Well, it's been AGES since I've posted any kind of drum lesson but since so many of you have asked so nicely and have apparently found some of the other things I've posted here useful, here's something that I've been working on lately and I've been having some fun with.
After recently re-watching this phenomenal footage of this Tony Williams drum clinic, I was inspired to develop some Swiss Army triplet ideas based on some things that I've heard Tony commonly play around the drums during his solos.
Here is the clinic in its entirety to refresh your memory:
As you can see, Tony would often love to play big PHAT Swiss Army Triplets around his expansive arsenal of toms and floor toms.
This particular variation that I've come up with is a four-note pattern (rather than your usual three-note, triplet pattern) and is based on a hybrid snare drum rudiment that was taught to me by Chris Worthington back around 1995 (Chris was a great snare drummer who marched with the Blue Devils and Velvet Knights drum corps during the early 90s).
So here is the basic pattern:
As you can see it's basically a four-note variation of a Swiss Army Triplet (ie. there is an extra right hand stroke added to the stock rudiment).
Here is the same pattern, but with a reverse sticking and starting with the left hand:
Now, to make use of this on the drum set and to give it that "TW" flavour, add an accent on every fourth eighth-note and double it with the bass drum while that accent moves to the cymbal (or tom, cowbell or whatever you fancy).
So here's what that looks like:
As you can probably tell, there is a lot potential inherent in a pattern like this.
I've been trying to work this one into my vocabulary lately and discovered that it's quite a tricky pattern to execute seamlessly (thanks to the right hand "swipe" between the snare and cymbal). In fact, I recall hearing Dave Liebman speak once in a workshop with regards the notion of developing and expanding one's vocabulary. He surmised that if he introduced a new pattern or concept into his playing that it would take roughly a year until that idea worked its way into his playing and no longer sounded forced or contrived. It was comforting to know that I wasn't alone!
So there you go, something more to practice.
Have a great time this weekend and in the meantime here's some classic TW (complete with his yellow drums!) to enjoy:
Thanks to Berklee drum professor John Ramsay who shared these two via the Facebook, here is the legendary Boston drummer Lenny Nelson demonstrating some pretty slick moves:
If you check out youtube.com you'll notice that Lenny has quite a number of great videos posted to check out of him playing.
Well, it's Jazz festival season here in Canada and while Calgary still doesn't have an organized festival since its untimely demise two years ago, there is still lots going around here these days. There are no names like Wayne Shorter or Dave Holland playing around these parts, but given the amount of world-class local talent playing on a nightly basis along with the occasional touring Canadian group (such as the likes of the Shuffle Demons and bassist Chris Tarry's band) there is still a lot of good Jazz music to catch around town. You just have to dig around a little bit, that's all. Hopefully, things will get back on track and we can except Calgary to get back in the loop in years to come (sooner than later, I hope!)
Personally, the last week has been busy and I've had some really incredible musical experiences. On Friday evening I played with Juno award-winning saxophonist and pianist Phil Dwyer and bassist Jodi Proznick at the Beatniq Jazz & Social Club and that was certainly one for the books! The Beatniq has recently changed ownership and it remains to be seen what their new policy regarding live Jazz in that room will ultimately be but I guess time will tell. One thing is for sure though, I've sure experienced many great nights of music in that room over the years and I'm sure that the Jazz community in this city (artists and audience members alike) will ultimately find outlets to experience live Jazz on a regular basis in Calgary, one way or another.
Here's a photo of the house drum kit currently sitting in the Beatniq. These Gretsch Catalina drums belong to local fixture John DeWaal and they really sing when tuned up properly with die-cast hoops on the toms. Those are my Zildjian K Constantinople cymbals thrown in the mix:
- Bassist Dale James has recently been sending me some fantastic real-time updates from Edmonton where he had the pleasure of hearing Wayne Shorter with John Patitucci, Danilo Perez and Brian Blade (thanks Dale!)
Dale also forwarded me this great interview with drummer Matt Wilson courtesty of NPR:
- Thanks to vibraphonist Jay Hoggard who posted this movie clip of Max Roach and Pearl Bailey on a number entitled "Beat Out That Rhythm On A Drum" via the Facebook:
That's Max Roach - the movie star!
- Since we don't have an organized Jazz festival here in Calgary I've been following (with envy and admiration!) Peter Hum's excellent daily coverage of the Ottawa Jazz Festival over at his fine blog jazzblog.ca:
- My good friend Jerome Jennings is really playing some great drums these days. Here he is in some guitar trio action with guitarist Barry Greene:
Jerome is currently teaching this week in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with my good friend Mark Dejong, part of the Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival's Jazz education intensive. Look for their new album recently released with the Outer Bridge Ensemble.
-I've been playing a lot of vibraphone lately. Thank you to bassist Stefano Valdo, my very patient partner-in-crime, who has been pushing me on every gig of late.
Here's my lovely set of Musser M-55's from Saturday's hit at the Belfry on 8th Ave SW:
Just for the record: I LOVE playing the vibes, but I HATE moving them in the rain!!!
- I recently came across a large stack of music and scores from Kenny Wheeler's composition masterclass that I attended in 1997 at the Banff International Jazz Workshop. There is a wealth of information in these pages and I look forward to studying these pieces more throughly (and hopefully playing them!) over the summer months. They also brought back a flood of memories from what was a very memorable and important summer for me in terms of my development as an artist. Thank you Kenny!
