Photo by Anthony Porcar Cano More Billy Hart. Michael Griener sent me this 1994 Modern Drummer interview by Ken Micallef, and it’s excellent. It gives a much fuller picture of his musical intellect than I […]
Category: jazz
Chaffee jazz patterns in a 4:3 feel
Playing the jazz patterns from Gary Chaffee’s time functioning volume as 16th notes in a 4:3 feel. I feel like kind of a horse’s ass writing this— it’s all already in the book. But there […]
Daily best music in the world: Billy Hart with Buster Williams
A busy few days here, so here’s a Buster Williams album with Billy Hart on drums, which I’ve been running on a continuous loop since Monday.
Daily best music in the world: RIP Jon Christensen
Dexter Gordon to Jon Christensen: “You’re not from Harlem, and you’re 20 years old – play how you feel!” My brother, John Bishop, said this on Facebook: “He was the sound, aesthetic, time feel, phrasing, […]
Rubadub with Stone
Reversing a years-long boycott, I’ve been using the book Stick Control quite a bit for drum set applications lately. I guess it’s unavoidable that sometimes in playing the drums, we think in terms of stickings. […]
Listening to Keith Copeland
Let’s listen some more. This is Charlie Rouse playing After the Morning, a tune in 3/4 by John Hicks. The great Keith Copeland, who left us too soon, is on drums. This is normal modern, mainstream […]
Transcription: Billy Higgins solo in 5
Billy Higgins drum solo in 5, on the tune 5/4 Thing by George Coleman, from the album Eastern Rebellion by Cedar Walton. The transcription begins at 5:44. It’s short, kind of a percussion interlude. A […]
Authenticity
“I grew up happy and rich and I can play blues.” — Miles Davis “You’re not Art Blakey, you’re a white kid from Eugene.” — some guy I worried about “authenticity” for maybe a couple […]
Philly Joe solo lesson
In that last Philly Joe Jones transcription— his solo on Sub City, with Bud Powell— I noted a pattern of using his 8th note bass drum phrases to break up the mainly-snare drum passages. It’s […]
Solo transcription: Philly Joe Jones – Sub City
Here’s a drum solo played at a bright tempo with brushes by Philly Joe Jones. The tune is Sub City, by Bud Powell. The form is 32 bars long, and he’s basically playing two choruses, […]