...for the jazz cats ...

did you notice a considerable change in the tunes being called as years went on ..... 70s and on ..... or was it pretty much the same standard tunes ?

as far as jazz gigs I mean

There was a big change in what was being requested. A lot of the younger audience members got interested in jazz because of live rock music and wanting more out of the solos. In those days (pre all this digital stuff and interconnectedness) music and the arts
were part of the larger social fabric. It seemed like everyone went out for live music, sports
or something. As the younger audience began learning the names of jazz standards they
liked, those were what was requested a lot. By the 80's (my experience only here) the
tunes being requested had broadened out again including many more of the standards.
Locally, the play list used by the local jazz musicians includes about 400 tunes. There
is a local jazz pianist who played in NYC and LA in the 50's and 60's who knows so many thousands of tunes it is ridiculous! He can play each one in any key, any style at the drop of a pin. The other night when he was playing a solo gig some young girl walked up to him
and asked him if he knew any "Hall and Oates"...well, he was nice about it.
 
The other night when he was playing a solo gig some young girl walked up to him
and asked him if he knew any "Hall and Oates"...well, he was nice about it.

....naturally he started playing a swing version of "your kiss is on my list" right?

hahahaha

I kid I kid
 
It sounds like you're working your stuff out, because you're playing kind of busy-- it's not a bad thing, but feel free to take a lot more time between your big statements/comments. The way you play during the bass solo is a pretty good level of density for most of the tune. Don't feel obligated to put the stuff you're practicing into your playing if you're not actually hearing it-- some of the hihat stuff sounds a little forced-in. I like what you're doing on the fours-- I don't now why so many non-drummers have trouble keeping it together through them...

A few things you might try:

- Those ruffs you play on the 1 or 3 will sound hipper if you move them over to the 2 or the 4.
- It sounds like you're playing your triplets alternating-- they might swing a little more if you play them rrL-- with a little accent on the LH.
- Try making some punctuations with your left on the & of 3 or the & of 1.

But nice job, man-- just keep listening and especially playing and everything will sort itself out.
 
It sounds like you're working your stuff out, because you're playing kind of busy-- it's not a bad thing, but feel free to take a lot more time between your big statements/comments. The way you play during the bass solo is a pretty good level of density for most of the tune. Don't feel obligated to put the stuff you're practicing into your playing if you're not actually hearing it-- some of the hihat stuff sounds a little forced-in. I like what you're doing on the fours-- I don't now why so many non-drummers have trouble keeping it together through them...

A few things you might try:

- Those ruffs you play on the 1 or 3 will sound hipper if you move them over to the 2 or the 4.
- It sounds like you're playing your triplets alternating-- they might swing a little more if you play them rrL-- with a little accent on the LH.
- Try making some punctuations with your left on the & of 3 or the & of 1.

But nice job, man-- just keep listening and especially playing and everything will sort itself out.

hey Todd

I would love to hear what a great player like yourself thinks of the audition video I did for Pete Sims
check it out in the "Your Playing" section when you get a sec
 
Hey jazz cats, I've been working on my brush playing recently, I would love to hear some feedback from you guys --> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68704262/Autumn%20Leaves.mp3

Lots of great stuff going on, it seems like you are making excellent progress!

It may just be the lousy speakers on my computer, but I am having a hard time hearing your LH sweeping. Not that I think it should be overpowering, but everything feels a little too staccato for my taste. Who are you checking out for brushes?

I know I may have brought this up before, but the person I learned the most on brushes from is Kenny Washington. Check out his medium brush sound like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX1-xxY4VJk

Obviously this recording is much higher quality but do you hear how beautifully smooth his brush sound is? Not that the RH isn't articulated, it is just perfectly balanced. Try spending some time just trying to smooth out your LH sweeping would be my advice.

I agree with Todd that you may be overplaying/overthinking a bit. I also agree with him that your trading sounded great. Keep up the great work!
 
hey Todd

I would love to hear what a [...] player like yourself thinks of the audition video I did for Pete Sims

check it out in the "Your Playing" section when you get a sec

Fixed your text there. I love the way you play the bass drum on the first part-- obviously you don't play it that strong all the time, but it swings for real. Your 8s remind me of Art Taylor, for some reason-- very hard boppy. Those are great, functional, working drummer breaks you're playing-- I don't feel like I'm hearing you make a personal statement there, but maybe that's not what you're trying to demonstrate there. If it were me I'd probably play the unaccented notes softer, but that's a personal thing. Oh, I also like the super hip, super traditional setup you play at the beginning with the stick shot-- where did you get that?

It sounds like maybe the comping @ 140 thing is something LaRoca requested you play? There's a little bit of air between your cymbal and the comping part, even though you're playing both with authority-- the cymbal ends up getting the short end there, sounding a little weak. I think if I was going to turn that practice room piece into something I'd use in music I'd break it up substantially, bring the SD volume way down and find places to accent it, and always keep the focus on the cymbal-- I know you already know that. I personally hate playing multiples with the LH when playing that kind of thing-- I only want to play single notes and doubles-- I wrote up my method for that here-- I think you might dig it.

