Simon Philips: Complete is another case of two older videos being merged and resold as a single DVD. Its two individual parts being Simon Philips and Simon Philips Returns.

The thing about this DVD is that it doesn’t really reveal to you what you are getting into when you buy/rent it. Certainly there’s no hint as to the nature of the content in the title of the DVD. So I’m going to tell you what you’re getting into. Mostly you’re getting performance and breakdown of music Simon Phillips wrote, along with a couple of solos and some sections on general drumming topics. Some of the general drumming topics include double bass drumming and double bass tuning, timekeeping, coordination, snare drum tuning, and snare drum playing.

The advice he gives is pretty good in many of the areas he talks about and not so good in some of the others. Usually when the advice isn’t satisfactory it’s because he didn’t go in-depth enough as opposed to the advise just being bad. Also, as with most older DVDs, lots of the ideas and advice he give have been done again but better in newer DVDs. You can tell this stuff was big news back in the old days but today much of it has been improved on. I’m searching and failing to say something else about this DVD which means it’s time for the break down.

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Steve Smith, shiny headed drummer extraordinaire has done it again! Standing on the Shoulder’s of Giant’s is Steve’s tribute to all the greats that came before him (and he does them justice.) Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy was originally Buddy’s Buddies, a tribute band to the work of Buddy Rich. As they went on, they started expanding to the work of other jazz drumming greats. Eventually the name was changed to Jazz Legacy because they had left the realm of a Buddy Rich tribute band and became something more.

This video contains the entire 2006 Modern Drummer Festival performance of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy and after each song there is a long discussion about it between John Riley and Steve Smith. John Riley’s presence does help make the DVD much better and I’ll explain how. If you remember my review of Steve Smith’s Drum Set Technique & History of the U.S. Beat, my one criticism was that Steve Smith was very stiff when he was talking to the camera. Well, because John Riley is there, Steve has an actual person to talk to. The effect being, Steve is much more personable and easier to watch. But Riley is more then just someone for Steve to bounce conversation off of. He is a Jazz scholar in his own right and adds much insight and a different perspective to Steve when they discuss the performances and the artists to which the performances are tributes.

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Here’s a great video from ESPN talking about the rigors and athletic demands of Drum Corps players.

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Before I begin the review, I have to make everyone aware of a policy change that I will make effective as of this review. From now on I’m going to review DVD’s with more then one volume (like this one) each on their own individual merits. I realized in my review of Joe Morello’s DVDs that I barely mentioned the first DVD at all in my review. Granted, my opinion at that time (and it hasn’t changed since) was that there really wasn’t much to talk about. Still, it merited it’s own separate review. I will still talk about the relationship between the (or more) related products, but my score at the end will be reflective of the product as it stands by itself.

And now, on with the review!
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Source: LA Times

THE GREAT jazz drummer Elvin Jones carried on a constant musical conversation with John Coltrane. It inspired me to have that kind of dialogue with Jim Morrison. Not that I was in Elvin’s league, but his courage gave me the “huevos” to stop the steady rhythm on the Doors’ “When the Music’s Over,” and just jab at my kit during Jim’s rap about “What have they done to the Earth, what have they done to our fair sister, rip her and bit her, stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn, and dragged her down.”

As a teenager, I saw Elvin play many times at these “sacred gin joints” (jazz clubs) in Los Angeles. I was too young to make the Central Avenue scene, but I knew it was much more than a major thoroughfare.

On an off night from the Orbit, a Santa Monica bar gig I got with my very lame fake ID from Tijuana, I stumbled into the Renaissance Club on the Sunset Strip, where Lenny Bruce had performed. It was my first time in a jazz club, and I was ushered to a table in the back behind a pole. I was one of very few white people in the place, and the Renaissance Club was intimidatingly cool. It had an attitude. I hadn’t cultivated one yet.

Read the Full Essay …

Here’s a cool video of John Densmore on the Dennis Miller Show from 1992.

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The problem with reviewing these old drum technique instructional videos is that their modern counterparts just blow the old ones out of the water. These new DVD’s like Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer and Drum-Set Technique/History of the U.S. Beat are so thorough and comprehensive that there is not very much to be gained by viewing these old ones. This is somewhat true of Joe Morello’s Drum Method 1 & 2, but not as much as I expected.

There are only two volumes. Morello mentions a third installment in both volumes one and two, don’t bother looking for it, it doesn’t exist. Each volume is sold separately and comes with it’s own little booklet with detailed transcriptions of the exercises Morello goes through. It would be perfect if they would just sell it as two disk set with one big booklet/downloadable PDFs… but, alas, they don’t. I’m reviewing these two as a pair because they are at there best as a pair. I wouldn’t recommend buying one buy itself and I wouldn’t recommend renting them if you are serious about learning from them. The reason I wouldn’t rent them is because you won’t get the little booklets that come with them. The reason I wouldn’t buy one without intending to get the other is because the second volume is the juicer one of the two, but it refers you back to the first volume on several occasions. Meanwhile, the first disk just isn’t worth it in terms of content if it isn’t paired with the second. What a pickle. (more…)

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I’ve already sung the praises of traditional grip, so now I have to give matched grip it’s fifteen minutes. This probably won’t be fifteen minutes worth of reading so please just read it at a slower pace.