- Sometimes I wish that could play the drums with the same sense of humor that Gary Larson (creator of the "Far Side") does when he draws his cartoons:
Although, if you ask me, I'd say that Matt Wilson comes pretty close!
It's been eight years since The Fall of Us All leaped out of the speakers; an album of immediacy and gorgeous tension, it was the one that came the closest to matching the energy of Exploded View, while adding a slightly more worldly aesthetic. This time, guitarist Steve Tibbetts takes a different approach in the recording process, due largely to an ill-fated run-in with a swarm of wasps, and the musician falling from a careening ladder onto his own hand. With some immobilizing surgery pending, he fired up his equipment to lay down several hours of raw material he would later rearrange, invert, and dissect on the computer. As it turns out, the canvas he paints is quite lush, his richest yet, and no doubt the mix is precisely the way he wanted it. The downside to this technological advance seems to be that he spent so much time editing and polishing it to perfection, the deliciously crunchy rough edges are often compromised. There's a frame of reference lacking; melody evades earshot, even as his signature "honey-dipped" acoustic guitar escorts listeners through the sweet spot of gongs and around tornados of drums. His material on the electric is still a ball of nails, but frequently it's padded by breathy washes of sound. The last few tracks actually benefit from fewer elements, proving once again that less is more. "Chandoha" builds to become the best sampling of straightforward wild abandon on the disc, and "Lochana" is a chorus of black clouds and ash, sloshing around a skeleton of percussion. "Koshala" sparkles; the blaze subsides to focus on the tips of flame radiating from the dialogue between tabla and acoustic guitar. The ten-minute "Black Temple" is epic in scope, from roaring to downright subconscious at times...in a way it's a "mega-mix" of everything he's done to date, including the intimate elements of Big Map Idea. This track, like most here, mirrors a Jackson Pollack painting: It's dense and rewarding without taking any particular shape, and a sonic equivalent to the cloud of wasps he encountered. Surprisingly, longtime collaborator Marc Anderson takes more of a supporting status on this release. He and Marcus Wise mostly "flesh out" percussion done by Tibbetts himself, including drum samples and field recordings he made in Bali back in 1991. Jim Anton fills out the album on bass guitar, without calling much attention to himself (a talent of most bassists who play on a Tibbetts record). Ultimately, A Man About a Horse comes off as more of an ambient record in terms of structure, even if it's loaded with drums and scorched guitar licks. Track for track, these are mosaics of world music doused in Tibbetts' particular brand of gasoline; not many explosions, but rather a steady wall of flame. - by Glenn Swan, AMG
Artist: Steve Tibbetts Album: A Man About a Horse Year: 2002 Label: ECM Runtime: 45:05
This transitional recording sees Joe Zawinul moving from the role of jazz pianist to that of a synthesist in the broad sense of the word. The recording, made up of advanced hard bop and post bop themes, includes -- with varying degrees of cohesion -- passages for cello and violas. The strings never completely meld with the jazz instrumentation, but they also don't get in the way. The title suggests Zawinul sees little value in partitioning music under such headings as "Third Stream" (a rubric for the fusion of jazz and classical music). This view would be famously exemplified in the influential projects with which Zawinul would soon be involved. Zawinul sticks with acoustic piano except for "Soul of a Village", where he improvises in a soul-jazz vein on Fender Rhodes over the tamboura-like droning of a prepared piano. On other tracks, his playing is similar to the sweeping grandeur of McCoy Tyner. Elsewhere, he is in more of a Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans space. There's good work from Jimmy Owens on trumpet and William Fischer on tenor sax, along with a top-flight rhythm section comprising bassist Richard Davis and either Freddie Waits or Roy McCurdy on drums.What's interesting about this music is the insight it provides on directions Zawinul would soon take with Miles Davis on the ethereal In a Silent Way, on the impressionistic 1971 eponymous release Zawinul, and then with the borderless fusioneering of Weather Report. These later projects are the realization of ideas that Zawinul was beginning to form on this 1967 session. - by Jim Todd, AMG
Recorded in late 1965, while keyboard player Joe Zawinul was still a member of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley's band, Money In The Pocket is a remarkable album—remarkable in that gives absolutely no hint of the shape shifts that would transform Zawinul's work a few years later. The first of three albums he recorded for Atlantic, it's a conventional mix of mid-1960s hard bop and soul jazz. Trumpeter Miles Davis' revolutionary In A Silent Way (CBS), recorded in early 1969, which featured Zawinul (who also wrote the title track), is on another planet, while Weather Report's eponymous debut (CBS, 1971) is in another galaxy. "Money In The Pocket" itself, one of three Zawinul originals here, made with tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan and trumpeter Blue Mitchell, is classic Blue Note hard bop in everything but record label. Four other tracks recorded with a three horn frontline—tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams and Mitchell, with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes from the Adderley band—take in bop and soul jazz. Jones' "Some More Of Dat" is a generic dead ringer for contemporaneous Adderley or pianist Horace Silver (Mitchell, Jordan, Henderson and Hayes were all Silver alumni). All these tracks are good, but even by the standards of the time they are pretty ordinary. Zawinul's modal-flavored "Riverbed," though hardly radical, is the disc's most singular composition. There are, however, two ballad readings of note: Guy Wood's and Robert Mellin's "My One And Only Love" and Rudy Stephenson's "Sharon's Waltz." The first is performed solo by Zawinul, the second with Jones and Hayes. Lyrical and just the right side of rococo, Zawinul's solos are delightful, in the same ballpark as "Come Sunday," the Zawinul feature with the Adderley band heard on the YouTube clip below. - by Chris May, allaboutjazz.com
