few of his rhythmic concepts:





I also came across these interesting little lessons of Billy's courtesy of DRUM! magazine for you to enjoy:

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/billy-martin-clap-happy/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/billy-martin-max-moon/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/rhythmic-harmony-101/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/4-way-stridulating/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/shuffle-scuffle/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/billy-martin-from-six-to-eight/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/funky-waltz/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/spaghetti-breaks-musical-cooking/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/funky-bell-patterns/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/wu-tang-beats/

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/odd-time-samba/

Klook & Dizzy - Cannes 1958

Okay...the footage that follows is absolutely brilliant. We as Jazz drummers are very lucky to have this in our midst to watch, study and inspire us. Here's the great Kenny Clarke with Dizzy Gillespie from Cannes circa. 1958:



Check out Klook's left hand!

Adam Nussbaum & WeThree

August (and summer!) is winding down quickly here. For some of us it's almost time to go back to school and whatnot...but let's instead distract ourselves with one of my favourite chord-less saxophone trios, We Three featuring Dave Liebman on tenor saxophone, Steve Swallow on electric bass and the ever loose and swinging Adam Nussbaum on drums, performing Thelonious Monk's "Played Twice"":



I really admire the way Adam is always going back and clearly referencing the melody while he solos, all while dancing around the groove with Swallow. While he's also capable of playing ALOT of drums, he's also not afraid to leave a bit of space, letting the music breath and really have a chance to develop. These guys are ALL ears ALL the time! A great example to follow.

John Patitucci with Brian Blade

From John Patitucci's ArtistWorks Sessions, here's a pretty happening trio featuring John with Jon Cowherd on piano and Brian Blade on drums:





Check out more of this session and John's lessons at: www.artistworks.com

Daniel Glass: History of the Drumset

Looking for some great summertime viewing? Thanks to the kind people over at Vic Firth here's Daniel Glass and his informative 17 part series (!) on the history and evolution of the drumset to check out:



Also, check out this cool poster showing a timeline of the evolution of the drumset instrument:

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Well, summer is about half way over now and things keep on moving along. I'm happy to report that I've made some significant progress on my doctoral dissertation and I hope to have that completed by summer's end. I love playing the drums but I had no idea that at one point in my life I would spend so much time reading and writing about them! Anyways, the end is nearly in sight and I've learned a great deal while researching and writing this project.

Even though we're well into summer hours over here at FOTF, here's a few things making the rounds around the office to share with you today:

- Former Modern Drummer magazine managing editor Scott K. Fish is now blogging over at Beyond The Cymbals:
http://scottkfish.wordpress.com

Pay attention to his writing. Scott has interviewed A LOT of great drummers over the years!


- Vinnie Sperrazza is also now blogging over at his website Drummer et Cetera. Check out this article on why he uses traditional grip:

http://www.vinniesperrazza.org/blog/2014/4/22/on-traditional-grip

The debate of whether or not to use traditional grip or traditional vs. matched grip can be a very tense and opinionated subject indeed. I fully relate to, agree with and endorse all the statements in Sperrazza's article.


- Todd Bishop over at his fine blog Cruiseship Drummer has a nice interview with the recently deceased Frankie Dunlop worth checking out here: (originally from the pages of Modern Drummer)

http://www.cruiseshipdrummer.com/2011/04/frankie-dunlop-on-monk.html

And of course, here's some great footage of Dunlop with Thelonious Monk:



During my graduate studies at McGill University my drum teacher, Andre White, had me listen to and transcribe Dunlop's soloing and comping extensively. He was a very unique drummer that fit Monk's concept perfectly and it's worth spending some time studying his style.


- From Manitoba Music's "Loft Sessions" here's Winnipeg's up-and-coming Curtis Nowosad with his band:

http://www.manitobamusic.com/videos/watch,media/1570/loft-sessions-dialectics

Curtis is currently completing his graduate work at the Manhattan School of Music. Be sure to keep an eye and ear out for him in the year's to come.