Thanks for asking me to listen to it, and congratulations on studying with LaRoca! What an incredible opportunity. I got to see him play in Portland around '99 or so-- I think his chops were down, but he was great-- like Elvin, but even looser. Soak up as much of that history as you can for the rest of us.
 
Fixed your text there. I love the way you play the bass drum on the first part-- obviously you don't play it that strong all the time, but it swings for real. Your 8s remind me of Art Taylor, for some reason-- very hard boppy. Those are great, functional, working drummer breaks you're playing-- I don't feel like I'm hearing you make a personal statement there, but maybe that's not what you're trying to demonstrate there. If it were me I'd probably play the unaccented notes softer, but that's a personal thing. Oh, I also like the super hip, super traditional setup you play at the beginning with the stick shot-- where did you get that?

It sounds like maybe the comping @ 140 thing is something LaRoca requested you play? There's a little bit of air between your cymbal and the comping part, even though you're playing both with authority-- the cymbal ends up getting the short end there, sounding a little weak. I think if I was going to turn that practice room piece into something I'd use in music I'd break it up substantially, bring the SD volume way down and find places to accent it, and always keep the focus on the cymbal-- I know you already know that. I personally hate playing multiples with the LH when playing that kind of thing-- I only want to play single notes and doubles-- I wrote up my method for that here-- I think you might dig it.

Thanks for asking me to listen to it, and congratulations on studying with LaRoca! What an incredible opportunity. I got to see him play in Portland around '99 or so-- I think his chops were down, but he was great-- like Elvin, but even looser. Soak up as much of that history as you can for the rest of us.


thank you very much for the advice brother ....and for checking out the vid

I actually was feathering the bass drum but the mic I was using apparently loves the frequency of the kick ....sounds much louder in the recording than I was actually playing it

yeah my taps do need to come down......something I'm currently wrestling with ...they get away from me sometimes

to have Art Taylor mentioned in a conversation about my playing blows my mind ........the fact that his name came to your mind tells me there might just hope for a hack like me....hahaha

and that comp peice was something La Roca recommended ....you can tell I'm not completely comfortable with it and that I am reading it as well.......doesnt sound real natural....but it was just something for the audition

thanks again for checking it out and for your much appreciated constructive input
 
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Todd and hare, thanks for the awesome advice. That's exactly the type of feedback I love, I'll definitely keep working on it, I've been having a blast so far.

Can you guys recommend some records with good brush playing? It's something that's lacking in my collection at the moment.
 
Todd and hare, thanks for the awesome advice. That's exactly the type of feedback I love, I'll definitely keep working on it, I've been having a blast so far.

Can you guys recommend some records with good brush playing? It's something that's lacking in my collection at the moment.

the McCoy Tyner record "Nights of Ballads& Blues" has such amazingly beautiful brush playing on it

pretty much the whole record is all flawless brush playing by Lex Humphries

check it out bro

such a kick ass record....perfection
 
Todd and hare, thanks for the awesome advice. That's exactly the type of feedback I love, I'll definitely keep working on it, I've been having a blast so far.

Can you guys recommend some records with good brush playing? It's something that's lacking in my collection at the moment.

I'm not Todd or Andrew, but here are some that I particularly like:

Tommy Flanagan - Overseas (Elvin Jones)
John Coltrane - Ballads (Elvin Jones)
Jo Jones - Essential Jo Jones (Jo Jones)
Jo Jones - the Everest Years (Jo Jones)
Bill Evans - Empathy/Simple Matter of Conviction (Shelly Manne)
Bill Evans - Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961 (Paul Motian)
Bud Powell - Time Waits (Philly Joe Jones)
Bill Charlap - Written in the Stars (Kenny Washington)

All of those guys were/are stellar brush players, and anything you can find with them playing brushes will be good (the records about have a high percentage of brush playing on them). But all of the classic jazz drummers got great brush sounds.

Ed
 
the McCoy Tyner record "Nights of Ballads& Blues" has such amazingly beautiful brush playing on it

pretty much the whole record is all flawless brush playing by Lex Humphries

check it out bro

such a kick ass record....perfection

I think I heard a track from that album on Portland's jazz station a few years back, and I was so knocked out by the smooth brush playing that I looked up the album on allmusic.com to find out who the drummer was (Lex Humphries, as you point out).
 
I think I heard a track from that album on Portland's jazz station a few years back, and I was so knocked out by the smooth brush playing that I looked up the album on allmusic.com to find out who the drummer was (Lex Humphries, as you point out).


"Knocked out" is the perfect way to put it

I've always loved brush playing and admire so many players brush technique

but Humphries playing on that record absolutely knocks me out
 
I'm not Todd or Andrew, but here are some that I particularly like:

Tommy Flanagan - Overseas (Elvin Jones)
John Coltrane - Ballads (Elvin Jones)
Jo Jones - Essential Jo Jones (Jo Jones)
Jo Jones - the Everest Years (Jo Jones)
Bill Evans - Empathy/Simple Matter of Conviction (Shelly Manne)
Bill Evans - Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961 (Paul Motian)
Bud Powell - Time Waits (Philly Joe Jones)
Bill Charlap - Written in the Stars (Kenny Washington)

All of those guys were/are stellar brush players, and anything you can find with them playing brushes will be good (the records about have a high percentage of brush playing on them). But all of the classic jazz drummers got great brush sounds.

