A rare two-pager today. Here I’ve put a little flesh on the bones on the process I outlined in my earlier Cracking 5/4 series, with an easy first lesson coordinating snare drum and bass drum […]
Groove o’ the day: Harvey Mason — The Traitor
Here’s a funk groove from the Herbie Hancock album Man-Child which has both Mike Clark and Harvey Mason on drums. It sounds like Harvey to me, but I could be wrong. It was released in […]
USPS Priority rules, USPS Priority rules, USPS Priority rules
Request it. Have I ever mentioned that shipping by USPS Priority rules? It just smokes the private sector competition. I just received a pre-serial 17″ Paiste 602 ride (a funny little cymbal) shipped from Hopkins, […]
DBMITW: The Hawaii 5-0 fill, redux
What this Hawaii 5-0 nonsense is about, for people under the age of 40-something. Get Tale Spinnin’ by Weather Report
More Stick Control in 5/4
Another way of using Stick Control in 5/4 came up in my practicing recently, as I was working on Mevlevia. What I’ve done is change the rhythm to three beats of 8th notes and two […]
Transcription: Bob Moses — Mevlevia
Here’s a quick take of a tune that will be part of my set on the Europe trip this year: Mevlevia, from the Gary Burton record Ring, with drumming by Bob Moses. This is one […]
Groove o’ the day: Philly Joe with Hank Mobley
The 50’s were apparently also the heyday of the quasi-Afro feel— all of the hard bop guys seem to have had their own way of making it. This one is by Philly Joe Jones, on […]
Alan Dawson’s “Ruff Bossa”
We’re laying it on pretty thick with the Reed interpretations right now, but I just went over this with a student, so I need to put up one more. It’s a swing interpretation with partially […]
Rudimental Reed: ruffs
Today’s Rudimental Reed entry is pretty straightforward— just make a ruff out of any note that doesn’t have an (untied) 8th note before it. That’s an awkward way of phrasing it, but I think you’ll […]
Groove o’ the day: Art Blakey with Hank Mobley
This is from the 1955 album Hank Mobley Quartet (it doesn’t appear to have been reissued recently, so you’ll have to just buy the mp3). The tune is Avila and Tequila, and Art Blakey plays […]