“It’s just like when I was twenty and my father and sister got killed in a car accident. I thought, If this can happen to people, you might as well do what you want— which […]
Category: very occasional quote of the day
Very occasional quote(s) of the day: over and over again
This is the one I had… “When we were young, we had our seven jazz albums next to our bed and played them over and over again.” — John Scofield “When I was young, I’d […]
Very occasional quote of the day: new music
“And I said, ‘How about you? Who’s your favorite drummer?’ He said, ‘Tony Williams.’ And I didn’t know who Tony Williams was, so the next day I went to a record store, and on the […]
VOQOTD: the drummer’s job
I just try to play the compositions, not so much imposing any particular kind of rhythm on any particular tune or composition—but to try and interpret the composition as if I’m an accompanist, fundamentally. And […]
VOQOTD: Elvin’s epitaph
“You got to remember, music is all about love.” —Elvin Jones From Drum Therapy: Elvin Jones 9/9/27-5/18/04, by Adam Mansbach, a very moving Jazz Times piece about Elvin’s last days. [h/t to AA]
VOQOTD: Elvin’s advice to young drummers
“PRACTICE, and play. Play any kind of music anywhere, weddings, carnivals, dances, circuses. Play and make sure that you give it your best. Be the best out there. I’ve played burlesque shows and recently I […]
VOQOTD: choosing cymbals
I’d go to the bin, I’d get two fourteens, I’d go to the eighteen bin, get an eighteen, then I’d go to the twenty bin and get a twenty, and that was that—none of that […]
VOQOTD: the way it was, then
[F]ifty years ago, long [running gigs] were more commonplace. Oh, yeah. There was a club on 52nd Street called the Hickory House. I played in there for three months with Bill Evans, and for three […]
VOQOTD: Ronald Shannon Jackson
“I play music and I play rhythms. I play them and I work on it because I hear something, then I just go sit down and start working on it. It’s like when my wife […]
More technique
This is one of the more memorable quotes from the pianist Kenny Werner’s book Effortless Mastery— I think a lot of people noticed it, and fully embraced it: Once after playing a concert an interviewer […]