There’s TONS of this stuff out there. UPDATE: Ari Herstand at Digital Music News has also ripped the guy a new one. Here is something which is at best is clickbait— some drone working for […]
Author: Todd Bishop
Stick tricks
Sonny, pained. Be advised, if you plan on using Sonny Payne as a positive example for a lot of jive stick twirling, I have been informed that on the Basie band he was resented for […]
Two performers
Dave Camp Just had an acquaintance, and fellow Portland musician die this week— Dave Camp, a very talented, charismatic, rock & roll guitarist, singer, and songwriter. I think he was a couple of years younger […]
7/8 rhythms
I got sort of lightly burned at a session recently, when a player pulled up a tune he had written which was in a fast 7/8. I’ve been working on my odd meters quite a […]
“All you need to bring is cymbals” translated
“What? Them’s drums, ain’t they? Whatsamatter?” What this familiar instruction really means: “Bring your cymbals, and these items too: two different sizes of hihat clutches cymbal felts, washers, sleeves, and wingnuts snare drum throne bass […]
Assembling a basic Elvin Jones-style waltz
Here’s a page of elements for putting together a basic Elvin Jones-style jazz waltz— I hate to treat his playing so reductively, but what are we supposed to do? It’s a thing, it’s sometimes asked […]
Rudiments and tempo
The basis of everything, or, like, not. A question posed in an online drumming forum: The problem I have with rudiments is that it seems they’re only useful within a narrow range of tempo. […]
Masabumi Kikuchi 1939-2015
Pianist Masabumi Kikuchi has died. I mainly knew him through two very beautiful records by Tethered Moon, his band with Paul Motian and Gary Peacock— TM Plays Kurt Weill, and First Meeting. But he did […]
Tech is not your friend, part eleventy
A piece called Sleeping Through A Revolution, by Jonathan Taplin, who is a professor at USC, and the producer of a bunch of great movies— Mean Streets, To Die For, The Last Waltz. He’s not […]
Daily best music in the world: Leo
Rashied Ali’s band playing my favorite piece from Interstellar Space. With Carlos Ward.