Mid-Summer Paradiddle

It's been a few weeks since my last post (since I've been on the road playing Jazz festivals and teaching workshops for the better part of the last month!) But I'm back home now and blogging will hopefully be a bit more regular in the coming weeks. Canadian Jazz drumming legend Jim Blackley recently passed away and Mark Miller's excellent book on Claude Ranger has been released so look for some blog posts featuring both in the coming weeks.

Anyhow, thanks again for checking in and here's what we have to offer at this point, half-way through the summer season:

- A couple of interviews with Jeff "Tain" Watts from Drum Magazine:

http://drummagazine.com/jeff-watts-soul-of-a-drummer-mind-of-a-composer/

....and Neon Jazz:



- Milford Graves is featured at Dark Forces Swing:

http://darkforcesswing.blogspot.ca/2015/01/you-dont-get-it-in-front-of-blackboard.html

- Kendrick Scott interviewed over at the The Drummer's Resource Podcast:

http://www.drummersresource.com/kendrick-scott-interview/

- Peter Martin's excellent Jazz resource The Open Studio Network features vibraphonist Warren Wolf:

https://www.openstudionetwork.com/warren-wolf-interview-the-process-7/

- Todd Bishop keeps bringing us outstanding exercises and concepts to practice. His recent series of posts on funk drumming are worth some serious consideration. Here's a good place to start:

http://www.cruiseshipdrummer.com/2017/06/playing-funk-effectively.html

- John Riley was recently Down Under and here's a sampling of his performance at Sydney's Drummers Day:



- From Aquarian Drumheads here's a wonderful feature on Joe LaBarbera:


- Jerome Jennings is one of my favourite current drummers on the scene today. Here's some nice action footage of Jennings in action:



- Here's a documentary on the very talented and soon-to-be-very-famous Kojo Roney (also apparently a student of Milford Graves):

- I thought this was an interesting arrangement of Steve Reich's "Clapping Music", arranged for two snare drums:



- Joe Lovano is one my favourite contemporary tenor saxophonists and he's also a great drummer! Here's Joe laying it down on John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" (performed as a 3/4 waltz...):




- What am I listening to these days?

D.E.W. East "Introducing D.E.W. East" - Barry Elmes (drums)

Elvin Jones Trio "Puttin' it Together" - Elvin Jones (drums)

Elvin Jones Trio "The Ultimate" - Elvin Jones (drums)

Lee Morgan/Clifford Jarvis Quintet "Live in Baltimore 1958" - Ed Blackwell (drums)

Jazzmeia Horn "A Social Call" - Jerome Jennings (drums)

King Curtis "Live at the Fillmore" - Bernard Purdie (drums)


- And today's Last Word goes to the late Jim Blackley:

"Irrespective of the heights you reach as a musician and instrumentalist, irrespective of how outstanding your fellow musicians are, the most important ingredient that all can take to the bandstand is good human qualities, of love, patience, compassion, tolerance, and the treating of all lives as one's own."

- Jim Blackley

12/8 Afro-Cuban Bell Paradiddles

I've been on the road lately and have been having fun with this little wrist twister, banging it out on drum pads in hotel rooms, quietly on my hi-hat during sound checks and drumming with my hands while waiting in airport departure lounges (much to the annoyance of other passengers...haha).

Anyways, this is a follow-up to my posts from a couple of months ago, using various Clave accent patterns combined with paradiddle sticking patterns to create interesting and musical combinations.

The following pattern that I recently came up that uses the accent pattern from the common 12/8 Afro-Cuban bell pattern, phrased using single and double paradiddle combinations:

As always, really bring out the accents to order to get a sense of the larger Clave pattern.

Mike Clark

A few previews today of Mike Clark from his upcoming lessons via The Drum Channel. There's some very important information here!

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

And....we're back. As always, here's a few things of interest making the rounds via the Four on the Floor office these days:

- Joe LaBarbera offers some reflections on his time working with Bill Evans via All About Jazz:

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/joe-labarbera-experiencing-bill-evans-joe-la-barbera-by-victor-l-schermer.php?pg=1&width=1280

- A wonderful piece by Nate Chinen on the late Mickey Roker from WBGO:

http://wbgo.org/post/mickey-roker-dynamic-hard-bop-drummer-and-philly-jazz-institution-dies-84#stream/0

- A profile on Dave King, from The Bad Plus from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2013/09/10/220772101/the-odd-jobs-of-dave-king

- This is a wonderful feature on Roy Haynes from Jon Batiste and the Late Show:



I gotta say...Haynes is so bad ass that even those sorry drums sound good when he plays them!


