This is a page I’m using with some younger students this week— a variety of stock beats that can be used in most playing situations. We get so involved with technical improvement, it’s easy for […]
Listening: Art Blakey groove number
Let’s do some more guided listening. Here’s Art Blakey playing a little Quincy Jones groove arrangement with a nine piece ensemble: Plenty, Plenty Soul, from the Milt Jackson album of the same title. The form […]
Tootie Heath brush lesson
True old school guys approach things a whole different way from the modern technocratic thing. Here’s Tootie Heath giving a brush lesson: h/t to Larry Appelbaum
Daily best music in the world: 1-5 of ten albums
Reprinting this from my Facebook page— I encourage you to head over there and add me as a friend. There’s a thing going around where musicians list ten albums that were most important in their […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Jimmy Cobb
“Miles could tell me the things he wanted from the drums but I didn’t let him tell me how to play them.” — Jimmy Cobb, 1979 interview by Rick Mattingly
Practice loop: slow blues
A new practice loop sampled from Blues at Twilight, from Milt Jackson’s album Plenty, Plenty Soul. Horace Silver is on piano here. Tempo is 75 bpm, so this is a good one for getting your […]
Three voice / four note patterns
Continuing in the vein of the recent three voice/three note patterns item. Let’s call this series “things I have always been against writing that I am now writing.” I’ve been playing around with an online […]
RIP Thee Hippy Slayer
Sad news, Portland drummer Steve Hanford, aka Thee Hippy Slayer, has died. Best known for playing with iconic Portland punk band Poison Idea. I’m not a follower, but I have a lot of fondness for […]
Favorite albums: Trio Jeepy
Records that were important in my development, that might be in yours, too. Should be a major recurring feature, but very difficult for me to write. My problem is I don’t have much intelligent or […]