Apparently I drank something over the 4th of July weekend that inspired me to play nothing but jazz grooves from the late 50′s. Every time I sit down at the kit, all I want to do is put on my trashy, old ride cymbal and pretend I’m Elvin Jones or Art Blakey. Who knew Colt 45 would have that effect?
Speaking of Art Blakey, today I wanted to talk about one of the grooves he’s best known for: The mambo. I first learned how to play this groove after hearing Art lay it down on his 1957 classic, A Night In Tunisia.
Stop whatever it is you’re doing (besides reading this blog, of course) and focus on this track for the next 11 minutes and 17 seconds:
If that didn’t inspire you, then you should probably check your pulse. You may have been prescribed something by one of Michael Jackson’s doctors.
Art Blakey - Mambo Master
Loop #79
Today’s loop takes Art’s patented mambo pattern and chills things out just a bit… all the way down to 240bpm. You’ll have to add your own percussion section and 3:2 clave (sorry, I was out of limbs), but you should be able to get that hard bop sound you’ve been looking for.
The rest of the grooves and fills from this session will be available in the highly anticipated release of Gruss Loops – Volume III.
Preview Here:
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240 BPM
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Wayne Shorter and Lee Morgan, man! Digging out this CD again tonight for sure… Thanks.
Tunisia… That is one friggin amazing recording!!!
the drums sound out of this world.
when he plays the snare from the edge to the middle and back is awesome, it’s like a phasing effect
and the voices…haha! cool
this blew me away
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
hey, what’s that on the bass drim in the pic?
just one more…
I listened to your loop, nice groove. Can you record your drums similar to the ambient drum sound in Tunisia?
ok, very last thing…
blakey does that phasey sounding thing on the snare by pressing his elbow into the skin. Just saw it in a video on youtube
peace, outta here
damn it Gruss, I will singing the break from Psychedelic Shack all day..aaaaahhh..YA!
btw, 40′s always make ME feel like playing Larry Graham parts, but that’s ’cause, you know..
Excellent ! Keep the Jazz coming Gruss !
you ran out of limbs for the 3:2 clave? excuses, excuses! if antonio sanchez can do it, why can’t you?
[...] seemed to be a lot of interest in the mambo loop I posted a few days ago, so I figured I’d share this concert footage from 1959 of Art Blakey and The [...]