Artist: Joe Zawinul Album: The Rise & Fall ot the Thid Stream / Money in the Pocket Year: 1967/1966 Label: Rhino (1994) Runtime: 73:41
Tracks: 1. Baptismal (William Fischer) 7:38 2. The Soul of a Village - Part I (William Fischer) 2:13 3. The Soul of a Village - Part II (William Fischer) 4:15 4. The Fifth Canto (William Fischer) 7:00 5. From Vienna, With Love (Friedrich Gulda) 4:27 6. Lord, Lord, Lord (William Fischer) 3:56 7. A Concerto, Retitled (William Fischer) 5:24 8. Money in the Pocket (Joe Zawinul) 4:47 9. If (Joe Henderson) 3:48 10. My One and Only Love (Guy Wood/Robert Mellin) 3:55 11. Midnight Mood (Joe Zawinul) 6:07 12. Some More of Dat (Sam Jones) 6:03 13. Sharon's Waltz (Rudy Stephenson) 5:08 14. Riverbed (Joe Zawinul) 5:10 15. Del Sasser (Sam Jones) 3:44
Personnel: Joe Zawinul (Piano, Electric Piano) William Fischer (Tenor Saxophone) - 1-7 Jimmy Owens (Trumpet) - 1-7 Richard Davis (Double Bass) - 1-7 Alfred Brown (Viola) - 1-7 Selwart Clarke (Viola) - 1-7 Theodore Israel (Viola) - 1-7 Kermit Moore (Cello) - 1-7 Roy McCurdy (Drums) - 1-8 Freddie Waits (Drums) - 1-7 Warren Smith (Percussion) - 1-7 Blue Mitchell (Trumpet) - 8,9,11,12,14 Joe Henderson (Tenor Saxophone) - 9,11,12,14 Pepper Adams (Baritone Saxophone) - 9,11,12,14 Sam Jones (Double Bass) - 9,11-15 Louis Hayes (Drums) - 9,11-15 Bob Cranshaw (Double Bass) - 8 Clifford Brown (Tenor Saxophone) - 8
I came across this rehearsal footage of the great Rakalam Bob Moses is action and I learned quite a bit from watching this and observing his unique approach to the drums. I've always enjoyed his playing (particularly on Pat Metheny's album "Bright Size Life") and his informative book "Drum Wisdom" but, as always, it's always great to put those words and sounds into a visual context (complete with his custom line of drumsticks courtesy of "Vic Earth"! lol)
I've always admired this composition written by Hank Mobley, featuring the great Art Blakey on drums. It's a clever arrangement and Blakey's solo features some classic Buhaina!:
While there's nothing quite like seeing the Chieftains live in concert, An Irish Evening marks the next best thing. Recorded live over two evenings at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, the disc captures the group's eclectic, fun, and loving approach to traditional Irish music. American country-folk singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith (a huge star in Ireland in her own right) provides sweet vocals on "Little Love Affairs," "Red Is the Rose," and "Ford Econoline." The Who's Roger Daltrey sounds a tad awkward on the traditional "Raglan Road" and the music hall-ish "Any Old Iron," but delivers a fascinating trad-style acoustic rendition of his group's "Behind Blue Eyes." An Irish Evening will appeal to die-hard fans and, with the co-billing of Daltrey and Griffith, will likely attract a whole new audience as well. - by Roch Parisien, AMG
I don't know what the reviewer's problem is, but nobody in the Opera House this night was thinking about the British occupation, they were all too busy enjoying one of the best Chieftains live shows ever! Only Paddy and the Boys can meld rock, pop, country-folk, the dance and traditional Celtic music into one fantastic show like this. Daltrey's pub drinking style is PERFECT for the band, and the version of "Raglan Road" contained here is one of the best ever recorded. Nanci Griffith sounds like she could've been born in County Mayo. I would urge anyone to get a copy of this immediately, there's none better! A topnotch addition to any longtime fan's Cheiftains' CD collection or a good starter for those of you just beginning to get a taste for this worldclass Irish band's music. - by etreacy99, Amazon.com
Artist: The Chieftains Album: An Irish Evening (Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast) Year: 1991 Label: BMG (1992) Runtime: 71:16
Tracks: 1. Dóchas/Kind of Laois/Paddy's Jig/O'Keefes/Chattering Magpie (Traditional) 9:18 2. North Amerikay (Traditional) 4:08 3. Lilly Bolero/The White Cockade (Traditional) 3:11 4. Little Love Affairs (Nanci Griffith/James Hooker) 2:59 5. Red is the Rose (Traditional) 3:26 6. The Mason's Apron (Traditional) 5:20 7. The Stone (Traditional) 6:32 8. Miscellany: Theme from Tristan and Isolde/Súisín Ban/Goodmorning Nightcap/The Galway Races/The Jolly Tinker (Traditional) 8:55 9. Raglan Road (Traditional) 5:22 10. Behind Blue Eyes (Pete Townshend) 4:24 11. Ó Murchú's Hornpipe/Sliagh Geal gCua na Feile/The Wandering Minstrel (Traditional) 4:17 12. Damhsa (Traditional) 2:59 13. Ford Econoline/Any Old Iron (Traditional) 10:19
Personnel: Martin Fay (Fiddle) Seán Keane (Fiddle) Kevin Conneff (Bodhran, Vocals) Matt Molloy (Flute) Paddy Moloney (Uillean Pipes, Tin Whistle) Derek Bell (Harp, Tioman, Keyboards) Billy Nichols (Vocals) Dave Early (Drums) Clive Cuthberson (Bass) Jean Butler (Traditional Irish Dancer) - 12 Nanci Griffith (Vocals) - 4,5,13 Roger Daltrey (Vocals) - 9,10,13
Drummer and author Jeff Jerolamon was nice enough to send along a copy of his new book "Straight-Ahead Jazz Drumming" (Hal Leonard). It's a very well written and comprehensive method designed to develop one's functional ability on the drums as a Jazz timekeeper.