Traditional grip was developed out of necessity. It was created because of marching snare drums that were suspended with a strap. The severe angle prevented the common sense matched grip from being used. So they made up traditional grip which became a marching tradition (this sentence sounds very redundant now that I think about it.) The marching tradition was naturally passed on to the drum-set because the drum-set is a direct descendant of marching drums. Go figure. (more…)

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Traditional grip has come under considerable fire as of late in the drumming community. They say that because of its origins in marching where the drums were tilted, it loses most, if not all of its relevance in a world where mostly position our drums with much less angle then in the old days. They also cite (correctly) that matched grip is a much more natural grip. Both arguments have their merits, but I am of the opinion that traditional grip is and shall remain formidable presence for as long as there are drummers.

I will be the first to admit that matched grip has many advantages over traditional and may be a better general grip. However, there are some areas where traditional grip is superior to matched. One of these area is subtlety. Much of which has to do with the upside down nature of the traditional grip and its placement in front of the fulcrum an opposed to behind it. Subtly comes from the ability to control the stick beginning, during and after the stroke. While matched and traditional are roughly even in the beginning and the end of the stroke, traditional excels in the area of control of the stick during flight. This comes mostly from its being in front of the fulcrum. (more…)

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Source: ConnectSavannah.com

THOUGH BEST KNOWN AS THE INVENTIVE TRAP DRUMMER in the groundbreaking fusion band Living Colour (whose aggressive and noisy metallic funk helped shape the sonic landscape of late ’80s and early ’90s hard rock), two-time Grammy Award-winner Will Calhoun is also a respected jazz percussionist who continues to play and record with a diverse roster of major artists.

He recently wrapped four shows at NYC’s Performance Space 122 that found Calhoun integrating his loves of poetry, sound and photography into a mixed-media event drawing on his studies of global ethnic music.

He returns to Savannah nearly two decades after his last visit for a special clinic at Portman’s Music Superstore. I caught up with Calhoun by phone.

How did the shows at PS122 go?

Will Calhoun: Tremendous. It allowed me to play dulcimer and interesting indigenous flutes handmade for me during my travels abroad. It was called Black Holes because those are missing spaces in the middle of universes. No one knows how big or deep they are — just like our lives.

Read the full story …

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Carter is in the driver’s seat this week as we talk about New Orleans drumming! Zigaboo Modeliste is the drummer of the week, the 13-stroke roll is the rudiment of the week, and we get a visit from some crazy bird … crow … sea gull things. Show Notes

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An Artist Retrospective by Dave Kropf

Part IV - Closing Remarks

Earl Palmer’s list of artists with whom he’s recorded reads like a blues, R&B, and rock & roll Hall of Fame inductee list. Artists include Pat Boone, The Beach Boys, Roy Brown, Charles Brown, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Priscilla Coolidge, Elvis Costello, The Everly Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jan & Dean, King Pleasure, B.B. King, Peggy Lee, Smiley Lewis, Little Feat, The Mamas & the Papas, Amos Milburn, The Monkees, Johnny Otis, The Platters, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross, Shirley & Lee, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand , Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Dinah Washington, and many, many more. Although this list of artists is impressive, what’s most important about Earl Palmer is his place in music and percussion history. (more…)

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An Artist Retrospective by Dave Kropf

Part II - The Music (Continued)

Session greats don’t become “greats” unless they have an ability to blend into any musical landscape. Palmer is no exception to this ideal and Sam Cooke’s 1958 cut “You Send Me” is a perfect example of how a good drummer holds down the pocket and does only what the music requires. This is a true testament to Earl Palmer’s outstanding musicianship. This track, while not Palmer’s first non-R&B cut, symbolizes a departure from the drummer’s New Orleans influences in the studio. Pop tracks such as these were popular during the same time that Little Richard and Fats Domino were dominating the charts, but the fact that artists such as Same Cooke had hit singles demonstrates the diversification of the mainstream market. In regards to the percussion, the parts are very out of the way and in the background – a huge difference from Palmer’s usual backbeat-heavy work. The track contains a light backbeat played using brushes with a subtle 12/8, eighth-note ostinato throughout. What’s important to note during these sessions is how Palmer did only what was musically necessary. There’s no flash, no vanity, no conceit – just simple, perfect parts that demonstrate Palmer’s excellent versatility. (more…)

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Yesterday, we posted a video documenting the “Amen Break.” Here’s a video with Jojo Mayer explaining breakbeats and the Amen Break.

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An amazing and fascinating video on the use of the “Amen Break” - one of the most sampled and used breaks in sampling history. Note: There a few spots with some rough language (as it references use of the sample in hip-hop.)

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An Artist Retrospective by Dave Kropf

Part II - The Music

Recorded in 1949, “The Fat Man” by Fats Domino is one of Palmer’s earliest recorded works. The song is a typical 12-bar blues and features interesting vocalizations by Domino where he seems to imitate a trumpet. In this recording, the drums are almost inaudible, but what can be heard is Palmer’s use of a continued half-open hi-hat and his incorporation of a strong backbeat – a snare drum accent on beats 2 and 4 of a measure. This is an early indication of the drum patterns later used in rock and roll. Because the piano is carrying much of the rhythm, Palmer’s simple drumset rhythms stay out of the way nicely and provide rhythmic support only. Palmer’s use of the New Orleans,’ snare-driven, second-line drumming is more subdued in this cut than in later ones to come, but the New Orleans influece still remains. The shuffled, train-like chugging of the rhythm is unmistakable. Some rhythmic tendencies of this track borrow more directly from shouter blues such as the swung/triplet-based feel being driven by the piano. (more…)

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