Slightly different format for a Page o’coordination. Usually we have an ostinato with a variable left hand part; here the cymbal part and bass drum part change. This is sort of an appendix to some things […]
Year: 2018
Groove o’ the day: Jack Dejohnette – On the Nile
Here’s Jack Dejohnette early in his career, soon after his move from Chicago to New York. He’s playing in a very Elvin Jones-like mode with Jackie McLean, who is himself writing in a Coltrane Quartet-like […]
First jazz lesson
Here’s an item for teachers. This is a process I improvised in a lesson with a 6th grade student yesterday, to introduce him to playing the jazz rhythm on the drums. We did this verbally, […]
Groove o’ the day PLUS : Airto – Fingers
UPDATE: Correction from the comments, it is Fattoruso on drums! I’ll put the correct credit in the 2018 Book of the Blog. Until then, you’ll have to pencil it in onto your printout. Here is […]
Q & A: guitarist hunting
all guitarists until proven otherwise I received this question in the mail today: What are you looking for in a guitar player? What strengths/capabilities do you feel are the most important? Any thoughts on common […]
Cymbal & Gong and me
Public service announcement: You’re going to have to put up with a lot of ranting about cymbals in coming weeks and months. I’m in the process of developing a web site for selling Cymbal & Gong […]
Daily best music in the world: Ronald Shannon Jackson with Albert Ayler
Ronald Shannon Jackson playing with Albert Ayler on the Live at Slug’s Saloon album, recorded in 1966. Jackson wasn’t recorded a lot at this stage of his career, and it’s really interesting to hear him […]
Very occasional quote of the day: soloing
“My idea of a drum solo is that you play like you sing. It comes from different things you listen to. And the beauty is always in the simple things.” — Kenny Clarke, from 1984 […]
Three Camps video roundup
Just checking out various people’s interpretations of the traditional rudimental snare drum piece Three Camps. A long time ago I did a round up sources of written versions; here we’re looking at videos and audio recordings. We’ll […]
Transcription: Jack Dejohnette – Timeless
Biggest longest transcription we’ve done here in some time. This is Jack Dejohnette playing on Timeless, another essential recording by John Abercrombie. Jan Hammer also appears. I got my copy of this album at Rasputin’s […]