Ray Bryant Swings
I had heard Ray on two of my all-time favorite drum records, "Papa Joe Jones Trio" and "Max Roach +4," but this record is much different, very mellow and tasty, with some nice brush playing by Charles "Specs" Wright.
Ray Bryant is a terrific composer, and you can find some very nice compositions of his here:
http://www.jazzleadsheets.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=71
Louis Hayes...plays really fast!
Louis Hayes is one of the all time great drummers, hands down. He moved to New York from Detriot at the age of 19 to play with Horace Silver, went on to be a long time member of the Cannonball Adderly band (turning down Miles Davis to stay with Cannonball), and also played with John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Mongomery, and so many other greats. Tony Williams and Billy Hart cited him as some of their biggest influences, and Kenny Washington said that Louis Hayes taught him how to play uptempo.
SO! Make sure to check him out, he's still around playing better than ever. Here's a nice drum solo from a TV appearence of the Cannonball Adderly Sextet.
Rudiment of the Week: Book Reports
"Book Reports" are great because they are especially tricky. When practicing this rudiment, make sure to play the accents clearly, and hear the division of the beat. The flam followed by the double stroke is particularly tricky at first, but start slow and build up. Remember to shoot for control not speed.
Thelonious Monk Beer Story at RVG's
I spent the afternoon today at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It's amazing to be in the room where so many incredible musicians recorded so many incredible albums. John Coltrane's Ballads, and A Love Supreme, Joe Henderson's Page One, Kenny Durham's Una Mas, and so many more.
Then I took a look at the 7-foot Steinway in the big room, which was the piano that Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, and essentially every other important pianists played on. It is still in pristine condition, but it holds so much history and so many amazing musical moments.
Being in that room made me think of the story that Charli Persip told about being at a recording session of Miles Davis' with Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, and Kenny "Klook" Clark, where Monk spills a beer in the middle of a tune.
Philly Joe Jones Drum Transcription!
The very first drum transcription from The Jazz Drum Corner and www.jazzleadsheets.com in now available! The transcription can be found here:
Philly Joe Jones Drum Transcription - No Room for Squares
We are very excited to finally have these available, after many months of refining. This particular track has some of my very favorite trading from Philly Joe. There is A TON of material just in this one transcription. This seven-page drum transcription with everything Philly Joe plays includes:
-- horn melodies are shown above the drum staff
-- Sixteen-measure intro (great hi-hat work)
-- AABA in melody
-- Philly Joe's playing behind eight bars of Hank Mobley's first solo chorus
-- The two choruses of trading with Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan: Philly Joe's fours, plus what he plays behind the horn soloists. Timing for Hank's first entrance in the exchanges is noted on the music: 5:28.
-- AABA out melody
-- Coda (hi-hat work like the intro)
Drummers this is an incredible resource! Anyone looking to improve their study of the jazz drum language make sure to check out this transcription. Just make sure to click "PJJ Drum Transcription" on the right hand side of the screen.
Check back next Friday for a Philly Joe Jones transcription from Hank Mobley's "The Workout."
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!
Here a little Duke to listen to while the turkey cooks.
Check back soon for Philly Joe Jones' drum transcription on No Room for Squares, which will be out tomorrow!
Cheers!
Paul Motian has left us...
Paul Motian: 1931-2011
There has never been another drummer like Paul Motian. There has never a drummer so unique, creative, beautiful, swinging, abstract, soulful and everything else.
To me Paul represented perhaps the most beautiful lesson in music; keep searching. He continued to re-identify himself throughout his musical career.
His influence on the international jazz scene, but especially the New York jazz scene was profound. He provided that bridge between generations that lacks so much in the jazz today. Through bands such as his trio with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, the Electric Bebop Band, and every other assortment that he recorded with and brought the Village Vanguard so consistently, he exposed some incredible musicians to the world, and some incredible music.
For the next week, there will be many posts revisiting some of Paul's most important work.
Rest in peace Paul, you will be missed deeply.
Rudiment of the Week: Flamill Drags
The rudiment of the week this week is the Flamill Drag. This one is a particular tongue twister, at least for me, partly I think because it stays with one hand for the 16th notes after the flam. This one can also be embellished with more added flams to change up the tone, and also make it more challenging.
Remember to start slow and build up to a comfortable speed.
And done for get about the last two weeks of rudiments. Fine there here:
Enjoy!
Art Taylor Plays the Blues
Rare footage today from Johnny Griffin and Art Taylor. The whole 30 min. clip is phenomenal, but check out from 26:30 on to see Griffin's tune Blues for Harvey, and compare it Kenny Washington's playing on the same tune in this post found here. What hand speed!
