As I mentioned in my previous post, I was fortunate enough to finally become the owner my dream jazz kit, a Gretsch USA Custom. After breaking open my piggy bank and selling 63% of my bone marrow, I finally had the sufficient funds to make the trek up to the wonderful Drum Center of Portsmouth and pick her up.
And why are these drums so great? Well, it's all about the way they SOUND. They have a certain characteristic and tone that only Gretsch drums seem to possess. It's that warm, round...
Read More
I apologize for the lack of loops over the past few days. I've been busy updating my studio to Logic 9 and setting up a new iMac. Oh yeah, and I've been raking an insane amount of leaves. After spending the past eight years in NYC, with little more than 600 square feet to my name, I forgot what a massive pain in the ass a yard full of dead leaves can be.
Anyway, look for a bunch of new loops this week. Since I've doubled the size of my computer monitor, I figure I'll be twice as productiv...
Read More
Here's some great footage of one of my favorite trios, John Scofield, Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart, getting things done at the Blue Note in NYC. Check the drum solo starting at 1:18. This is a great example of soloing melodically over a ride ostinato....
Read More
Fellow Des Moines native, Bill Stewart, shows us how to solo over a vamp in 3/4. I was lucky enough to see Bill play a lot while I was in high school. Whenever he was back from NYC during the holidays, he'd sit in with the local big band where his dad was a trombonist. Bill is a master at applying melodies to the kit and using polyrhythms to create moments of tension and release, all the while being 100% musical.
...
Read More
One of my biggest regrets is that I never saw Elvin Jones perform before he passed away. Whenever he was in New York, performing at The Blue Note or The Village Vanguard, it seemed like I always had a gig or a rehearsal and couldn't make it to the show. I kept hearing from friends that he was still playing with the same fire and energy that he did in the 1960's with Coltrane, to the point where it seemed like he getting better in his later years. I had a false assumption that age would never ...
Read More
There is a special feel that was born from the brass bands of New Orleans. It first emerged around the turn of the 20th century and eventually worked its way north, merging into other styles of music along the way. This is a groove that is neither triplet nor sixteenth note based. It's not straight funk and it's not totally swung. It's somewhere in between. It's a feel that's literally impossible to notate on sheet music and even harder to play.
[caption id="attachment_710" align="alignl...
Read More
