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The Funk

What I’m Listening To This Week

I have been slowly discovering Afrobeat. The grooves are mental. There seems to be a lot of improvising, weird snare patterns and generally the kind of independence I associate with playing Latin music. I started listening to some stuff by Fela Kuti whose drummer, Tony Allen is considered to be a pioneer of the Afrobeat style of drumming. Back in the days of my misspent youth I remember Fela’s music being popular among people I knew but it didn’t draw… Read More »What I’m Listening To This Week

Cold Cold Cold – Me and Lowell Too

The last few days I can’t get this song out of my head for some reason… I guess it’s a bit of a cliche to say that playing drums slowly is a lot more challenging than most people think but it really is. Not to suggest that filling every available nanosecond with a flurry of 32s isn’t a challenge in itself but it’s not the be all and end all of our instrument. Drums aren’t an Olympic sport after all.… Read More »Cold Cold Cold – Me and Lowell Too

What I’m Listening To This Week – Clutch

Having worked on the groove on Clutch’s Burning Beard, I got the album, Robot Hive /Exodus. John Paul Gaster is a great funky drummer. Check out 10001110101 for some fabulous groove playing. In a slightly mellower vein, I have been learning Grant Green’s Ease Back with the wonderful Idris Muhammad laying down some very tasty, loose and fluid grooves. The main groove is in Todd Bishop’s 100 Grooves. Or you can get it off his blog here. And in a… Read More »What I’m Listening To This Week – Clutch

Speaking of Mike Clark and Paul Jackson…

Speaking of Mike Clark and Paul Jackson, as I was not one blog post ago, check out the greasy funk on the following video. Mental. (The second part of this video is non-embeddable for some reason but it’s here – )

The Wonderful Mike Clark with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters

Wowie zowie! Check out this wonderful performance from back in the 70’s when music was still good (!) and hair was a serious business. Mike Clark’s drumming is just beautiful. Listen to how he’s locked in with Paul Jackson, the bassist. It’s wild, free and busy as hell yet remains tasteful and economical, no notes out of place and no sense of indulgence about the playing. Awesome.

Johnny Vidacovich Tells You All You Need To Know

Johnny Vidacovich is a name I came across whilst enjoying the DVDs of Stanton Moore. He’s a legendary New Orleans drummer who somehow expresses the vassiscitude of the modern drumkit in under ten minutes.

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