My original bleak assessment of the future of this feature has mostly played out– I still just listen to the same batch of records over and over for days or weeks at a time. But a […]
Category: Tony Williams
VOQOTD: on learning jazz
Following Andrew Hare’s Why learn jazz? post: “[I]t seems to me that playing jazz gives a drummer more sensitivity for the drumset and much more of a rounded concept. It’s hard to explain that without […]
Jazz percussion
This is a concept I’ve been kicking around for years, I think since the term first came up for me in reference to Tony Williams in the history section Jack Dejohnette/Charlie Perry book: Tony didn’t […]
Ethan Iverson interview with Billy Hart
Here’s part of another great interview by the Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson, this time with Billy Hart: Miles and Tony Tony, for his age, seemed to me more thorough in the study of the jazz […]
Transcription: Four – the classic intro
Here in chronological order are three very similar intros to the tune Four, recorded by Miles Davis. The one by Philly Joe is the classic beginning of this tune— I don’t know if he was […]
Daily best music in the world: Gil Evans
We can debate the subtleties of the meaning of the word “daily” later- right now just play this loud: That’s Tony Williams on the drums, in one of my new favorite performances of his after […]
Know your tempos: what’s meant by up
In case you were wondering how fast you need to be able to play, here are a bunch of your favorite tracks spanning the break between “medium up”- where it’s still possible to swing- and […]
Ron Carter on drummers
Here’s an excerpt from an old interview with Ron Carter, from Ethan Iverson’s Do The Math, concerning some of the great drummers Carter has worked with. Absolutely go read the whole conversation: EI: In the […]
Transcription: Tony Williams – Madness – ride cymbal only
Madness is the first track I heard on the first Miles Davis record I actually went and bought- before that I just had the old copy of Kind of Blue from my dad’s record collection. […]
Vinnie Colaiuta interview – Percussive Notes, 1995
Vinnie with friend, c. 1982. From Vinnie Colaiuta’s web site, an interview from 1995 issue of Percussive Notes, by Rick Mattingly. My other big Vinnie thing on the blog is my Packard Goose transcription, which […]