Sacrifices and Musical Reward

There is going to be a special moment in any true musicians life. A moment when you feel that pull of music, a force that will pull you away from the concept of a normal life, as you foster that force you will begin to notice how much sacrifice you are willing to accept to chase music’s pulling force.

I have felt that pull and with it I have endured my own sacrifices for music.  My first major challenge was handing over my interests in a successful and growing company.  Since then I have sacrificed so many facets attributed to a normal life.  Now in my early thirties I have no home, no wife, and no kids.  I lack so many of the possessions a person of my age should have.  In some sense of the word I have become a gypsy roaming from gig to gig.  But, with those sacrifices I have seen what I consider great rewards.  I have seen the world and met many interesting individuals along the way. Perhaps the greatest thing I have received is the music, be it playing in a small club to a few patrons or rocking thousands after they have demanded another encore.  I guess it is these small playing moments that make all the sacrifices worthwhile, for these small moments are something very few will ever experience.

Just the other evening I had one of these small moments.  A terrible illness had grounded our bandleader and front man, leaving the rest of us to make up a set of songs with what we had.  And, I have to say we rose to the challenge.

The first thing I must point out is that our regular show band consists of a repertoire of dance and top 40 hits from the 60’s to today.  Songs such as My Girl, Mustang Sally, and Pretty Woman, but without Jim’s leadership and vocal abilities these songs are difficult to achieve, so to make the evening successful the band changed up gears in moments. 

The bass player Brad and I made our way to the hotels five star dining room and approached pianist Greg Goodwin about helping us out.  With his acceptance we were able to match his amazing piano voicings with saxophonist EJ Hughes smooth style, Brad’s tick tock time and my old school jazz brushwork into a night of contemporary smooth jazz that was not only well received, but also well enjoyed.

I guess it is strange to say that all of those sacrifices were vindicated by such a small experience, but they were.  It is a powerful feeling as a musician to walk into an evening preparing for a train wreck only to have your musical brothering and your own skills reach the surface and show you just what you are made of musically, and what you have earned.  

1980's The Drumming Importance of Michael

In this installment of our great drummers of each decade series we find ourselves in the 1980’s.  There are dozens of great drummers from this era.  Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Dave Lombardo of Slayer, even Phil Collins became a household drummer name thanks to his sweet sounding gated reverb tom fills from “In the air tonight.”

As I researched the 1980’s I came across Michael Jacksons “Thriller” album and I feel that this album can help any drummer of any style to succeed because it touches on the fundamental lesson of our craft.  The dance.

Drumming is the eldest instrument, even outdating the voice.  It represents the heartbeat and in the most indigenous tribes of Africa the drummer is regarded with supreme authority because only he can speak with the God’s.  When the drummer or drummers played the tribe danced honoring the Gods.

It seems that in today’s competitive driven world we as drummers have overlooked that fundamental lesson in our craft.  We strive now to be the fastest or the one with the most blazing fill.  We forget that we are there to support the tribe, in this case the band and the audience. In doing that it means we must mature at our craft taking away ego driven fills and tempos and replacing them with movement and space. 

I chose “Thriller” for the 80’s because it is not the drummer I seek to listen to.  It is the immortal Michael Jackson.  In this tribe he is the leader of the drum circle and we must support him.  In return we shall dance!

1970's Drumming with John Bonham

Many polls have crowned the band Led Zeppelin as the greatest band in history.  And yes, that means surpassing The Beatles.  Critics argue that Led Zeppelin mastered the push and pull playing technique that created the perfect tension in their music.  If you want to see what they are talking about grab Led Zeppelin Remasters disc 1 and cue up the track Black Dog.  Good luck nailing this drum take on your first try. 

John Bonham is the driving force behind the band.  His presses the band forward with his laid back feel, tight articulation and use of space.   Listen to the album and you will hear studio drumming that will defy any artist yet to come.   Be careful before you sneak a peak at footage of Bonham playing live especially the tune “Moby Dick”.   You may contemplate quitting the drums.  I know I did.

There are many misconceptions about Bonham.  The biggest is he was a heavy hitter.  According to his long time drum tech Jeff Orcheltree, John’s amazing drum sounds were made not through force but perfect technique.  The rest was all about the rock and roll show.  The second is that he was all Rock and Roll.  If you listen closer you will quickly find out that is not the truth.  The track Dazed and Confused is a rock drummer playing with one hell of a swing.   Good Times Bad Times has a broken Latin Feel.  In Whole Lotta Love he uses the hi-hat like the great Tony Williams.

To this day teachers, universities and drum enthusiast still analyze this amazing drummer.  While studying New Orleans second line rhythms I found Bonham marching along.  Watch the video and enjoy.

1960's and Ringo Starr

Picking an album that defies the 1960’s to drum with can be a daunting task.  The concept of the album was still a few years away and record companies were still following their methods of selling 45’s with a hit single and “B” side tune. That was it.  It wasn’t until a group known as The Beatles emerged and changed everything in the music business.  So it is the Beatles “1” that I chose to jam with.

I have never been a big fan of Ringo Starr.  I always thought his playing was overhyped because of his association with the band that changed everything.  It wasn’t until I started practicing to a number of The Beatles albums that I realized just how amazing Ringo was and still is.

