There’s some nice late-60’s funk drumming by Idris Muhammad (named Leo Morris at the time) on Grant Green’s Carryin’ On album. This is from the James Brown tune I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me […]
Category: drums
Completism ad absurdum
x10,000. Go. It’s kind of interesting when someone runs a common concept to its logical conclusion, forcing you to examine the premise of the original thing. In this case, the Stick Control model of practice […]
Coordination with a dotted-quarter cymbal pattern, in 5/4 — part 1
Extending this recent series of Dahlgren & Fine/Elvin-style coordination studies a bit further, here’s part one of the dotted quarter series, converted into 5/4: Swing the 8th notes and do the tom moves when you […]
Ed Blackwell in Africa
Since we’re doing a lot with Ed Blackwell lately, here’s a little snippet from his November, 1981 Modern Drummer interview by Scott K. Fish, in which he discusses his 1967 and 1968 tours of Africa, […]
Groove o’ the day: Death Wish — Mike Clark
I told you I mean to do a lot of these this year– hopefully enough to do a dedicated book of them early in 2013. Today we’ve got Mike Clark playing with Herbie Hancock on […]
How to get real cymbals when you’re poor
The sort of thing you’re looking for. 2019 UPDATE: The economy has recovered substantially since I originally wrote this in 2012, so if you’re ready to spend a little more money on some great cymbals, […]
GOTD: Ed Blackwell — still more of Togo
Still more of Ed Blackwell’s performance on the tune Togo, from the album Old And New Dreams. Michael Griener in Berlin has helpfully informed me in the comments that a transcription of this entire performance […]
Groove o’ the day: Ed Blackwell — more Togo
Another Ed Blackwell groove today, from a little deeper in the same tune as the last GOTD, Togo, from the self-titled Old And New Dreams on ECM (there’s also one on the Black Saint label, […]
Coordination with a dotted-quarter cymbal pattern – part 2
Here’s part two of our series of Elvin-esque four way coordination in a waltz feel, with a dotted-quarter note cymbal rhythm. Here the bass drum is in unison with the cymbal, and it’s a little […]
I think this is what is referred to as a “chestnut”
Here’s a book that has been part of the terrain forever, but which is much more valuable than you might expect: Haskell Harr’s Drum Method. It’s a two-volume item, and I’ve only used Book 2, […]