- Max Roach and Cecil Taylor interviewed:




- Joe Farnsworth has been on the road Down Under lately. Here's a feature and an interview all the way from Australia:

http://scenestr.com.au/music/joe-farnsworth-is-drumming-his-way-to-australia

http://www.buzzsprout.com/95092/511584-3-interview-with-joe-farnsworth

And from an older performance in Russia (after drinking some covefefe perhaps?) here's an awesome mallet solo to check out:




- Harvey Mason reflects on the accompanying accomplishments of Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones and Roy Haynes via Bret Primack, the Jazz Video Guy:


Harvey Mason on Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes from Bret Primack on Vimeo.


- Kenny Washington speaks to the influence of the John Kirby Sextet on Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker:




- Irish Jazz drummer (and contributor to this blog!) Conor Guilfoyle is featured over at irishdrummers.com:

http://www.irishdrummers.com/2017/06/conor-guilfoyle-supreme-jazz-drummer.html

- Another great Irish Jazz drummer, David Lyttle, recently wrapped up a road trip through the United States and documented his journey via a podcast and a series of clever videos. Here's one of Lyttle's features, performing in the backyard of Art Blakey's childhood home located in the Hill District of Pittsburgh:




- Quincy Davis, the new Professor of Jazz Drumming at the University of North Texas, offers the first of a two-part series on brush playing:



Looking forward to Part II Q !


- Here's an inspiring one featuring Joe Lovano and Paul Motian's drum set:


Joe&Paul'sDrums from Michael Patrick Kelly on Vimeo.


- This one brought back some memories as I used to hear these guys play together in Montreal during the mid 90s. Here's Pete Magadini burning on Cherokee with Andre White on piano and Alec Walkington on drums:



I always recommend Magadini's books "Learn to Play the Drums" Vol. 1 & 2 to all my beginner drum students.

- Some recent clips of Portlands Alan Jones, a recent favourite drummer/composer/band leader/educator/visionary of mine:









- What am I listening to these days?

Horace Silver "Six Pieces of Silver" - Louis Hayes (drums)

Horace Silver "Trio" - Art Blakey (drums), Sabu (percussion)

David Kikoski "Consequences" - Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums)

Art Pepper "Plus Eleven" - Mel Lewis (drums)

Paul Motian "ECM :Rarum"- Paul Motian (drums)

Jorge Rossy "Stay There" - Al Foster (drums), Jorge Rossy (vibraphone)


- And today's Final Word goes to Jim Blackley, an important icon in the realm of Canadian Jazz drumming (who only recently retired from teaching). His teachings have inspired several generations of important Jazz drummers here in Canada:

"The only reason for devoting yourself to a life of Jazz performance must come from a sincere need from within. You must feel deeply from within your heart that this is the path you wish to follow. A decision based on any other reason is fraught with danger....being a musician means being part of a total experience - no winning, no losing"- Jim Blackley

* RIP Adam West (Batman)

Kirk MacDonald & Pat LaBarbera 4tet with Adam Nussbaum

I posted some brief clips of this band awhile ago but fortunately for us here's some well-filmed concert footage, recorded in Ottawa, ON earlier this year, featuring Canadian tenor titans Kirk MacDonald and Pat LaBarbera along with bassist Kieran Overs and guest drummer Adam Nussbaum to enjoy:



If you were looking for a lesson in musical/highly swinging drumming today, you've found it! Nussbaum's sense of flow, graceful sound and motion around the drums always really knocks me out.

Furthermore, I received a copy of their latest album in the mail last month and have really enjoyed the overall group chemistry. Check it out!

Bill Stewart!

A compilation today of interviews and close-up footage featuring one of Jazz drumming's modern-day Masters and innovators, the inimitable Bill Stewart.

 - Leo Sidran (son of another great Jazz interviewer, Ben Sidran) interviews Bill Stewart via his exceptional podcast, The Third Story:

http://www.third-story.com/listen/2015/2/4/episode-24-bill-stewart

- Quincy Davis (recently named Professor of Jazz Drums at the University of North Texas!) interviews Stewart via his web series Q-Tip:



- A couple of clips of Bill playing a set of Lignum drums:





- And I likely posted this one before but here it is again because I think it's awesome...

Joey Baron & Robyn Schulkowsky

We are wrapping up a long weekend up here in Canada, so kick back, relax and enjoy these two clips of Joey Baron and Robyn Schulkowsky, engaged in a true "percussion discussion":

Conor's Corner: Applying Rumba to the Drumset

This is the first post of what will hopefully be a series of guest blog posts brought to us by my friend and very fine Irish jazz drummer/educator, Conor Guilfoyle. Conor has been sharing wonderful lessons and excellent practical drumming information via YouTube and his website for some time now and I'm thrilled that he will be able to share his great explanations here as well:

"Applying Rumba to the Drumset" - Conor Guilfoyle



Cuban Rumba with its heavy African influences has a vast and rich tradition. It was developed in the cities of urban Cuba at the end of the 19th Century, where it still thrives today, before moving to the USA and then the rest of the world. While there have been some changes in instrumentation and phrasing, its ability to develop while still keeping the original structures in place has kept it relevant today.