- Nicholas Payton is also blogging and voicing his opinions over his website. Check out this amazing post "Masters of Funky New Orleans Drumming Vol.1" in which he has compiled some seriously important and funky music to learn from:

http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/masters-of-funky-new-orleans-drumming-vol-1/


- Thanks to Saskatoon Jazz educator Nick Fanner who passed along this article by reedman Scott Robinson, an articulate statement on how the state our society is becoming stale and predictable:

http://dansr.com/vandoren/articles/484/sameness-is-the-enemy-by-scott-robinson/


- Thanks to David Stanoch via the Facebook, here's some great Jeff Hamilton lessons to check out:

http://www.drummerszone.com/videos/channel/dz-6595-4718/jeff-hammertone-hamilton-jeff-hamilton%27s-sandlane-sessions


- Jeff Ballard recently toured Canada and the world with his trio featuring Lionel Louke and Miguel Zenon. I heard them at the Edmonton Jazz Festival and they sounded phenomenal. Here's Jeff in a brief Q&A interview from the Vancouver Jazz Festival:




- I can definitely relate to this one, seeing as I have been spending a lot of time at a desk recently, trying to write and get some work done...




- What am I listening to these days?


Bela Bartok "Concerto for Orchestra"

Craig Brenan "Automatic Robots" - Ted Poor (drums)

Joni Mitchell "Both Sides Now" - Peter Erskine (drums)

Clifford Brown "Clifford Brown and Strings" - Max Roach (drums)

Duke Ellington "Ellington Uptown" - Louie Bellson (drums)

Johnathan Blake "Gone, But Not Forgotten" - Johnathan Blake (drums)

Phil Dwyer "Saxophone Summit" - Terry Clarke (drums)

Nat King Cole Trio "Live at the Circle Room"

Paul Read Quintet with Scott Robinson "The Heart of Summer" - Barry Elmes (drums)


- And today's Last Word goes to George Sluppick, via his blog, on the recent passing of drumming great Idris Muhammad:

http://sluppick.com/2014/07/30/a-word-on-a-hero-now-departed/

And another nice piece on Idris Muhammad via nola.com:

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2014/07/idris_muhammad_legendary_new_o.html

I only heard Idris live once, at New York's Birdland around the fall of the year 2000, in a band featuring Tom Harrell, Donald Harrison, Gary Bartz, Junior Mance and Dennis Irwin. They were playing a tribute to Charlie Parker and I was astounded at Muhammad's effortless swing and deep, loose groove. When you listened to him play you could literally hear the entire tradition of New Orleans drumming take shape with so many diverse influences, all swinging like mad. And course, wearing his trademark dark sunglasses and beret, cocked to the side, there was no doubt at all as to who the coolest man in the room was that night!




And here's another one from Joe Lovano, a man who knows and appreciates a good drummer when he sees one!

Up Close with Bill Stewart

Today's "Up Close with..." features some great drumming with modern Master Bill Stewart:



Thank you to Nicholas Payton via his fine blog http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com for sharing this one!

Up Close with Matt Wilson

Here's some great, up close action footage of my friend and mentor, Matt Wilson performing with the late, great Charlie Haden and his Liberation Music Orchestra:



It's always a lesson to watch a Master in action but, in particular, check out how much fun Mr. Wilson is having playing the drums with Charlie.

You can also find some great tributes to Haden as well over at Ethan Iverson's find blog, Do The Math:

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/liberation-chorus.html

Here are Matt's touching words of praise and tribute to his friend, Charlie Haden:

"When my wife Felicia and I found out we were having triplets my dear friend and mentor Dewey Redman urged me to call Charlie for support. I recall saying, " Hello Charlie, this is Matt Wilson. and I need to talk to you, but not about music. My wife and I are having triplets." He said, "Wow, man, that is great, man. I am on another call I'll be right back."And he was. We talked for over an hour. It was a beautiful conversation and his words of support were encouraging. Charlie has a son, Josh, and triplet daughters Petra, Tanya and Rachel. I have a daughter, Audrey, and triplet sons Max, Henry and Ethan. 8 kids, 4 ages.We called ourselves the Fathers of Triplets Rhythm Team.