Smack those tubs Elvin!
Some fine sax trio work from Elvin Jones, Reggie Workman, and Joe Farrel. I am a particular fan of alot of Elvin's post-Coltrane groups. A couple records that I think are great and absolutly worth checking out are:
- Elvin Jones - Live at the Village Vanguard (with Goerge Coleman, Marvin "Hannibal Peterson, and Wilbur Little
- Elvin Jones - Live at the Lighthouse (with Steve Grossman, Dave Liebman, and Gene Perla)
- Elvin Jones - Puttin' It Together (with Joe Farrel and Jimmy Garrison)
What a force behind the kit! Absolutely incredible footage. His time feel is so unique and abstract, but unbelievable how much he moves the music forward. Can't get enough of it!
Also check out how the drum set gets away from him during the drum solo, it's happened to all of us, right?!
Art Farmer & Pete La Roca
One of my all-time favorite drummers that is too often overlooked, Pete La Roca. This a clip from the Jazz Icons series, which features some great footage of this band in Europe, featuring Jim Hall on guitar, and Steve Swallow on bass.
I have always loved Pete La Roca's swing feel. It is forceful, but also has a lightness and groove to it. In his soloing check out the timbre he gets from digging the stick into the drum and muting it (around the 2:00 mark). The entire concert is on youtube so check out the rest of tunes!
You can buy the jazz icons DVD's here:
You can find some of Art Farmer's compositions here:
Rudiment of the Week: Du-Fives
Welcome to week 2 of "Rudiment of the Week." This week begins with the Du-Fives. I like this particular rudiment because it can be applied like a five-stroke roll, which is very common in the jazz language, but the flam in front makes it particularly tricky and a chop buster as well.
Start slow and build up, making sure to keep the flam clear.
Have fun!
Ride Cymbal Variations: Part 1
In these "Ride Cymbal Variation" posts I will supply some examples of an altered ride cymbal pattern to try different comping exercises out of. A great place to look for comping rhythms is John Riley's "The Art of Bop Drumming," but you can create your own just as well.
Shown below is an example of a 3-3-2 ride cymbal pattern:
Enjoy!
Lewis Nash Brush Master
A great video today from one of the modern day masters...Lewis Nash. Check out his development in this solo; how he sticks with an idea and develops it over time. He is playing "Without a Song" and listen closely to how he plays the form.
Also check out how high he gets those brushes! Practicing rudiments with brushes is a great exercise for the wrists, and will certainly help out you control with sticks.
Papa Jo!
Some hard swinging stuff today from one the all-time greats, Papa Jo Jones, shown here in this video with the Basie band. Incredible soloists from Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge among many others. Talk about a strong beat! You can't help but tap the foot on this one.
Check back soon for some Papa Jo Jones transcriptions!
Cliff & Max
This song is a particular favorite of mine, specifically because it has demanding rhythmic interplay between the rhythm section and the horn melody. Everyone has to have their time feel totally together and know where all the different rhythm hits are in order to keep this clever arrangement from falling apart. Everyone should learn the melody, so the lead sheet has the melody but also shows where the rhythm hits fall.
This quintet had been together for 6 months before Clifford decided to drop this little rhythmic gem on them to see what would happen. This one will keep any group honest: everyone must feel the time together or you're in big trouble.
Learning this tune would be a great exercise for any instrumentalist tryint to get their group sound together.
You can find the lead sheet here: Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Gerkin for Perkin
Kenny Washington Plays the Blues
The great Kenny Washington playing the the Johnny Griffin Quartet, the song Blues for Harvey.
What a tempo! Incredible playing by Johnny Griffin, Ronnie Matthews, Ray Drummond, and Kenny Washington himself. Kenny has always been known for playing blinding tempos with dexterity and groove. Check out the trading between Johnny and Kenny that launches into his drumsolo (around 8:00) the interaction is incredible. What an amazing drum solo, and listen closely, he keeps the form!!!
Rudiment of the Week: Triple Ratamaflams
"Rudiment of the Week" will be a weekly special on www.jazzleadsheets.com. It will be a specific rudiment to work on for each week for all drummers who follow the blog. These rudiments are selected because they are particularly useful, challenging, or common.
To start it all off...the Triple Ratamaflam:
This is a rudiment that appears all throughout solo's by Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Billy Higgins, as well as Alan Dawson's Rudimental Ritual. Remember to move it around the drumset to work on flexibility and dexterity.
Keep shedding it and look for another one next week!
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