Spreggy
Silver Member
I have to make some decisions here about my future direction as a player. Current scene: I play in a weddings band that is a rock-n-roll no-brainer that requires no rehearsals anymore, and I play in a Big Band that gets maybe 6 gigs/year. A couple of years ago I was dead set on developing Jazz chops and focusing on getting some trio gigs. I took some lessons, learned some basic comping and such, but life got busy in another direction, and I'm still far from being a Jazz drummer that I would want to see. I can push a big band alright, but that is not the same thing at all.
So here's the thing. Having grown up on rock-n-roll, I'm like a lot of you guys who can pretty much hang on most rock tunes because we've heard them 8,000 times. But in Jazz, I don't know squat. I know there is a stigma about rock drummers gone Jazz, I think it makes most bass players roll their eyes like oh crap here comes the rock guy. I can appreciate the fact that Jazz isn't "my music" that I grew up on, or feel particularly connected to socially. I just plain like the music and musicality, and now that I'm in my mid-forties I can appreciate a more genteel vibe as well.
So with so much to learn in terms of repertoire, do you recommend chasing this idea? I would still need to make a lot of effort towards chops development, as I don't yet have what I would call a comprehensive language on the set for Jazz. I have some good books for this. But I also will need to learn a lot of songs before I will be able to show up at a jam session, yes?
Another direction I would dig is a Blues band, I've really enjoyed hearing bands typical of what you might hear at let's say Bourbon Street's in Nashville or the Dinosaur here in Roch. But I'm concerned about the viability of Blues bands due to local market size.
So the big Qs:
What songs? Is there a top 50 or 100?
How available are drum charts, and do they matter on gigs when everyone else is pulling from the Real Book? I do own a copy of Real book, Just Jazz version.
And the biggy: does this journey sound realistic?
So here's the thing. Having grown up on rock-n-roll, I'm like a lot of you guys who can pretty much hang on most rock tunes because we've heard them 8,000 times. But in Jazz, I don't know squat. I know there is a stigma about rock drummers gone Jazz, I think it makes most bass players roll their eyes like oh crap here comes the rock guy. I can appreciate the fact that Jazz isn't "my music" that I grew up on, or feel particularly connected to socially. I just plain like the music and musicality, and now that I'm in my mid-forties I can appreciate a more genteel vibe as well.
So with so much to learn in terms of repertoire, do you recommend chasing this idea? I would still need to make a lot of effort towards chops development, as I don't yet have what I would call a comprehensive language on the set for Jazz. I have some good books for this. But I also will need to learn a lot of songs before I will be able to show up at a jam session, yes?
Another direction I would dig is a Blues band, I've really enjoyed hearing bands typical of what you might hear at let's say Bourbon Street's in Nashville or the Dinosaur here in Roch. But I'm concerned about the viability of Blues bands due to local market size.
So the big Qs:
What songs? Is there a top 50 or 100?
How available are drum charts, and do they matter on gigs when everyone else is pulling from the Real Book? I do own a copy of Real book, Just Jazz version.
And the biggy: does this journey sound realistic?
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