Jazz Drums

toddbishop

toddbishop

Platinum Member
Deltadrummer said:
My entry point into jazz was not bop. I only became a bop fan because I knew it was good and I liked it so I listened to it until I loved it. But at first it was not an easy listen for me. My first records that I really loved were Bill Evans Live at the Village Vanguard and Coltrane's Ballads, although my first jazz record was a Love Supreme, which I always loved. I still really love ballads and brushes like nothing else. Now I would say Milestones is my favorite Miles record or at least up there. I think that for really serious jazzers bop often tends to be an entry point, and I hear stories of guys who have 10,000 bop records. They hear it and it does something for them. At least that is what I have found. As we've said many a times, jazz is so unique anyone's entry point it going to diverge from the next person.
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Likewise, we had jazz in the house all through my childhood, but the first thing I bought and took serious notice of was Nefertiti- the opening of Madness is still like the face of a parent to me- the first thing I recognized in jazz. After that it was Filles de Kilimanjaro, Four & More, plus Weather Report, Art Blakey. Out of my dad's old record collection I dug out a Norman Grantz Jazz at the Phil record and some Charlie Parker, and KOB. Apart from Blakey, it took me several years to come around on 50's bop where you could actually hear the drums. For that, Blue Seven off Saxophone Colossus was the entry track.

I wish I had your introduction to Coltrane- the first thing I bought was Om. It took me a couple of years to get My Favorite Things after that one.
 
con struct

con struct

Platinum Member
My entry point to jazz also wasn't bebop, it was what was happening at my age at that time, meaning such music as "Jack Johnson," Bitches Brew," and my favorite band at the time Weather Report, before Pastorius played with them.

None of that, however, did me any good once I started working in clubs. I'd never played the standards before, so I had to seek out mentors to help me with my ride cymbal technique, to teach me how to play the brushes and so on, and through them I came to bebop. "Now this," I thought, "is the real thing."

Of course "Kind of Blue" and "A Love Supreme" were two biggies for me, but once I got into earlier Miles Davis and John Coltrane and the records by all the sideman who'd played on those albums I was well-hooked and it was from that music that I learned the most.

I think that giving "Kind of Blue" to someone who wants to learn how to play jazz is a bit like giving "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to someone who wants to learn how to play rock 'n roll.
 
Deltadrummer

Deltadrummer

Platinum Member
con struct said:
I think that giving "Kind of Blue" to someone who wants to learn how to play jazz is a bit like giving "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to someone who wants to learn how to play rock 'n roll.
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I really can see your point and said the same thing on that big greatest tune in jazz thread. The thing about Kind of Blue is that it is accessible and enjoyable.The best thing is if you can listen with someone who knows the ropes and can clue you in on what to listen for. Otherwise, it's all just great music. There's nothing wrong with that; but there is so much more.

Todd, yeah Om. That's definitely not the first album to suggest for an entry point to jazz or Coltrane. :)
 
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