New Orleans Style Drumming

double bass man

Junior Member
I have the book 'New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming'. Excellent. Do you know of any CD's that would have comperlation tracks of New Orleans style drummers playing with various bands--to hear their various styles? Or recommend New Orleans style drummers playing with
bands where the drummer is quite prominent?--especially on the snare.
 
I’m not familiar with that book and what era that it pertains to, but Stanton Moore immediately jumps to mind as a modern “New-Orleans” drummer, as well as Johnny Vidacovich and Roscoe.

A lot of early, traditional jazz (“Dixieland”) was based out of New Orleans. Some of those drummers are Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, Ray Baudoc, and Tony Sbarbaro.
 
Get CD's by a band out of NOLA call Cha Wa. Lots of second line. Fun to practice and play along with. We saw them live and they are a great act. The band leader has deep NOLA roots.

For early traditional Dixieland, get some CD's by Preservation Hall bands.

You'll notice a big difference in snare tuning between second line (tight and funky) and Dixieland (loose and smoky-dirty).

Johnny Vidacovich for modern NOLA. Lots of videos of him instructing on Youtube. His regular NOLA gig band is pretty heavy bop and - for me - a bit hard to listen to. Not what I'd call NOLA sound. But his videos sure are - and they're some of the easiest to follow and understand.
 
Good suggestions so far. Vidacovich and Stanton Moore are probably the best know educators. For second line stuff, check out Rebirth Brass Band. They're the real deal.
 
The Ultimate Zydeco Party is a fantastic compilation CD. 15 tracks of some utterly fun music.


Check this track out. Takes me back to my N'Orleans trip every time I hear it.

 
...also check out one of Stantons favorites Zigaboo Modeliste from the Miters, or his band Garage et Trois. All good stuff.
 
Three words for you:

1) ZIG
2) A
3) BOO.

So much of what is considered "New Orleans Style Drumming" originated with that man. The only problem with trying to emulate Zigaboo Modeliste is that NO ONE on the planet sounds like him.
 
If you want to hear a definitive New Orleans Jazz (with a Second Line feel) recording - check out Wynton Marsalis' The Majesty of the Blues. Here is the track called: Oh, But On the Third Day (Happy Feet Blues). Outstanding representative NOLA drumming by the great Herlin Riley.

 
Pandora I think is a subscription service? Youtube does the same thing for free: you can search and find a NOLA or Secondline or Mardi Gras or New Orleans Jazz mix that goes on for hours. My wife and I do that when we're driving long distances. Fun fun fun road trip music!!! Try a Professor Longhair or Dr John mix search on Youtube, too.

Try Pandora. They have a "Madi Gras" station, a "New Orleans Jazz", as well as a "New Orleans Funk" station. All three have lots of second line. Especially the "Madi Gras" And it's free.
 
Pandora I think is a subscription service? Youtube does the same thing for free: you can search and find a NOLA or Secondline or Mardi Gras or New Orleans Jazz mix that goes on for hours. My wife and I do that when we're driving long distances. Fun fun fun road trip music!!! Try a Professor Longhair or Dr John mix search on Youtube, too.

Pandora is free. It does have a subscription option that removes ads and allows you to build a playlist that you can play even when out of service/range. Otherwise it's just like internet radio, they play some songs, you get an ad, they play more songs. Pandora is cool, it's full of new stuff you have never heard before.
 
Professor Longhair ain't new stuff lol.

Anyway, thanks for heads up on Pandora.I'll download the app. No reason not to have additional music sources!!! Thanks!

Pandora is free. It does have a subscription option that removes ads and allows you to build a playlist that you can play even when out of service/range. Otherwise it's just like internet radio, they play some songs, you get an ad, they play more songs. Pandora is cool, it's full of new stuff you have never heard before.
 
I would highly recommend both of Stanton Moore's DVDs on New Orleans drumming (Traditional and Modern). I learned a lot from seeing him in clinics and buying his DVD's
 
I was given a handful of songs to learn for a guitar trio, and this was the first tune I had to learn (having just got back into drums a year and a half ago, after a 20-something year hiatus, and buying my first kit since high school!)
I had never attempted this kind of feel, and the guitarist specifically pointed out the kick pattern being paramount to the gig.
Sounds pretty straightforward on first listen, but the verses with the kick on the 'and___' accent against the hat while playing the snare rolls made me sweat for a day or three of woodshedding. I naturally wanted to play on the downbeat, and it was incredibly challenging but fun to work on.
 
Ain't nothing but a cool swingin' Bo Diddley/ Clave/ Second Line groove. It really swings.

And, you don't HAVE to play everything exactly perfectly like the original.

I was given a handful of songs to learn for a guitar trio, and this was the first tune I had to learn (having just got back into drums a year and a half ago, after a 20-something year hiatus, and buying my first kit since high school!)
I had never attempted this kind of feel, and the guitarist specifically pointed out the kick pattern being paramount to the gig.
Sounds pretty straightforward on first listen, but the verses with the kick on the 'and___' accent against the hat while playing the snare rolls made me sweat for a day or three of woodshedding. I naturally wanted to play on the downbeat, and it was incredibly challenging but fun to work on.
 
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