In my lesson I'm looking at just one form of the Rumba, the mid-tempo style called "Guaguanco", and to be honest it's just a toe in the water of this vast musical ocean. I also purposely avoid using any percussion extras such as the claves or cowbells but rather use the standard drum kit to recreate the sounds. A rumba ensemble consists of three conga players, a stick percussionist, and singers as well as dancers. We cannot possibly hope to recreate that sound, so instead I focus on the interaction between the clave and the standard conga pattern. If you wanted to take it a step further you replace the clave pattern with the "Cascara", which is a common stick pattern used in many styles of Cuban music including Rumba.

You'll find this pattern and other common Cuban rhythms that I have applied to the standard kit at this link here:

www.conorguilfoyle.com/files/Cuban-Patterns-for-Kit.pdf

The key of course is to listen to the music. Below is a list of some of the great exponents of this style. Just put their names into YouTube and it will yield a treasure throve of great music. Be careful though, you might never come back!

Conor

Recommended Listening:

Los Muñequitos de Matanzas
Los Papines
Pancho Quinto
Tata Guines
Mongo Santamaria
Potato Valdes
Totico
Joaquin Pozo

Joe LaBarbera Up Close

Today's blog post features a nice side profile view of the great Joe LaBarbera in action, featuring baritone saxophone Master Gary Smulyan with the ever swinging John Clayton on bass:



This next one is brief and obviously a commercial for Gretsch Drum's current stock of snare drums BUT it's also a great excuse to check out Joe's exceptionally fluid and loose snare drum technique:



I think it all looks good and sounds good to me!

Bone2Pick: Dennis Mackrel Interview

Thanks to Calgary's Andre Wickenheiser who passed along this interview with the great Dennis Mackrel, from trombonist Michael Davis' on-going series web series Bone2Pick:

Memphis Nussbaum

Thanks to the kind people over at the Memphis Drum Shop and Zildjian Cymbals, here's Adam Nussbaum with a few short but very important drums lessons to take note of:









If you dig further on their YouTube channel you'll also find many, many clips of Adam demonstrating an assortment of Zildjian's latest cymbal offerings and they all sound great!

The Monday Morning Paradiddle

Spring is in full swing over here and thanks for checking back (it's actually snowing outside my studio window as I write this!) Anyways, here's a bunch of different things on the go and worth checking out this week:

- An older article but here's Canadian journalist Paul Wells on Montreal-now-New Orleans-based drummer John Fraboni's attempt to invite Elvin Jones over to his house for dinner!

https://medium.com/@InklessPW/elvinquest-the-drummer-who-didnt-come-to-dinner-96f3658169b2#.1mc7sxre4

- Another older but very good piece on Tony Williams from Jazz Profiles:

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.ca/2011/03/tony-williams-1945-1997-unpredictable.html

- We know Joe Lovano as one of the world's great Jazz saxophonists, but he's also a great drummer too and shows a great reverence for the great drummers. Here is an interview with Lovano from Greenleaf Music:

https://www.greenleafmusic.com/anftd-41-joe-lovano/

- The Drummer Resource Podcast is always a great source for interviews with different drummers, covering a variety of styles. In this episode Nick Ruffini speaks with Berklee professor and Alan Dawson disciple John Ramsay:

http://www.drummersresource.com/john-ramsay-interview/

Billy Drummond is also interviewed at the Drummer's Resource Podcast over here:

http://www.drummersresource.com/billy-drummond-interview/

And thanks to saxophonist Jeff McGregor, Drummond is also interviewed via the ongoing SmallsLIVE Workshop Podcast:

- The Drummer's Journal is a wonderful on-line magazine. I'm always really impressed by not only the content but also the layout and artistic choices that go into the presentation. Check it out here:

http://www.thedrummersjournal.com

Definitely check out recent features with Steve Gadd and Peter Erskine.

- Han Bennink is featured over at NPR Music in a lovely segment entitled "The Jazz Drummer Who Makes Music Out of Everything":


- Jesse Simpson is quickly making a name for himself as a fine cymbal smith. Check out this little feature:

- Quincy Davis offers another "Q-Tip" lesson, offering some suggestions on how to develop your single stroke rolls:



Also, a huge congratulations to Quincy is due as he recently accepted the position as drum professor at the University of North Texas!

- A great lesson with David Garibaldi, breaking down the King Kong Beat:

- A little drum n' bass with Toronto bassist Mike Downes and Larnell Lewis:

- Another segment featuring Antonio Sanchez from the upcoming documentary "The Art of Listening":



- Now here's some fun music....The WDR Big Band featuring two projects with drummer's Al Foster and Billy Hart!