I asked Jeff a few questions about his method book and here's what he had to say:
1) Tell us all about your book! What is it all about and what are the goals of your text?
Well, the book is basically a musical language study on how to accompany a soloist in a straight ahead jazz situation. One can observe in the great jazz drummers certain characteristics that they all have in common, regardless of stylistic differences, they being 1. The ability to swing hard, 2. Make a soloist sound even more exciting than he may actually be, 3. Enrich the music by adding detailed rhythmic counterpoint. Of course, the truly great ones, not only did all of the above, but in a very unique, personal manner.
On the surface, there's no real mystery here, just listen to the greats and you'll eventually get it.....and I really do believe that, the only thing I'm trying to do with the book is save the student some time. I would have saved years, if I had this information available to me when I was coming up.
The basic premiss throughout is, "if you can hear it, you can (with practice) play it." The first thing we deal with in the book is how to get a walking feel with the traditional cymbal beat. This is done (as are all the exercises and challenges in the study) while singing a jazz standard. That way, the student is always conscious of the song form he's playing and never just "playing time".
Once a solid "walking feel" with the cymbal is established, we get into some basic comping figures.
Comping figures later are combined with what are referred to as "tension figures". Tension figures are what make the music more exciting and hopefully urge the soloist to play at a higher intensity. The book discusses how, where and why these type of figures are used and resolved extensively throughout the text.
Also presented is a method on how to be constantly varying the cymbal beat, while mixing it up with the rest of the kit, yet hearing everything that you're playing. This is done by hearing the drums as one big rhythm, rather than 3 or 4 separate ones.
Pacing is also discussed, that is, how to make each chorus more intense than the previous if desired.
At the end, is a method on how and what to listen for when listening to Jazz CD's and how it relates to the study material in the book.
2) What was the motivation and inspiration for putting together this method?
Well., I'd been accumulating this material for years and it was getting time to start sharing it. Also, in Spain, where I've been living for the last 30 years, the conservatories started to offer a jazz performance degree and I began fantasizing about what material I would use if I was offered the job in one of the centers. Ironically, 2 weeks after Hal Leonard agreed to publish the book, I got the job in the Valencia Conservatory as the jazz drum teacher.
3) How does your book differ from other jazz drumming method books currently on the market? What makes it unique?
Well, of course I haven't seen all the existing drum books out there, but one of the chief factors about what I suppose makes it different is that all the concepts and techniques in the book deal directly with song structure. This way the drums are approached like any other instrument would be. The idea of creating tensions and where and how to resolve them is something that I haven't seen in other drum books and also the method taught on how to vary the cymbal while playing the rest of the kit along with it I think is quite different.
4) How do you recommend students and teachers approach working through your materials?
First of all, make sure that you always work with a song structure. If it's a student with little jazz experience who doesn't know standards, sing a child's song, a nursery rhyme, a Christmas carol....anything, Also take seriously the guide in the back of the book on how and what to listen for when listening to the great drummers. It's important to hear it for yourself, don't just play things because the book says so! Remember, if you can hear it, you can play it. All the concepts and ideas in the book are doing are helping you to get to it sooner. Also very important, try to apply what you're learning as soon as possible. Get out there and play....playing with records is fine, but there's nothing like the real thing!
5) What are some of the challenges of putting together a drum method book? What advice do you have for anybody potentially interested in publishing their own book?
The real challenge for me was organizing the material in a logical didactic manner. I like to try the material out on my students to see how they handle it. I find them to be a more acurate barometer than myself.
Getting a book published is very similar to trying to get a record deal. You either send it out to the big companies and hope for a response or you try and put it out yourself. It's not easy and you have to be prepared for rejection, but if you really believe in it....go for it!
- Here's a few clips of Jeff discussing the art of Jazz ride cymbal playing:
Welcome back and I hope that all you fatherly drumming types out there had a nice Father's Day.
Here's a few things to check out this morning:
- Speaking of Father's Day, I consider Max Roach to be my musical/jazz drumming "father", so to speak. Listening to Max play all those years ago really set me on my own path and after checking out "Study in Brown" there was no turning back!
Here's some footage of Max Roach with his quartet from a concert in East Germany filmed during the 1980s:
- For those of you who don't know, I'm currently researching and writing my Doctoral dissertation through the University of Toronto on the notion of contemporary approaches to "melodic" Jazz drumming.
