Oh, I was going to put out a book of intros, wasn’t I? Most of the transcribing for that project is actually done, and now I just need to do the not-fun part of laying […]
Author: Todd Bishop
Generic Latin method for Syncopation: part 1
Here’s a basic method for doing a generic, Afro-Cuban-derived Latin feel using the book Syncopation. We’ll be taking rhythmic patterns out of Reed, and using them as our bell pattern, playing them with the right […]
Transcription: Todd Bishop — Black Monk
This week I was working on something really narcissistic: a transcription of one of my own performances. I was just listening to some of my old rehearsal/gig recordings and thought, hey, I’d like to figure […]
Page o’ coordination: Dannie Richmond-inspired — harder
I need to keep saying this: we do so many of these Pages o’… that a person could get the mistaken impression that I think this is the best way to learn drumming vocabulary. I […]
Very occasional quote of the day: perfection
I used to think about this quote a lot: “I never was interested in how to make a good painting. For many years I was not interested in making a good painting— as one might […]
Mickey Roker on the bass drum
Mickey Roker is kind of an under-appreciated player— by me, too. We often focus on the ultra-modern star-type players, but he was a very hardworking musician in his day, and there’s a lot to learn […]
Yashica D
I had this camera sitting on a shelf for several years, and I finally got it working this summer: a Yashica D, medium-format, twin-lens reflex camera from the late 50s or early 60s. It’s a […]
Groove o’ the day: Mickey Roker Latin
Fantastic, I hadn’t planned it this way, but here’s yet another thing you have to buy— a Latin groove by Mickey Roker, on the tune Woody’n You, on McCoy Tyner’s album Live At Newport: Roker plays […]
Page o’ coordination: Dannie Richmond-inspired
A page o’ coordination inspired by that last Dannie Richmond transcription, with a syncopated cymbal pattern. Are you getting to the point with these that you can anticipate what the left hand parts are going to […]