This is a fast Latin groove played by Art Blakey during a solo on a concert video filmed in Japan, posted on Twitter by jazz writer Ted Gioia. I’m sure Blakey plays it on his […]
Category: grooves
Page o’ coordination: Freddie Waits Afro
UPDATE: A student brought it to my attention that according to Wikipedia, Idris Muhammad is the drummer on this track. Which surprises me, but there you go. A combination groove o’ the day and page […]
Grooves o’ the day: Art Blakey Latin
Two very similar Latin grooves recorded by Art Blakey in 1960 and ’61. On both of them the bell pattern has that little syncopated move across the barline that we see a few years later […]
EZ stock beats for all music
This is a page I’m using with some younger students this week— a variety of stock beats that can be used in most playing situations. We get so involved with technical improvement, it’s easy for […]
Hemiola funk series: Funky Primer – p. 22
Here’s an easy little thing, bringing together two funk items: I’ve taken a familiar page from Charles Dowd’s Funky Primer, and re-written it with the patterns used in my hemiola funk series. You know what […]
Groove o’ the day: Tony Allen / African Message
More Afrobeat: here’s Tony Allen playing with Africa 70. The tune is African Message, from the album No Accommodation For Lagos. Tempo is 118. It’s starts with solo drums playing this groove: Here’s a little […]
EZ Hemiola Funk beats with RLB
Just an easy page of hemiola funk-type beats including the RLB pattern as a fill, that I wrote for my students, who have been having a lot of fun with this series. Write in the […]
Hemiola funk series: easy grooves in 4/4
A page of easy beats based on the hemiola funk thing, that I wrote for my students. I’m trying to stay close to the original basic licks, while changing them slightly to fit them into […]
Groove o’ the day: Ndugu Latin
Listening to Ndugu Leon Chancler is always a great lesson in how to play funk, and how to use a set with a lot of tom toms. How to use the tom toms period. I […]
Groove o’ the day: Louis Hayes calypso
A calypso-type groove played by Louis Hayes in 1957, on the Curtis Fuller album Volume 3, on Blue Note. The tune is Quantrale, a light thing written by Fuller. Hayes plays variations on the groove […]