LEGENDS OF JAZZ BASS-CHARLES MINGUS

Charles Mingus was a great innovator in the realm of jazz. His compositions and playing style often went beyond categorization. He would sometimes allow his groups to engage in collective improvisation (similar to the old New Orleans styles), which allowed for a freer sound in much of his music.

Charles was also known for his temper, and got nicknamed "The angry man of jazz." He would never compromise what he wanted to do musically, and he even got into some on-stage arguments with other players. He was considered the heir to Duke Ellington, because like Duke, he wrote his music based on the strengths of the musicians in his group.

When I first got interested in jazz many years ago, it was so great to hear some of Mingus' music for the first time. It was so far out, complex, ever-changing and grooving. Words do not do the best job describing his music...you should hear and see some for yourself...

Tim Kurteff-Schatz

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LEGENDS OF JAZZ DRUMMING - BILLY COBHAM

I am going to end the jazz drumming series with Billy Cobham. Although there are still many many more great jazz drummers before and after Billy Cobham, I don't want to burn this blog out on drumming (maybe I'll revisit it later :-).

How to sum up Billy Cobham? Technical wonder/genius. Although some may argue (me too sometimes) that he doesn't always lay down a great groove, what can be said is that he has laid down some mind-blowing technicality in his time. He took the technical prowess of drummers like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams to an even higher level.

More evidence that Miles Davis has worked with almost everyone: Cobham started out with Miles Davis also in the 60s and 70s. Cobham is possibly more widely known for his fusion drumming with groups like Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Cobham is also one of the first drummers to play open handed lead: a drummer that plays on a right-handed set but leads with his left hand on the hi-hat instead of crossing over with his left (and also has his ride cymbal on the left side, instead of the traditional right). He typically plays with multiple toms and double bass drums and was well known in the 70's for his large drum kits.

Let's hear and see some of Billy's amazing drumming...hold onto your seat:

Tim Kurteff-Schatz

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LEGENDS OF JAZZ DRUMMING - TONY WILLIAMS

Like Elvin Jones, Tony Williams was another beast on the drums. One indicator of how good he was was who he was playing with at a very young age: he started playing with Miles Davis at age 17! Tony was a fantastic player who also (like Elvin) really wanted to push the limits of how the drums were played.

Tony had heard all the greats before him and learned their styles, and then made this statement (one way or another) to the world: "I am going to play the drums in a completely new way that is unique only to me." That is a big reason Miles Davis liked him. Miles was into that same kind of trendsetting and experimentation when he met Tony. Miles said of Tony, "Our group's sound is centered around what Tony is playing." That's powerful!

Tony was great at using metric modulation (transitioning between mathematically related tempos and/or time signatures), which was kind of new thing in jazz drumming at the time. When metric modulation is done right, it can really make the time feel like it is being stretched in various directions. Yet, the player is always aware of the 'home' time signature and how to stay within its confines, even while sounding like he is playing outside of the confines.

Let's see and hear some of Tony's amazing playing with the absolute top-level players in jazz in the 1960's - Ron Carter, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter: 

Tim Kurteff-Schatz

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LEGENDS OF JAZZ DRUMMING - ELVIN!

What is there to say about Elvin, except that he was a giant beast on the drums. Well, there are many other great things to say about his drumming as well: like, he was able to keep up with John Coltrane on many recordings...that's no easy feat! He also had his own very unique style that set the tone for many drummers to come, and opened the lesson book for many drummers after to try and learn his style.

Like Coltrane on the sax, Elvin had a very free-flowing style, and he played in a very polyrhythmic way. In other words, he was capable of having many different rates of rhythms happening simultaneously. Not an easy task! He also played in a legato sort of way...everything was connected and smooth, but highly complex.

He was a true artist, who really like to push the boundaries. I have been told that there is a video of him somewhere talking about how certain sounds in music represent colors, and he liked to think that way. That is thinking outside the box! Here's a video of some great drumming by a true master of the instrument. This is not smooth jazz, this is rough jazz...remember, there is sometimes just as much fire in jazz as in rock or any other genre:

Tim Kurteff-Schatz

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LEGENDS OF JAZZ DRUMMING - ROY HAYNES

The youthful Mr. Roy Haynes, 85 years young and still tearin' it up on the drums, and performing worldwide! Roy is one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history. He has played with just about every famous jazz musician you can think of.

He got the nickname 'Snap Crackle' in the 1950's due to his distinct, crisp and rapid fire attack on the snare drum.

Roy is one of those musical drummers, like Max Roach, who develops motives, plays melodically and listens very closely to every other soloist and fully compliments what they are doing. Many people say that way of playing is the highest form of drumming, rather than displaying all the technique and fireworks that many drummers can display. Do the fireworks make a tune more listenable? Usually not. Here's an example of some of Roy's tasteful playing: http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/royhaynes73.mp4

Tim Kurteff-Schatz

Take some drum lessons at Earthtone School of Music!

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