There are many great dissertations out there written on the topic of Jazz drumming. Here's an exceptional paper written by Toronto Jazz drummer and educator Barry Elmes on the topic of Elvin Jones' revolutionary approach to time keeping:
- Thanks to David Ward, producer of CBC's Jazz radio program TONIC, who turned me on to this insightful three-part interview with long-time Bill Evans trio drummer Marty Morell:
Incidentally, if you are in Toronto, go to Honest Ed's legendary discount department store on Bloor and Bathurst and if you look carefully you'll notice the poster-sized, autographed photo of Marty Morell that hangs on the wall near the exit as you leave the checkout counters (!)
- Jason Crane over at the Jazz Session recently took some time to interview drummer Jeff Cosgrove and asked him some questions about his fine new album which features the music of Paul Motian:
- I never get tired of hearing the Masters speak. I mean, I could just sit and listen to one of these cats order off of a restaurant menu and I'd be happy...
Here's a rare interview with the great Al Harewood:
- Since I'm on a bit of a Jazz drumming interview kick today, here's another with Winard Harper courtesy of the Pace Report:
- It's Jabali!
- It's Tain!
I really dig the pseudo Afro-Cuban groove that he lays into here. And the feedback...lol
- What am I listening to these days?
Phil Nimmons Jazz Orchestra "The Atlantic Suite" - Stan Perry (drums)
Freddie Hubbard "Live in France 1973" (dvd) - Michael Carvin (drums)
Aldo Romano & Joe Lovano "Ten Tales" - Aldo Romano (drums)
O.T.B "Out of the Blue" - Ralph Peterson Jr. (drums)
Sam Noto "Act One" - Billy Higgins (drums)
Gary Burton Quartet "Country Roads & Other Places" - Roy Haynes (drums), Gary Burton (vibes)
- Lots of exciting gigs on the go for me this week. Officially we don't have an organized Jazz festival in this town these days, but there is no lack of good Jazz music to check out this week so get out there and support our local Jazz scene!
For those of you who are interested, here's where I'll be playing in Calgary over the next while:
Monday, June 18 - The McCaslin/Valdo Vibes and Bass Duo Waves Coffee House (Calgary West Location) 7:30pm
Tuesday, June 19 - Andrea Petrity Trio Pacific Place Mall 4pm
Wednesday, June 20 - McCaslin Vibraphone Project ProArts Noon Hour Concert Series, Church of the Redeemer 12pm
Wednesday, June 20 - The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal University 7:30pm
Tickets $25 Adults, $10 Students For tickets and information call the Mount Royal University Box Office 403.440.7770 http://tickets.mtroyal.ca
Friday, June 22 - Phil Dwyer Trio Beatniq Jazz & Social Club, 9pm
Saturday, June 23 - McCaslin Vibraphone Project The Belfry 7pm
Wednesday, June 27 - Jon McCaslin Trio The Yellow Nectarine Lounge 8pm
Thursday, June 28 - Jeff McGregor Trio Kawa Espresso Bar - 8:30pm
Saturday, June 30 - Shane Statz Quartet Plays the Music of Sonny Rollins Beatniq Jazz & Social Club 9pm
July 9-14 - Prairielands Summer Jazz Workshop University of Regina (Regina, SK)
Gil Evans ran into his share of would-be defenders of his "tradition" when he began experimenting with rock songs and electronic instruments in the '70s and '80s. One of jazz's greatest arrangers was suddenly viewed as a charlatan in certain circles, and a band loaded with great players was now being dismissed as a crew of frauds. This second volume of songs done live during the band's long run as Sweet Basil's regular Monday night attraction proves decisively that neither Evans nor his band lost anything. The versions of Wayne Shorter's "Parabola" and Herbie Hancock's "Prince of Darkness" are multi-faceted and compare favorably with almost anything done by any previous Evans aggregation. It may not have been "cool," but it was most assuredly great jazz. - by Ron Wynn, AMG
This is mostly big band fusion although Voodoo Child is melodically pretty much straight rock. I like the songs on this album a great deal. I think the long song "Blues in C" is the masterpiece here. It is based on a simple rock/fusion rhythm but there is incredible melodic complexity woven into the song, particularly a melody played by a chorus of brass instruments that recurs several times in the piece, in the latter couple cases in a somewhat different form from the first time, plus some fantastic instrumental solos on the trumpet, guitar, piano, etc. It is appropriate that his band is referred to as an Orchestra since the orchestration here is on a comparable level to that you'll find in some of the best classical music. I have something like 8 or so Gil Evans albums and I would have to rate this one among the top 2 or 3. Also with many jazz artists I tend to enjoy live albums more than studio albums and the fact that this album is live is an additional virtue as far as I am concerned. If you like Gil Evans you are probably going to like this album. Although I wouldn't rate every single song 5 stars (not Voodoo Child for example) the best songs on the album are so good that there is no question in my mind this is a 5 star album. - Lance B. Sjogren, Amazon.com
Artist: Gil Evans & The Monday Night Orchestra Album: Live at Sweet Basil Year: 1984 Label: Gramavision (1986) Runtime: 71:29
Tracks: 1. Voodoo Chile (Jimi Hendrix) 7:22 2. Blues in "C"/John's Memory/Cheryl/Bird Feathers/Relaxin' at Camarillo (Charlie Parker) 24:41 3. Orange was the Color of her Dress Then Blue Silk (Charles Mingus) 6:15 4. Prince of Darkness (Herbie Hancock) 5:50 5. Up From the Skies (Jimi Hendrix) 8:37 6. Parabola (Alan Shorter) 18:40
Personnel: Gil Evans (Acoustic and Electric Piano) Lew Soloff (Trumpet) Hannibal Marvin Peterson (Trumpet) Shunzo Ohno (Trumpet) Miles Evans (Trumpet) George Adams (Tenor Saxophone) Chris Hunter (Alto Saxophone) Howard Johnson (Tuba, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet) Tom Malone (Trombone) Hiram Bullock (Guitar) Pete Levin (Synthesizer) Mark Egan (Bass Guitar) Adam Nussbaum (Drums) Mino Chinelu (Percussion)
Just a heads up here before we launch into the weekend. I have a lot of great gigs coming up next week here in Calgary but one that I'm particularly excited about is a return engagement featuring the newly formed Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble. We started this new Jazz orchestra last February and I'm really excited to present yet another concert featuring some incredible local talent on a program of challenging contemporary Canadian Jazz orchestral music. It's going to be epic! Don't miss out on this one...
The Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble
Wednesday, June 20
7:30pm
Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal University
Presenting Canadian Jazz orchestral works by: Rob McConnell, David Braid, Jon McCaslin, Michelle Gregoire, Mark DeJong, Carsten Rubeling and Paul Read
Featuring:
Saxophones: Mark DeJong, Keith O'Rourke, Jim Brenan, Sean Craig, Sarah Matheson Trombones: Carsten Rubeling, Nathan Gingrich, Dean Yeats, Paul Toutant Trumpets: Jay Mickalak, Doug Berner, Jon Day, Natalie DeJong Piano: Michelle Gregoire Bass: Rubim de Toledo Drums: Jon McCaslin
Leacock Theatre Mount Royal University 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW, Calgary AB
Super 78-minute anthology of Patton's prime (1963-70) era, unfortunately released only in the U.K., drawn from nine albums. 1963's "Along Came John," and 1966's "Amanda," and the two cuts from his best album, 1965's Let 'Em Roll ("The Turnaround" and "Latona") are particular cookers, but the organ-guitar-horn groove is always solid, and the riffs basic but compelling. This is some of the best soul-jazz ever, usually featuring Grant Green on guitar, though a young James Ulmer takes over on axe for the 1970-era cuts. - by Richie Unterberger, AMG
Artist: "Big" John Patton Album: The Organization! The Best of Year: (1963-1970) Label: Blue Note (1994) Runtime: 78:03
Tracks: 1. Along Came John (John Patton) 6:03 2. Silver Meter (Ben Dixon) 5:38 3. Bermuda Clay House (George Braithwaite) 5:57 4. Jerry (John Patton) 6:43 5. Hot Sauce (Unknown) 7:57 6. Fat Judy (Ben Dixon) 7:40 7. Amanda (Duke Pearson) 6:09 8. The Turnaround (Hank Mobley) 6:45 9. Latona (John Patton) 7:22 10. Chitlins Con Carne (Kenny Burrell) 6:36 11. Footprints (Wayne Shorter) 6:23 12. Freedom Jazz Dance (Eddie Harris) 4:44
Personnel: John Patton (Organ) Fred Jackson (Tenor Saxophone) - 1,2,4 Harold Vick (Tenor Saxophone) - 1,2,6 Grant Green (Guitar) - 1-9 Ben Dixon (Drums) - 1-6 George Braith (Soprano Saxophone and Strich) - 3,5 Tommy Turrentine (Trumpet) - 3,5 Hugh Walker (Drums) - 7,10 Bobby Hutcherson (Vibes) - 8,9 Otis Finch (Drums) - 8,9 Marvin Cabell (Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Saxello) - 11,12 James Ulmer (Guitar) - 11,12 Richard Landrum (Conga) - 7 Harold Alexander (Flute and Tenor Saxophone) - 10 Richard Williams (Trumpet) - 4 Blue Mitchell (Trumpet) - 6 Larry Hancock (Drums) - 11 Leroy Williams (Drums) - 12
Here's a name that you don't hear every day, but you should! French drummer Christian Vander was the drumming force behind the pseudo-progressive rock band Magma. As you can see from the clips below (including some footage for our guests of the Francophone persuasion - Merci beaucoup!) Christian's drumming is heavily influenced by Elvin Jones and he plays with a great deal of power, intensity and passion. I also really dig the aerial crash cymbals. You almost expect some flying squirrels to come swooping down with some small mallets at the height of his solo!
These clips appear to be from some sort of instructional video and, while my french is fairly adequate, I look forward to checking these out and gaining some more insight into this very unique musician.
Today's post is a little late but I was busy running around all day putting up posters in advance of our next concert with the Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble on June 20th.
So here's a few things on the go around the Four on the Floor offices these days:
- Vic Firth recently featured this extended Steve Smith drum solo on their website:
I really dig the melodic approach that he plays around with during the first part of his solo (I think using mallets helps emphasize that point as well). I've often thought about adding more toms to my set-up just to explore that way of expressing melody around the drums, however I always find that it just messes with the placement of my ride cymbal (!) so I always go back to my usual one-up, one-down tom set-up. Oh well...
