Jazz trax with a great trumpet player!

[KCDrummer]

Here are some tunes I recorded with a friend of mine named Clint Ashlock, a fantastic trumpet player and composer here in KC. Most of the tunes on his myspace are his originals.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=54849917

I'm on all six tracks, and there are drum solos on "From the East" and "Future is Now".

[Maytridy]

Wow, that sounds really awesome. I dig the sound of your kit - maybe the snares are a bit too loose on "From the East" for my taste, but nice smooth sound!

"From the East" was great, but I feel like the bass solo had too much going on. I feel like the band (especially the piano player) got in the way of the bassist during his solo! Nice drum solo!

Solid groove on April Mist, it's obvious that you're comfortable with the brushes and that groove. I liked it a lot.

I'll come back with some more comments once I listen to more. Really awesome stuff though!

[Garvin]

Great playing as always KC! I really like your sound... Seems like a great group of musicians to be hooked up with... I'm sitting here waiting for your solo on "Future is Now"... Cool progression. I like the tight turnaround..... waiting... waiting.... ah, the piano player listened to his McCoy Tyner huh?

Okay, here it is...

Cool stuff. You did a good job building it up... ahhhh recordings. I like what you do at the end of the tune as well.

Nice stuff. I hope everyone gives it a listen!

[mattsmith]

Yeah, I really liked this group too. The trumpet player has these sweet angular lines that sound a little like Dave Douglas. And you really have the Dave Stewart strut down, but you do it in your own way that's very original. As always, you're one of the best players on this board, and a fabulous jazz musician.

Personally I liked the bass solo on From the East a great deal, but I'm gonna agree with Matridy's opinion about there being a little too much piano comping over it, especially using close to the same voicings. But that's only like saying you put too much chocolate syrup on your ice cream sundae. It's still all good.

[aydee]

Zack, you can add me to your fan club list. Your playinng is very smooth & I really like your phrasing. Its so responsive to the music without breaking the stride.

Specially liked the brushwork ( and the hat accents were sweet ) in the begining of April Mist, and the comping on Future is Now was killin'. Solo was cool too.

All the tunes were up there so like Matt said, were talking about the extra choco sauce.

[joshuacreamer97]

cool, how popular is jazz in kc compared to stl?

[KCDrummer]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

JC97, I don't really know what the scene in St. Louis is like, I haven't spent any time there. From what I hear, there is only one good jazz club, Jazz at the Bistro, and they feature mostly national touring acts, there doesn't seem to be much of a local scene from what I hear.

KC has a very active scene, there are a number of places to go hear live jazz any night of the week. Lots of singers, KC loves 'em, but also a growing number of original instrumental acts, a solid core of working musicians with a good mix of ages and styles. I may be biased, but I think Kansas City has one of the best talent pools in the country if not the world. There are quite a few players lurking around here who are truly world class--could hang with anyone, anywhere, or are at least on their way to being so.

[Drummer Karl]

Zack Williams, ;-)

I could listen to this the whole day!! As usual, very professional sounding recordings.
The band has such an expressive vibe and your playing is just enjyoable.
You got the swing mate! =)

Your drums also sound cool and fit in very well.

PS: Are you playing a samba with the brushes in "April Mist"??

Would you mind being my host and teaching me?
Your music is simply good stuff.

Karl

[foursticks]

Zack, all I can really add to this is that your one of my favourite drummers.

Keep playing, man...

[KCDrummer]

Ha, thanks fellas!

Yeah, I went with the brushes on April Mist, i thought it was right for the vibe of the tune and the bassist and pianist both know their samba, so it worked well. I switched to sticks in the middle of the trumpet solo, on one of the bridges, then in the bass solo I ditch the sticks and go with just the hands. Jeff Hamilton puts together some AMAZING stuff with his bare hands, it's something I'm trying to get better at because it's a great way to change up the sound, especially if you have to play real quiet.