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Drum Blog

Todd Bishop’s New Album, Travelogue, Out Now

Todd Bishop of the Cruise Ship Drummer blog puts out a high volume of interesting, valuable and varied drum set lessons and exercises. I like to show my support by buying the stuff he’s got for sale like his books and records. It’s come to my attention that Todd’s latest album, Travelogue, is out so I thought I’d give it a mention here. I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet but you can preview it on the… Read More »Todd Bishop’s New Album, Travelogue, Out Now

The Art & Science of Groove, Benny Greb’s Indigogo Project

Here’s a cool idea: www.indiegogo.com/projects/bennygreb Benny Greb is producing a high quality DVD via the crowdfunding site Indigogo. I think it’s a positive thing to produce this stuff independently. The video pitching the idea sounds encouraging, there’s a few seconds of tap dancing which is an artform closely associated with the drum kit, according to Freddy Gruber talking on one of the videos I watched on Drum Channel recently. Then Benny talks about the myth of groove or musical feel… Read More »The Art & Science of Groove, Benny Greb’s Indigogo Project

Chaffee Linear Patterns Lesson Video

I found this video demonstrating numerous ways to apply the linear sticking patterns from Gary Chaffee’s Time Functioning Patterns. The ideas are explained really well and the lesson gives a basis for much exploration. It’s a good idea with this material to work on one pattern comprehensively until you internalise the principles embodied in the variations. This will make it easier to hear the music in the other patterns and will make application flow more easily. Then again, you might… Read More »Chaffee Linear Patterns Lesson Video

Royal College Of Music Festival Of Percussion – With Gavin Harrison

The Royal College of Music Festival of Percussion takes place in London on the 6th of July. I attended last year’s event where I got to see the amazing John Riley, a clinic with Geoff Dugmore, a jazz trio, some classical percussionists, Nick Mason and a big band. It was a brilliant day out which I wrote about here and here. This year’s festival features the super-competent Gavin Harrison who has many notes to play, I imagine. It also features… Read More »Royal College Of Music Festival Of Percussion – With Gavin Harrison

Little Barrie Release Their New Album – Shadow

I had a great night on Tuesday at the famous 100 club watching Little Barrie deliver a great performance. The band’s vintage sound is brilliant, and the songs catchy and energetic. Drummer, Virgil Howe’s got great feel and a vocabulary straight out of the early 70’s classic rock scene. Visit the website – www.littlebarrie.com Their new album is called Shadow and you can preview it here:

Great Drum Educator, Chuck Silverman, Sadly Died

I am deeply saddened to hear about the sudden loss on May the 1st of Chuck Silverman, a great drummer and drum teacher notable for his amazing knowledge and love for Afro-Caribbean music (or Latin as we lesser mortals would call it) and expertise about the drummers of James Brown. I didn’t know Chuck, although I had been trying to arrange a Skype lesson with him (West Coast USA and London are temporally mismatched for this sort of thing) but… Read More »Great Drum Educator, Chuck Silverman, Sadly Died

The Real Last Waltz – Alternate Footage Posted on YouTube

Wow, this is brilliant. Someone’s posted alternate footage of the Last Waltz concert which shows the real performance before all the overdubs that Levon talks about so disparagingly in his book. The Band is one of my favourite rock music combos and Levon Helm is truly a master drummer. I love the movie and have watched it countless times but there is nothing to beat a real performance. Wonderful! First bit: Next bit: Last bit:

The Science Is In – Drummers are Smarter

Who’d have thought it? My good friend and associate, Frank from JPF Amplification, drew my attention to this fascinating article. According to this article, which must be true, drummers with solid time are smarter and their smartness is infectious via the medium of groove. Sounds cool. The ability to create rhythms is linked to the ability to think and solve problems and this problem solving ability can infect others when they’re exposed to a tight rhythmic pattern. Read all about… Read More »The Science Is In – Drummers are Smarter

Snarky Puppy – Quite The Musos

A student of mine mentioned Snarky Puppy to me, a modern fusion outfit playing sell-out shows all over the place. “Fusion” is not normally a term that excites me seeing as I can’t afford the cuisine and in a musical context, I don’t need to be reminded of traumatic experiences listening to Jaco’s solos or Garibaldi’s mullet, not to mention Brecker and his EWI. But… Watch this, it’s amazing! Apparently, they do all their records live with no overdubs and,… Read More »Snarky Puppy – Quite The Musos

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