- George Colligan has a nice feature on drummer Jeff Williams over at his fine blog Jazz Truth:
- Ralph Peterson Jr. is featured in the lastest installment of The Pace Report where he talks about his latest album release "The Duality Perspective":
I look forward to checking this one out!
- What am I listening to these days?
Johnathan Blake - "The Eleventh Hour" - Johnathan Blake (drums)
McCoy Tyner - "Time for Tyner" - Freddie Waits (drums), Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone)
Cannonball Adderley - "Something Else" - Art Blakey (drums)
The 3 Cohens - "Family" - Gregory Hutchinson (drums)
Jack DeJohnette and Bill Frisell - "The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers" - Jack DeJohnette (drums)
Roy Haynes - "Out of The Afternoon" - Roy Haynes (drums)
Cannonball Adderley Sextet - "In New York" - Louis Hayes (drums)
Oscar Peterson Trio - "Oscar Peterson + 1 (Clark Terry)" - Ed Thigpen (drums)
Mike Downes Trio - "The Winds of Change" - Ted Warren (drums)
Wynton Marsalis - "Black Codes from the Underground" - Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums)
- Thanks to Irish bassist and blogger Ronan Guilfoyle who posted this insightful list of "Rules" from composer John Cage via the Facebook:
I think these are great guidelines to think of as an improvisor/composer. You could also live your life following these! Not bad advice at all...
- And finally, to finish off today's post I'd like to quote the greatest one-word Jazz poem ever written, penned by the great Jazz vocalist John Hendricks:
If you like acoustic guitar music and are a world music fan, in the truest sense, you will love this masterpiece. While the beat and rhythm is always Senegalese, respectively Mbalax, Cherif Mbaw incorporates many styles from all over the world and creates something NEW (which can't be said from the majority of recording artists). You'll hear influences from Afro-Cuban music, Indian tablas, Flamenco style handclapping, Blues harmonica, accordeons, etc. I'm a lover of music from all over the world and this CD has climbed to my personal Top10 list, because it get's better the more you listen to it. - by S. Majcenic, Amazon.com
Chérif Mbaw has the voice of a young Youssou, the guitar of Pape & Cheikh and the feel of Cheikh Lô. In other words, he sounds like everything I like about contemporary Senegalese music. Mbaw come a long way over the years. Born in Ziguinchor then raised in Dakar, he fought his way to the top. After working on his singing for years he earned a spot training with Youssou N’Dour. This led to a grant to go study in Paris but apparently it took him several years to get permission to go to France. Once he finally made it to Paris he had to busk in the metros to pay the bills. These bumps along the road didn’t seem to discourage him: after two successful releases Chérif is now touring with the likes of Amadou & Mariam and Tracy Chapman. - Matt Yanchyshyn, Bennloxo.com
Here's a couple good ones of the legendary (and I mean LEGENDARY!) drummer and teacher - the one and the only - Sam Ulano, one of New York's finest:
For those of you who aren't familiar with Sam's work, he was fixture on scene in New York for many years as a player and teacher.
Here is his biography to fill you in (borrowed from his website):
THE EARLY YEARS
A native New Yorker, Sam Ulano was born on August 12th, 1920 on E 45th Street. He had 8 siblings, including a twin brother. His love of the drums began at age 13 when his Bronx buddy, Harry Koppleman, got a dazzling set of mother-of-pearl Slingerland Radio King Gene Krupa drums. Something just clicked with those drums... It was love at first beat for Sam.
SCHOOL YEARS
“Before studying music, I never did my homework, I didn't study, I wasn’t interested in anything,” says Sam. “ I had a pretty good voice, though, and I liked to sing. All the rest of the family studied. I never read a book. My mind wandered and instead I drew cowboys and horses and dogs. When the teacher asked to see my notebook, it was filled with drawings.”
“When I was 14 I went to work in the Flatiron Building at a company that made gold eyeglass frames - Goldberg, Goldberg & Epstein. On the first day the guy across from me was working on a drop press. The thing dropped right on the guy's hand and his hand was cut off - right in front of me! I put my coat on and said to Mr. Epstein, ‘I can't work here - I'm going to be a drummer,’ and went home. My mother said ‘Why are you home so early?’ I told her ‘I'm going to be a drummer and I can't afford to risk that.’ ”At James Monroe High School in the Bronx he studied with Alfred Freize and Fred Albright. Sam won a gold medal for music - the only drummer to ever get the gold music medal. His after-school drum instructor, the legendary Harlem percussionist Aubrey Brooks, told him “Music is the study of sound through math. Get better in math and you will be a better musician.” Because Sam had found something that he loved to do, by studying music his other school work improved.
TEACHING
Sam started teaching others right from the beginning - while he was still a teenager. He opened his first studio in the Bronx when he was 17 (the kids coming over to the house to beat on drums were getting to be too much for the neighbors) and has been teaching and writing about the drums ever since. “I taught what I had learned and then kept learning and kept sharing.”
WORLD WAR II
In November of 1942 at the age of 22 Sam was drafted into the Army, where he served for 4 years. He was assigned to the 391st Infantry Band at Camp Breckinridge Kentucky, and was ecstatic at his good fortune to be playing music in the military.
