Here’s Mickey Roker playing behind Donald Byrd on Essence, from Byrd’s record Electric Byrd. It’s vibey modal thing, in a slower 4/4 swing feel. It looks busy on the page, but this is mostly about […]
Category: Mickey Roker
Groove o’ the day: Mickey Roker funk
Here’s a lot of ink for you, for eight measures. Mickey Roker playing a funk groove with a lot of detail to it, on Goin’ Down South, a Joe Sample tune from Bobby Hutcherson’s record […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Mickey Roker on practicing
More from Mickey Roker’s Modern Drummer interview by Jeff Potter, October, 1985, on the subject of practicing the drums: It has always been hard for me to practice, because I get bored if I don’t […]
Very occasional quote of the day: play sessions
“We used to have sessions right here in this house where I was raised. Lee Morgan, Reggie Workman, McCoy Tyner—all those guys used to come right here and my grandmother would be back there cooking. […]
Transcription: Mickey Roker comping
Mickey Roker’s accompaniment of Dizzy Gillespie’s solo— the first three choruses anyway— on Birk’s Works, from Gillespie’s album Big 4. Roker has a deep groove I associate with musicians who have played a lot of […]
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 […]
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 […]