For all of you younger folks whom don’t know Ringo wasn’t the first drummer for the Beatles.  Instead it was a man by the name of Pete Best.  Producer, and fifth Beatle, George Martin felt that Best couldn’t keep time well enough to record a record so he suggested the band bring in Starr.  And that is when the Beatles, as we know, were born.

Listen to any Beatles song ad you will quickly find out that Ringo is one hell of a time- keeper.  Listen a little deeper and you will hear the jazz that came before him and the rock and roll that will follow through the 70’s and beyond.

One of the best ways to witness Starr’s influence is in his playing and how that playing carries forward to other great drummers.  Listen to “A Hard Day’s Night” and you hear the free form rock and roll that includes jazzy tom rolls that would eventually define The Who drummer Keith Moon.  “Can’t Buy Me Love” among many other tunes show his influence on the soon to come John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. 

There is no doubt that Ringo will influence hordes of other drummers, but take a second listen and you will also hear jazzes influence on him.  “I Feel Fine” is a Jazz Mambo.  “Can’t Buy Me Love” is a swinging/boogie woogie.  In fact one of Ringo’s greatest attributes is his ability to maintain solid rock time while allowing those jazz influences to come through in creative ways that would forever define the studio drummer.  

If you are serious about drumming you MUST listen to Ringo Starr and The Beatles.  Inside their albums and countless hits you will be influenced like the many other great drummers who looked to the Starr. 

1950's~Drumming with The Miles Davis Quintet

So for my first decade the 1950’s I chose to swing along with “Steamin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet”. The album was recorded in 1956 and includes Miles Davis on Trumpet, John Coltrane on Tenor Sax, Red Garland on Piano, Paul Chambers on Bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

I chose this album, as I do with all my selections, through a little research and what the universe tells me to play.  Miles was at the forefront of every major development in jazz.  This album includes his brilliance along with the emerging talents of John Coltrane on saxophone.  Coltrane will eventually leave Miles to form his own voice and this album places the two jazz icons together trading solos like they are at war. You have to swing differently for each man. That is your challenge.

For us drummers this means we must swing like we have never swung before, and we must do it with different elements of our kit to help change the color and texture of the individual solo sections.  Without sacrificing the bounce. 

The album contains six tracks that cover both the basic and advanced classes of jazz drumming.  Lets take a look at three tracks and Philly Joe will show you what swing is all about.

“Surrey With the Fringe on Top”

This track starts the swinging with the open hi-hat technique.  Joe swings the hi-hat along while accenting the traditional 2&4. Every once and while he quickly moves to the snare to accent the band hits. In the solo sections listen to Philly changing up the fundamental 2&4 with the hi-hat foot as he throws in some triplets, perhaps a precursor to a future great drummer –Tony Williams.  During the piano solo Jones brings the volume down and changes the texture into a four on the snare light jazz shuffle.  It moves along.  On the outro he changes it up switching from his open hi-hat swing to that of the ride to match a closing Miles solo.  To end the song a gentle roll that would challenge Buddy Rich any day.

“Something I Dreamed Last Night”

If you think you know how to play brushes.  Think again.  This song is a master class in brush technique.  There is no hi-hat, no bass drum, just the swish of the brushes on the snare.  Listen to the long strokes Philly uses like a painter to carry the song.  He lets the song breath.  You can hear the tempo fluctuate slightly to move the song with each individual solo.  On the piano solo the brushwork changes from a four feel to a two feel and seamlessly back.  Download this song and earn a degree in brushes.

“Salt Peanuts”

Good luck if you can’t swing well yet.  This song will eat you alive.  It moves at a blazing pace with the drummer swinging with the 1,2,3,4& ride pattern.  Personally I use light ghost notes on the snare to help propel the swing.  If you make it to the solo be prepared for a workout.  It is long and intense.  A little over halfway through Philly brings his hands back to the snare drum for an accented snare roll that covers all the dynamic markings out there.  At this point he finally stops the 2&4 on the hat and opens it back up to the kit before the band comes in for one last head section. 

There are many great jazz albums out there and chances are I will play along and review many more, but for this project “Steamin’” represents a fundamental point in music in which the drummer takes a step forward.  He is now part of the band and responsible for the groove or dance of the number.  In the 60’s Rock n’ Roll to follow you will still hear those jazz intricacies just with one variation…

See ya’ next time!

History of Music Practice Sessions

Hey folks,

I have been off from my work at The Balsams Grand Resort for the past ten weeks or so and in the interim I have been hitting the practice shed pretty hard.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been going through a Music History Course in college which has inspired me to add a new depth to my practice routine. I have decided to conduct my own music drumming history by playing along with an album from my collection for each decade.  In the process I have opened my ears up to the evolution of our craft, and I have collected some notes on what the drummers of each era are borrowing from past masters and what the new guys are bringing to the table for the future masters of our craft.

I will begin posting notes on each album shortly.  Thus far I have played with "Steaming with the Miles Davis Quartet" for the jazz era.  I covered the sixties with a greatest hit cd and a couple of Beatles discs.  The 70's is represented by The Steve Miller Band.  80's is still undecided.  90's is "Crash" by the Dave Matthews Band and 2000 is the MTV unplugged performance of Jay-Z.

So check back and find out what I learn from each decade.

Cheers!

Rudimental Technique & Analysis Ebook Packed with Features!

This video shows how my downloadable ebook version of Rudimental Technique & Analysis has everything you need including a clickable table of contents and clickable audio samples embedded in the pdf document!  Get it soon at http://www.jeremylarochelle.com/book