“Billy, can we talk?” Henry Fonda time. I see we need to have this talk again. Everybody wants to talk about ride cymbal technique for blazing tempos. A little perspective on the subject: About 15 […]
More notes on Dahlgren & Fine
I’ve continued working on the harmonic portion of Dahlgren & Fine’s Four Way Coordination— the basic exercises in 4/4, on pp. 15-18— since it’s so bloody difficult, I’m writing about it a lot. Around here, extra […]
Subtractive patterns for jazz snare and bass
Continuing to develop this subtractive method, here are some good patterns for snare drum and bass drum in a jazz feel. I’m digging the system. It allows me to put whatever part I want consistently […]
10 and 11 stroke rolls in Wilcoxon’s Rolling In Rhythm
Let’s ring in the new year drummer-style, by complaining about a Charley Wilcoxon book maybe two or three of you own, Rolling In Rhythm! Even without the book, there’s something to be learned about archaic […]
Analysis: Ed Blackwell – Strength and Courage
Here’s a boiled down version of the Christmas transcription, Strength and Courage, by Joe Lovano. It’s a real crash course in Ed Blackwell— a lot of what he plays on many albums throughout his career […]
EZ Reed method – Jack’s way – 02
Continuing a very easy system I’m using with a younger student— I feel kind of cheated that I wasn’t taught this myself, and that I haven’t been teaching it all these years. This is as […]
Listening: Freddie Waits with Freddie Hubbard
Here’s the album I mentioned in that Freddie Waits Latin post— Fastball – Live at the Left Bank. Part of a cache of live recordings made at a club in Baltimore in the 1960s, discovered […]
Transcription: Ed Blackwell – Strength and Courage
Merry Christmas, everyone. Ho ho hoooeeere’s a LONG Ed Blackwell transcription for you, basically all of Strength And Courage, from Joe Lovano’s trio album Sounds of Joy, along with Alex Cox on the bass. The […]
“Worst drummer ever”
Bookending Sunday’s false prodigies rant, I suppose. Worst drummer ever is title of this video shared by Paul Mason (@tempusdrums) on Twitter. I watched the whole thing, which is more than I can say for […]
Transcription: both versions of Flower Punk
I can’t believe I never posted this. Back in 2017 I transcribed both versions of Frank Zappa’s Flower Punk— the original, played by Jimmy Carl Black, on the Mothers of Invention album We’re Only In […]