The first time I played with Charlie was in the fall of 2003. We played a concert in San Francisco with Dewey and Joshua Redman. I recall, from the very first beat, how buoyant and comfortable the time felt. Charlie's walking feel seem to purr. It was strong but patient and the shape of his sound embraced the cymbal melody like a big warm hug. It was heaven to play sounds with him. I was thrilled when he phoned and asked me to play in the Liberation Music Orchestra not long after that gig. We rehearsed and started the tour at the Montreal Jazz Festival in the summer of 2004. Also in Montreal, I was honored to play with Charlie and Dewey Redman in a trio concert. I had been playing with Dewey since 1994 and to be included in this setting was a career highlight. They even had me do the set list. I can recall saying out loud to myself in between tunes, "I am really here. This is not a dream. This is UNBELIEVABLE!" There is a bootleg of it out there somewhere that I would love to have. 

The Liberation Music Orchestra experience was special. The arrangements by Carla Bley were extraordinary and the members of the band not only blended musically but personally. We were a real family and the memories of music and fellowship will always be dear to me. I remember playing a rock club with the band in Los Angeles. During a solo I had in the middle of a "America the Beautiful" I strapped on the snare drum and marched the audience out onto the sidewalk in front of the club and then back inside. As I returned I thought to myself, "This could very well be my last night with the band." I sat back down and turned back to look at Charlie with a bit of apprehension. He was smiling and gave me an approving thumbs up along with, "Wooo, Matt Wilson. Yeah man!" 

My daughter Audrey really loved Charlie. They really connected after she first met him. Charlie and his wife Ruth, who were always very kind to Felicia, me and the children, invited me to bring the kids to see a screening of the documentary about Charlie, Ramblin' Boy, at the Walter Reade Theater. This was not long after Felicia was diagnosed with leukemia so I brought Audrey and Ethan to the the theater as a distraction. The film was fantastic and we enjoyed it immensely. While watching, Audrey, who was 12 at the time, counted how many times in the film Charlie said, "Man." After the film and discussion we went up to say hello to Charlie and Ruth and thank them for the invitation. Charlie saw Audrey and greeted her with, " Hi Audrey, nice to see you man." Audrey replied, "Hi Charlie, it is nice to see you."She then quickly whispered in my ear, "Number 39."Priceless. 

I loved talking on the phone with Charlie and tried to do so on regular basis. I remember him playing mixes of the LMO recording, Not In Our Name, over the phone. Charlie always had a good joke to two to share along with political discussions. 

The last time I spoke with him was on June 16 the day after my wife Felicia lost her battle with leukemia. It was brief. His voice was weak but his words were strong. 

Charlie Haden - "I love you man! " I am eternally grateful for the amazing fun we had on the bandstand, the road and on the telephone. Your deep spirit, love and compassion will forever be a part of my musical presence."

- Matt Wilson, from "Do The Math"  
http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/liberation-chorus.html

Digging Max

When people ask me who my favourite drummer is (I have many!) the name Max Roach is usually the first to come out of my mouth.

I came across a few items lately that reminded me as to why this man has had such a powerful impact on my own music:

- Here is Amiri Baraka's powerful eulogy from Max Roach's funeral in 2007:

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/27/max_is_the_highest_the_outtest

And here's the wonderful piece of prose entitled "Digging Max" by Amiri Baraka:

Max is the highest 
The outest, the 
Largest, the greatest, 
The fastest, the hippest, 
The all the way past which 
There cannot be

When we say MAX, that’s what 
We mean, hip always 
Clean. That’s our word 
For Artist, Djali, Nzuri Ngoma, 
Senor Congero, Leader, Mwalimu, 
Scientist of Sound, Sonic Designer, 
Trappist Definer, Composer, Revolutionary 
Democrat, Bird’s Black Injun Engine, Brownie’s Other Half, Abbey’s Djeli-ya-Graph

Who bakes the Western industrial singing machine 
Into temperatures of syncopated beyondness 
Out Sharp Mean

Papa Jo’s Successor 
Philly Joe’s Confessor 
AT’s mentor, Roy Haynes’ Inventor 
Steve McCall’s Trainer

Ask Buhainia, Jimmy Cobb, Elvin or Klook 
Or even Sunny Murray, when he ain’t in a hurry. 
Milford is down and Roy Brooks 
Is one of his cooks. Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, 
Andrew Cyrille can tell you or youngish Pheeroan, 
Beaver and Blackwell and my man, Dennis Charles. 
They’ll run it down, ask them the next time they in town.

Ask any or all of the rhythm’n. Shadow cd tell you, so cd 
Shelly Manne, Chico Hamilton. Rashied knows, Billy Hart. Eddie Crawford 
From Newark has split, but he and Eddie Gladden could speak on it. 
Mtume, if he will. Big Black can speak. Let Tito Puente run it down, 
He and Max been tight since they were babies in this town.

Frankie Dunlop cd tell you and he speak a long time. 
Pretty Purdy is hip. Max hit with Duke at Eighteen. 
He played with Benny Carter when he first made the scene. 
Dig the heavy learning that went with that. Newk knows, 
And McCoy. CT would agree. Hey, ask me or Archie or Michael Carvin 
Percy Heath, Jackie Mc are all hip to the Max Attack.

Barry Harris can tell you. You in touch with Monk or Bird? 
Ask Bud if you see him, You know he know, even after the cops 
Beat him Un Poco Loco. I mean you can ask Pharoah or David 
Or Dizzy, when he come out of hiding, it’s a trick Diz just outta sight. 
I heard Con Alma and Diz and Max in Paris, just the other night.

But ask anybody conscious, who Max Roach be. Miles certainly knew 
And Coltrane too. All the cats who know the science of Drum, know where our 
Last dispensation come from. That’s why we call him, MAX, the ultimate, 
The Furthest Star. The eternal internal, the visible invisible, the message 
From afar.

All Hail, MAX, from On to Dignataria to Serious and even beyond! 
He is the mighty SCARAB, immortal as our music, world without end. 
Great artist Universal Teacher, and for any Digger 
One of our deepest friends! Hey, MAX! MAX! MAX!

-Amiri Baraka (Written in 1999, read at Max Roach’s funeral, Aug. 24, 2007) 

A Lesson with Elvin - Parts One & Two (Redux)

Here's the two articles I contributed to Canadian Musician Magazine earlier this year (this time in better resolution!) These articles are both based on some concepts I learned from a drum clinic that Elvin Jones gave in Montreal in 1999.

Enjoy!

Oscar Peterson & Louie Bellson "Cute"

Thanks to our Italian correspondent Fabio Baglioni, here's a great one of the ever musical Louis Bellson featured with the Oscar Peterson trio on Neal Hefti's "Cute" taken at a brisk tempo:



I think Bellson's explanation of his use of the Roto-toms was pretty cool! Nobody else can pull that off...

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Hello everybody and I hope everything is super groovy in your part of the world these days. Things are busy over here in my neck of the woods with Canada's Jazz festival season kicking into high gear. But as usual here's a smattering of different things to check out:


- In honour of Father's Day, here's a nice piece from NPR's A Blog Supreme on some famous drummers and their drumming fathers:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/06/14/321791688/rhythm-runs-in-the-family-drummers-on-their-dads


- New Orleans drummer Geoff Clapp recently contributed a GREAT article on the nuances of playing the ride cymbal over at Drum Magazine:

http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/drummers-conundrum-great-cymbal-sound/


- I really dug this article by Branford Marsalis over at Downbeat magazine recently:

http://www.marsalismusic.com/news/melodic-study-deep-listening-and-importance-context-downbeat-master-class-branford-marsalis


- George Colligan contributed a great blog post about Time and on playing with a metronome over at his blog Jazz Truth:

http://jazztruth.blogspot.ca/2014/05/in-search-of-rhythmic-humanity.html


- I heard through the grapevine that Vancouver tenor saxophonist Steve Kaldestad requires his ear training class at Capilano University to transcribe Jorge Rossy's drumming on "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" from Brad Mehldau's "Art of the Trio Vol.1". As you can see below, there is a lot of great information to learn from this one:

http://thatdrumblog.blogspot.ca/2014/06/transcription-jorge-rossy-i-didnt-know.html


- Here's some great insight on Ahmad Jamal and the drumming of Vernell Fournier from Kenny Washington:

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2010/08/ahmad-jamal-on-mosaic-records.html?m=1

And then of course that led me to dig up this one courtesy of Ted Panken:

http://tedpanken.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/vernell-fournier-on-ahmad-jamal-wkcr-1990/


- My friend Phil Dwyer is now consulting on this CBC on-line Jazz stream. Check out some serious Canadian Jazz talent!

http://music.cbc.ca/#/genres/Jazz/blogs/2014/6/Listen-to-Phil-Dwyers-Jazz-Canada-stream

- A very insightful interview with the multi-talented drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis:

http://artsmania.ca/2014/04/30/interview-with-jason-marsalis/


- And speaking of New Orleans drummers, here's two of the greats featuring Shannon Powell and Herlin Riley:

http://jazzinspired.com/2011/12/09/shannon-powellherlin-riley/

And then Shannon Powell with Johnny Vidacovich:




- Some nice solo drumming (as always) and interview from Billy Martin:

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/hour-billy-martin/





- I'm really hoping that Brian Blade records with his recent trio project featuring Danilo Perez and John Patitucci (they are touring as "The Children of The Light" this summer). In the meantime check out this  very musical drum solo:




- Special thanks to Sir Dale James for sharing this one of percussionist and rhythm guru Efrain Toro with Peter Erskine and Alex Acuna:




- What am I listening to these days?

Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Tate, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis & Arnett Cobb "Very Saxy" - Arthur Edgehill (drums)

Amiri Baraka "New Music, New Poetry" - Steve McCall (drums)

Gerry Hemingway "Kernelings" - Gerry Hemingway (drums and percussion)

Buster Williams "Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1999" - Carl Allen (drums)

Miles Davis & Sonny Stitt "Live in Stockholm 1960" - Jimmy Cobb (drums)

Teddy Edwards Sextet "Jazz Scene USA" - Doug Sides (drums)


- Dig this crazy footage of Buddy Rich playing "Mercy Mercy Mercy" circa. 1975:



I love the gogo dancers and what's up with that left hand of his???
Man....I really don't think he was human!


- Speaking of Buddy Rich....this is just hilarious (But I dig it. It still sounds like Buddy Rich!):





- And the last word today goes to this gentleman:



Thank you for all your great music Mr. Silver...

Denny' s Combos

I've been messing around with this snare drum exercise lately and thought I would share it with you all today.

This exercise, known as "Denny's Combos", was written by Tom Float and taught to me by Jody Mario and Chris Worthington (who both played snare with the Blue Devils) during my drumline days back in the early 1990s. I guess Tom really dug his bacon and eggs...

It's a great exercise because it emphasizes transitions between a progression of several different rudiments, something every rudimental drummer should be able to do effortlessly.

I also really dig this one because it has a subtle Wilcoxin vibe to it (probably because of the hand-to-hand flams, I suppose).

Here are the four variations:

(Please forgive the change in size of these examples. I just recently switched over to a newer version of Sibelius and haven't quite mastered creating .jpeg files from it quite yet!)

I was going to record an audio track of me playing this but found this one of the Impulse drum line playing through it instead (and I think they do a pretty good job!):



Remember:

- Take it slow at first

- Play it with a metronome and strive for rhythmic accuracy

- Try leading with both the Right and Left hands

- Play it with brushes!

- Attempt replacing the double stroke rolls with 32nd note single strokes rolls!

- Add some kind of bass drum/hi-hat pattern underneath