Ed

I really can't add anything to this list, and trying to absorb more than this would be impossible anyways! Thanks for the great recommendations Ed, some of these I need to check out myself.

I will say that the reason I really appreciated KWash's brush playing (and playing in general) when I was learning the genre was that everything he plays is SO CLEAR. Because of this clarity I found it much easier to hear and understand what he was doing.
 
Hey Guys,

I just put up a new post on a simple but effective technique to use when trading 4's, passing ideas:

http://haredrums.blogspot.com/2012/06/trading-4s-passing-ideas.html

Passing ideas between soloists is a really simple thing to do, but I have found that if used tastefully everybody seems to be blown away by it. Is this something you guys do when trading? Do you love/hate it when people do this? What are some of your favorite examples of drummers doing this?
 
Hey Guys,

I just put up a new post on a simple but effective technique to use when trading 4's, passing ideas:

http://haredrums.blogspot.com/2012/06/trading-4s-passing-ideas.html

Passing ideas between soloists is a really simple thing to do, but I have found that if used tastefully everybody seems to be blown away by it. Is this something you guys do when trading? Do you love/hate it when people do this? What are some of your favorite examples of drummers doing this?

fantastic as always Andrew

absolutely love your 4s ideas
your playing is so tasty

I use this method often......I love to pic up on a little phrase or run that one of the musicians plays
sometimes I'll use it verbatim and repeat it over and over voiced around the kit......this usually brings a little smile thrown my way from the guy who played it and we have a little laugh .....then he may throw something I did back at me
...and sometimes I'll just use it as a spring board or portal to other ideas

great stuff brother .....always love your blogs
such useful practical stuff
 
thank you very much for the advice brother ....and for checking out the vid

I actually was feathering the bass drum but the mic I was using apparently loves the frequency of the kick ....sounds much louder in the recording than I was actually playing it

yeah my taps do need to come down......something I'm currently wrestling with ...they get away from me sometimes

to have Art Taylor mentioned in a conversation about my playing blows my mind ........the fact that his name came to your mind tells me there might just hope for a hack like me....hahaha

and that comp peice was something La Roca recommended ....you can tell I'm not completely comfortable with it and that I am reading it as well.......doesnt sound real natural....but it was just something for the audition

thanks again for checking it out and for your much appreciated constructive input


No problem, I hope that's what you were after... it's all pretty nitpicky/personal taste because what you're doing is fundamentally really strong. The BD sounds great even overrecorded like that-- makes me want to learn to play it like that for real...

Now I have to go listen to NOB&B-- I never got real deep into that record because I just wanted crushing McCoy stuff, and kind of put it away forever...
 
No problem, I hope that's what you were after... it's all pretty nitpicky/personal taste because what you're doing is fundamentally really strong. The BD sounds great even overrecorded like that-- makes me want to learn to play it like that for real...

Now I have to go listen to NOB&B-- I never got real deep into that record because I just wanted crushing McCoy stuff, and kind of put it away forever...

thats exactly what I was looking for my man......the fact that I can come here and have a player like you listen to and evaluate my playing ..then present constructive criticisms is highly highly productive to me

I absorb that stuff and absolutely process it.

....and yeah.... definitely break that McCoy record back out......amazingly beautiful record
and the drumming is just flawless
 
fantastic as always Andrew

absolutely love your 4s ideas
your playing is so tasty

I use this method often......I love to pic up on a little phrase or run that one of the musicians plays
sometimes I'll use it verbatim and repeat it over and over voiced around the kit......this usually brings a little smile thrown my way from the guy who played it and we have a little laugh .....then he may throw something I did back at me
...and sometimes I'll just use it as a spring board or portal to other ideas

great stuff brother .....always love your blogs
such useful practical stuff

Yeah!

Thanks Tony, you bring up a good point. The big disclaimer on this technique is that it requires the cooperation of everyone involved. If only you are trying to do this it really doesn't work. Also, as you said, the phrase can be repeated verbatim or interpreted much more loosely, so there is actually a great deal of flexibility inside of this.
 
Hey Guys,

I just put up a new post on a simple but effective technique to use when trading 4's, passing ideas:

http://haredrums.blogspot.com/2012/06/trading-4s-passing-ideas.html

Passing ideas between soloists is a really simple thing to do, but I have found that if used tastefully everybody seems to be blown away by it. Is this something you guys do when trading? Do you love/hate it when people do this? What are some of your favorite examples of drummers doing this?

Another terrific piece. Andrew, you're the man.

Yes, I do this a lot when trading. I love it, as long as it's not overused, and as long as your "Yes, And" rule is followed.

Here's a favorite example, from the incredible Sonny Rollins record, A Night at the Village Vanguard. Elvin Jones on drums. Check out the phrase Sonny plays at 5:47 and then hear Elvin's response. http://youtu.be/Txlt6-TjxOE

By the way: Terrific playing on that clip from your blog. You sound great, man.
 
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