Here’s something that’s a lot of fun, from Vinnie Sperrazza, a great drummer from New York. I met him recently, when he, and my partner Casey Scott, were performing in Family Album, a new play […]
Year: 2014
Holiday special on books and Skype lessons!
Scroll down for new posts— I’ll be keeping this pinned to the top of the blog this month. UPDATE: This is the LAST DAY OF THE SALE, so get these while they’re a little bit […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Jackson, Jr. — Crosscut Saw
Here’s a sort of a blues rhumba groove by Al Jackson, Jr.. The song is Crosscut Saw, from Albert King’s classic album, Born Under A Bad Sign. Play the housetop accents as rim shots. Use […]
Page o’ coordination: basic — 02
Here’s another basic Page o’ coordination, with left hand variations over a very common funk rhythm in the hihat and bass drum: Play each exercise 2-4 times, and proceed to the next one without […]
George Colligan sees Whiplash
Jazz educators respond to the makers of Whiplash, who are represented by the hapless trombonist. UPDATE: Oh, here’s another one, from Jazz Is the Worst, a blog that is attracting a lot of attention in […]
An Internet thing I like
OK, this is actually useful: I like this new YouTube thing of isolating drum tracks from famous pop/rock recordings. Recording can be a horrible exercise in self-scrutiny, and is often a question of how much […]
New CSD! e-book: Bossa Nova / Samba Field Manual
UPDATE: Thanks for the review, Kenneth! Time to unveil one of the things I’ve been doing instead of delivering the promised Book of Intros, which is languishing maybe 3-5 hours of work away from completion, stupidly… […]
Hell of books
YAAAAHHH! AAAHHHH!! This has been sitting in my drafts folder awhile, and seems timely, as I’m encouraging you to buy my new Bossa/Samba book, and am discounting my previous ones: One thing there is no shortage […]
Soul drumming history with Yogi Horton
Here’s an incredible video which I never knew existed: R&B legend Yogi Horton talking and playing the history of soul/funk drumming— this is just the best thing ever: h/t to my brother, John Bishop, for […]
Groove o’ the day: Ivan Conti — A Presa
Here’s a funk samba groove from a drummer I’ve really come to dig: Ivan Conti, of the Brazilian fusion band Azymuth. When I was into fusion in the 80s, I got the impression from some […]