- What am I listening to these days?

Kirk MacDonald & Pat LaBarbera "Silent Voices" - Adam Nussbaum (drums)

Antonio Sanchez "Three by Three" - Antonio Sanchez (drums)

Joe Lovano "Tones, Shapes and Colours" - Mel Lewis (drums)

Gene Krupa & Louie Bellson "The Mighty Two" - Gene Krupa, Louie Bellson (drums)

Hugh Fraser Quintet "Pas de Problems" - Blaine Wikjord (drums)

Hugh Fraser Quinet "Looking Up" - Buff Allen (drums)

Nate Waters Quartet "Contra Contrafact" - Bobby Wiens (drums)


- And today's Final Word goes to the great Jack DeJohnette:

"Listen really well, inspire the other musicians, be a team player, and know when to provide the fire, the intensity and the dynamics to the group. Be prepared to play what you don't know..."

- Jack DeJohnette

Paul Motian "West 107th Street" and Playing the Piano

Thanks to Chicago's Ted Sirota who shared this brilliant little drum solo from Paul Motian called "West 107th Street", originally featured on a duo recording with pianist Paul Bley entitled "Notes":



I was also recently intrigued by an episode of Uncle Paul's Jazz Closet, a wonderful regular podcast in which Motian's niece chronicles her uncle's music. Specifically, she recently shared several home recordings made on cassette of Motian practicing the piano and playing through several of his original compositions (circa. 1978). Check it out here: http://jazzcloset.blogspot.ca/2017/04/set-list-040717.html

I find this all quite inspiring and daunting at the same time. Apparently he was quite a devout student of the piano, had a regular teacher and practiced regularly (he even bought and played one of Keith Jarrett's pianos!) And of course, Motian was a prolific composer as well (you can purchase a volume of his compositions here: http://jazzcloset.blogspot.ca/p/motian-songbook.html)

Personally, I record myself a lot while playing the vibraphone, sometimes on the piano (maybe with my iPhone) and, most recently, singing ideas into a Sony digital dictaphone. I also find the Zoom H6 a very useful tool for recording myself on the drums. Overall I find the process of recording myself (even if I'm not playing my main instrument) a great way to document and develop different compositional ideas. However, I also find the idea of these personal recordings being released into universe for all to hear being absolutely terrifying too! They're not really for anyone but myself to listen to...

So who knows if Paul Motian really meant for anyone to hear these personal recordings, but boy are we sure lucky that we are afforded this rare opportunity, a glimpse into the artistic process of a master musician.

Christian McBride Trio - Tribute to Ray Brown

I enjoyed this Ray Brown trio tribute lately, featuring Christian McBride, Benny Green and Karriem Riggins, three exceptional and highly swinging musicians who all had a very close relationship with the late bassist Ray Brown:

Joe Farnsworth Vienna

Some short (but great!) clips of Joe Farnsworth in action, giving some sage advice to some very lucky students in Austria from a recent tour:











Dig his use of the mallets on this solo piece...



And finally a couple of very hip solos, playing with pianist Harold Mabern:

Thad Jones/Mel Lewis - Norway 1974

Thanks to Danny Gottlieb who passed this rare footage along this morning:

Ben Riley...

A brilliant little drum feature from Ben Riley (with Thelonious Monk in Paris, circa. 1964) to get us going on this Monday morning:



If this doesn't put a little spring in your step and put a smile on your face, you must be dead.

Jimmy Heath on Drummers & Bass Players

As per always, when the Master's speak, we listen...

Clave Paradiddles

Today's lesson continues with the same concept from last week's post, dealing with how we can use Clave patterns as frameworks to create interesting rudimental combinations (again, thank you Billy Martin!)

Here's another one that I've come up with (another "wrist twister as it were...) that uses different accented paradiddle combinations to outline a larger 3-2 Son Clave pattern:

Obviously the sticking combinations are important, but to really make it musical and groove, one really needs to pay attention to the accents and really exaggerate them (or else the larger Clave pattern will be lost!)

A fun variation that I've been practicing is to replace the first two double paradiddles with two single paradiddlediddles, each leading off of the same hand.

Maybe you could add flams to each of the accents to increase the "chop buster" factor.

You could also get clever like I mentioned last time and apply the same concept to a 2-3 Son, 3-2 Rumba and Bossa Nova Clave pattern as well.

Again, sorry about the hand written notation. I'm still sorting out my new computer and notation program.

Newport 1974

Thanks to the poster over at cymbalholics.com who shared this mighty "percussion discussion" from the 1974 edition of the Newport Jazz Festival, featuring Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Max Roach: