Another media item: a 110 minute interview with the drummer Art Taylor. You’re certainly aware of him; he’s best known for playing on a lot of hard bop records in the late 50s. He also […]
Category: jazz
Daily best music in the world: Jack Walrath
Great record by trumpeter Jack Walrath, with Dannie Richmond, John Scofield, Ray Drummond, and Jim McNeely. Walrath was in Charles Mingus’s last band, and of course Richmond was a long time Mingus drummer and creative […]
Transcription: Frank Butler intro and fours
Maybe if I transcribe a bunch of drum intros and post them on the blog, I can guilt trip myself into finishing my Book of Intros. It’s still hanging around 95% ready to release. I’ve been blocked […]
Transcription: Charli Persip solo break
This is a little solo break by Charli Persip, near the end of So Sorry Please, from Red Garland’s album Bright and Breezy. The tune is by Bud Powell. We’re just looking at the drum […]
Page o’ coordination: jazz waltz with syncopated 4:3
Here’s a jazz waltz page o’ coordination with a syncopated polyrhythm in the feet— if you must know, a 4:3 polyrhythm in half notes and dotted quarter notes, starting on the & of 3 of […]
A simple solo method
Here’s a simple, non-technical solo method I was just working on with a student… …a SKYPE student… did you know I teach lessons via Skype? I do. Anything you ever have questions about on the […]
A great drummer
Clarence Penn These days I’m pretty insensitive to amazing drumming performances. I’ve seen a lot of people do a lot of amazing things, and I’m tired of it— I’ve actually never been into pure chops […]
The chart reading pyramid
METAPHOR— DO NOT TAKE LITERALLY I’ve gotten quite good at reading charts. By which I mean I’ve gotten quite good at ignoring charts. As a rule I avoid reading as much as possible— I’ve gotten […]
Jazz RUINED MY LIFE and other red-blooded tales
this is what jazz does to you Apparently there is a blog called JAZZ RUINED MY LIFE that is not written by the Napoleon Dynamite guy. It’s about [cue mournful saxophone]: The long drives; the […]
Bill Stewart on cymbal technique
Here’s a nice video of part of an interview with Bill Stewart, speaking with Quincy Davis of the University of Manitoba, in which he discusses his cymbal technique. It relates to my earlier ranting and […]