Or this: " The biggest lesson I had of this, that really made an impression on me was seeing in about 73-74 a then rare Quincy Jones big band concert. This was right after Harvey Mason had dropped into the scene as the newest, hippest guy going - and so of course, that's who Quincy had playing drums in his sort-of all-star band appearance. And of course, they played Golson's Killer Joe (off of Quincy's Walking in Space album) and did a pretty reasonable length version with a couple of soloists, etc....anyway Harvey just floored me with his purposeful, minimalist approach - in a nutshell, IIRC correctly, except for the ensemble bridge sections, he played straight quarters on the ride, crosstick on 2 and rack tom on 4 relentless throughout - never varying, never wavering - following the dynamics - no, actually driving the band dynamically - with just that relentless one bar pattern. Man it swung its ass off! So that was my lesson in the power, utility and deep, swinging pocket that one can achieve with 1/4's on the ride. Not for all the time - but at the right moments - oh yeah, it swings."
Well how cool is this?? I was about to chime in on this topic and once again, share my epiphany moment featuring Harvey Mason with Quincy Jones (at Disneyland of all places!!!) When I saw that someone obviously had a similar experience and best me to the post... though while reading I realized... maybe not. So I headed over to DFO and checked.... and I was "lo and behold"... this was something I wrote back in 2011 (and yes, it is totally cool that Rattlin' Bones shared it).
Personally I think we miss the point when we get too hung up on the "either/or" of this topic. Of course, "swung 1/8th's" are essential to swing music... but that doesn't negate the lessons in swinging that can be had from no more than 1/4 notes.
To hear folks say that "well, 1/4's are just 1/4's" - How can a swing feel be expressed from just 1/4's? Which is likely true for a drummer playing by themselves. But playing by ourselves probably accounts for less than 1% of jazz playing. It is how we sound while playing with others and how we make others sound that determines how we, as drummers, are actually judged.
And while being able to play with a good feel by ourselves goes a long way to preparing us to play with others - there's still more to it than just simply sticking what we do by ourselves into an ensemble. Actually it is when we're placed in an ensemble that the fun really begins. All of the adjusting, meshing, supporting and blending in... So to do all of that and have the overall effect swing.... Now, that's the work of a swinging drummer.
I mean I love the solo aspects of our instrument - but at the end of day, the drum set is an ensemble instrument... our success or failure lies completely in how good we make our ensembles feel.
So yes, seeing Harvey - hot off of Headhunters.... playing that same bar - over and over - for I don't know, like seven or eight minutes at least... driving the band through possibly the most swinging performance I had ever heard was a totally revelation. (And over the previous few years, I had heard most every national big band play in that very park, many on that same stage - Basie, Ellington, Rich, Herman, Kenton, James, Ellis).
Additional thought.... in various posts, folks talk of 1/4's being straight and unwavering... which in jazz is basically true. But that neglects thinking about dynamics, accents... not hit 'em over the head accents.... just ever so slight emphasizes on 2 and 4 or just on one, or 1 and 3 - creating subtle, but very different feels. And then of course there's where the drummers places his 1/4 note against the 1/4's of others.
Quarters may be straight and unwavering - but there's still a lot of art involved, and choices as to how to play them to make the music swing as hard as it can.
Sorry, but it's true. And in a lot of cases, they're right. So they use stuff like this to separate the serious jazzers from the not-so-serious jazzers, of which I'm in the latter category. Of course swing is based on a triplet feel. Of course quarter notes on the beat are the same in jazz as they are in 4 on the floor. But to the serious jazz musician, they're not, know what I mean, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more?