“In the four years that followed, I gained some of my most important experience as a musician. As a band player in all kinds of musical situations, I played shows for the troops with Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, Betty Hutton, Jerry Colonna, and most of the other headliners that worked with the USO. The USO was an organization that sent all kinds of entertainers to perform for the soldiers just behind the lines on the battlefields. It was an important part of keeping the morale of the troops high.”
They also made Sam a sergeant and put him in charge of a 100-piece marching drum corps. He traveled all across the US and to Japan and Hawaii. “I learned a lot - and fast. Those four years were like going to music college - in fact, better than music college.”
POST WAR YEARS
After the war, Sam spent four years at the Manhattan School of Music - from 1947-1951. “In school I studied timpani for symphony work, that’s what the curriculum was. I didn’t have a clue how to consider a program. I did what was told of me.” He got married and opened his studio in the Bronx, where 20 of the students he had before the war came back to study with him.
PERFORMANCES
He’s played the Borsch Belt summer resorts in the Catskills, the concert field, the wedding scene, vaudeville, on Broadway, in studio sessions and shows with big bands and small groups. He’s played classical, jazz, swing, Dixieland, Latin and many ethnic styles of music. He’s done it all.
NYC CLUB SCENE
Being in NYC, Sam was able to go out and listen to the best in his field - Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Max Roach, Louie Bellson, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Papa Jo Jones and many others - and become friends with them. He was also carving out a niche for himself as a respected drummer on the New York scene. For decades, Sam played at many of the top nightspots in New York, including the Gaslight Club - the premiere job in town. Sam played the Gaslight 6 nights a week for 15 years.
He also played at the famed Metropole Cafe in Times Square and The Garage in the West Village (“More Live Jazz Than Anywhere In The World - 7 nights a week”). He played with Bill Snyder, Tony Parenti, Dick Wellstood, Sol Yaged, Bob Cantwell and Max Kaminsky. From 1964 - 1965 Sam played the World's Fair every night for 2 years. He had his own bands that played at the Gaslight Club, Red Blazer Too as well as many other configurations of musicians that played with him over the years. He's been called the workingest drummer in New York City.
KID’S PROGRAMS
“One day I was teaching a 20-year-old student and he asked how to do a drum solo. I said ‘Tell yourself a fairy tale or rhyme.’ I made up a jazz version of Goldilocks and The Three Bears and that’s how I started doing jazz nursery rhymes for kids. I recorded an album - “Sam The Drummer Tells Famous Fairytales For Your Children” with my drummer friend Moondog and sent it to radio stations. It got a lot of airplay; it sold in Sam Goody's, and other big stores. It’s still selling.”
“I used to do the school shows for the New York City public school system. I called myself ‘Mr. Rhythm.’ It was all instruction - like - ‘What's rhythm? I'll give you a dollar if you know. Anybody in the audience know how to play?’ Some kids would run up and I'd let them have a minute, like they were on TV. I did over 500 of those shows for the school kids.”
WRITING AND PUBLISHING
Sam wrote his first drum instruction book at the age of 15. He got the idea from watching Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman play at the Paramount Theatre. He went home and wrote “Bass Bops” on sheets of plain paper. No one had ever written down bebop before. It was published in 1948 after he got out of the army through a friend’s father and sold for $1. It’s still a classic today, having been continuously in print since then and studied by drummers all over the world.
Writing “Bass Bops” was his epiphany: he realized that he needed to keep being a student, as popular music moved from Big Band to Bebop. Writing drum instruction books has become a life-long job for Sam.
Well-known for his methods of drum teaching and his progressive approach to writing about the instrument he loves, Sam has over 4000 instruction books, CDs, newspaper articles, magazine articles and pamphlets to his name. Even at 91 years of age, he still writes every day, and works on several books simultaneously.
TV
Sam appeared on television on Cerebral Palsy Telethons, as well as on shows with Gary Moore, Shari Lewis, Morty Gunty, Ernie Kovacs, and Joe Franklin, drumming and telling his nursery rhyme songs. Sam was Steve Allen’s guest on “The Tonight Show” the important night the NYC show was first broadcast nationally - September 27th, 1954. He even was the mystery guest on “I’ve Got A Secret” - a 1950s game show where celebrity panelists tried to guess a contestant's "secret": something that was unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person. (Sam's secret was that he told jazzy fairy tales while playing on the drums.)
PRODUCER
Sam has long produced records, audio- and video-tapes and CDs of his instruction, music and performances. He produced and starred in a 30-minute Manhattan public-access cable TV show on drumming that ran for several years in the 1970s. He also produced, wrote, and directed a series of drum instructional videos.
DRUM MASTER AWARD
Sam founded the Drum Master Award, given to the drummer who has contributed the most to the advancement of drumming and percussion, and was also awarded a Drum Master Award in 1997 for his many years of teaching.
CURRENTLY
Now 90 years old, in good physical shape and as sharp as ever, he’s showing no signs of letting up. Sam still writes, teaches students and plays drums. And, of course, practices every day.
Now I was first introduced to Sam Ulano by my teacher in Montreal during the mid-1990s, Chris McCann. Chris played us a copy of Ulano's LP "How to Play a Show". Sam's routine, while informative and very impressive, had us all on the floor laughing and in stitches. Sam is a real character and his sense of humor combined with his impeccable drumming makes him a force to be reckoned with.
Sam also has several other "novelty" recordings out there that feature his fine drumming:
Learn more about the man, the myth and the legend himself, Sam Ulano over at his website: www.samulano.com
