When I listen to or play music the first thing my ears pick up is the bass line. Every song has a bottom that has to be supported rhythmically and harmonically.  

The bassist performs the most critical function in any ensemble. They are a bridge between the rhythm section and the rest of the band. Recent music documentaries have featured the bass players who played on many of our favorite records. James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt, Carol Kaye, Duck Dunn along with many others are finally getting their due.

When I think back to my best nights as a musician. I must admit that the bass player had a great deal to do with it. The indefinable connection between bass and drums is what makes a successful gig. A good groove is only part of the picture, Note selection is another. Jazz players like Paul Chambers, Percy Heath and Ron Carter (pictured) have turned note selection into an art form.

Creating a bass line is no easy task, it requires musical sense, big ears and most of all; humility. Remember, the bass permeates the tune from the bottom not from the top. It really isn't an instrument for glory hounds.

Jimmy Blanton was one of the greatest bassists of his time who set the standard for melodic playing. His work with Duke Ellington is still highly relevant. Blanton changed the role of the bass from the usual "boom, Boom" to a more melodically involved instrument. There would be no Scott La Faro or Jaco Pastorious without him.

Jimmy Blanton was a young man when he died in 1942. The amplification did not yet exist where he could be really heard. Amplifiers, the electric bass and acoustic pickups would come later and allow the bassist to be heard rather than felt. 

Paul McCartney would bring lyricism to Rock and Roll, his rich bass lines freed rock players from strict time keeping. The Sixties was a "Golden Age" for music and for bass players whose role was greatly expanded. Bass players like Bootsie Collins, Sting and Christian McBride have become stars in their own right 

What makes these players so good is their understanding of and absolute commitment to the role of their instrument. Hopefully, younger players will continue that tradition.
 
                                         The groove continues...
 

Many drummers read music well but reading a chart is a lot different than a snare drum etude or a melodic line. Writing for drums ranges from a page black with notes to a part that has nothing but bar lines. 

 A sparse "chart" with the form and some figures or a master rhythm part are different than a fully scored drum part. The first two require a lot of interpretation and addition. The fully scored part may in some instances require subtraction.

All arrangers and composers have different approaches when it comes to drum writing. Drummers have to use their taste and editing skills in making an arrangement work. One of the major issues for a lot of players is keeping their place and knowing where to go in a chart.

Many times a drummer will have no written chord changes or instrument cues to guide them. I usually keep my place by the harmony and form of a tune. Nashville has used a "number" system where the corresponding number of a chord in the progression is written into the part.

This allows the drummer to see and hear the progression. This kind of writing emphasizes the phrase which relieves the drummer of counting bars. A master rhythm part has all the rhythm section written into one or two clefs which provides the drummer with entrances and cues of what the other instruments are playing.

Reading a chart is a balancing act between interpretation and overplaying. It is critical to use your ears as well as your eyes. Here are few suggestions for reading a drum chart.

Learn to feel a four bar phrase, The Reed Syncopation book is written in four bar phrases, play three bars of time and hit the figures in bar four. Most Music is constructed in a four or eight bar phrase, big ensemble figures and transitions usually occur at the end of those phrases.

Learn musical form such as a twelve bar blues, AABA song form (32 bars) and the extended form of verse- chorus-bridge that is common in Rock. Listen to Music, the more tunes you know the easier it will be to sight read something. 
 
Learn to scan a part by looking for repeat signs, first and second endings, DC,  DS and coda's.

Last but not least is to remember the code. Nail the time and the form (road map) first and the ensemble figures second.

I would recommend getting a play along book to practice chart reading. The best one that I know of is Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials. It has all the different
charts that I described and a band recording. 

Following these simple concepts will put you on the road to being a more self assured reader. If you have any further questions you can contact me through my website.

                                           The groove continues....





 

Nearly twenty years have gone by since this recording debuted but like most things my feelings about it have evolved. I don't consider it a classic by any stretch of the imagination but I no longer consider it a silly vanity project. 

When the recording first came out, I didn't like it. My reevaluation has to do with the spirit of the recording. Neal Peart's status in the drum world allowed him to get the recording made and to cast a wide net, bringing in some of the best drummers in the business.    

Many of the contemporary drummers didn't understand the music. This is a major flaw. The performances were, for the most part, acceptable. The really great moments were provided by the Jazz Players. The arrangements in Buddy's book are challenging for any drummer outside the Big Band genre, doubly so if you only have a couple of passes at getting a track.

The drummers came well prepared and they did their very best to shine their particular light on Buddy's legacy. They weren't always successful but they played with passion. This was not apparent in the tracks recorded by Simon Phillips who sounds like a marching band run amok. Dave Weckl was clearly bored and it shows.   

Neal Peart could have done a better job of matching arrangements to the drummers but when the match ups clicked it was magical. Matt Sorum,then the drummer for "Guns and Roses" was stunning on "Buleah Witch". The tune was right in Matt's wheelhouse and he tore it up.

Steve Gadd's interpretation of "Love For Sale" has become a classic. He played the arrangement like he wrote it, a skill that I admired most in Buddy. Steve played a loose small group style that brought an interesting color to the arrangement. It is the outstanding track.

Tributes are tough, especially when the honoree is an icon. What this recording has is edge and spirit, the kind of emotions you have when you play a piece of music for the first time. Spirit coupled with awesome ability was Buddy and for that we have to give our thanks to Neal Peart.

                                               The Groove Continues...

 

Man, Just play it as it lays and it will sound fine. Its old school advice but it still applies. The pulse, beat or inner rhythm, if you want to be fancy about it all mean the same thing. It's what carries music from place to place in a flow.

When you find the inner pulse of a song and bring it out thats when real music occurs. I still don't get why we spend so much time trying to put the pulse of a song into a box. Way too much time is spent on trying to control and construct a pocket (play up on the beat etc). Monitoring the time, creates insecurity in the rhythm section which ultimately hurts the music.

Great players know that every tune has its own inner pulse and that the feel will die if we don't connect with it. The great bandleaders and producers let the music dictate the groove and not the other way around. Composers don't think metronomically when they are writing, all they consider is a range where their music will sound best.
 
What matters is the rhythmic sweet spot. All music regardless of style has it. How do you find this? Listen for it and adjust the pocket to the tunes natural pulse. This is called playing it as it lays. When a doctor says "no pulse" you are in serious trouble well the same thing goes for music.

Music has to breathe in time for it to have any effect. Selecting the different spots on the quarter note doesn't help. That has to be felt rather than discussed verbally. This laser like focus on parsing the time has hurt music badly in the past 30 years. Perfection in time has become the focus much to the detriment of melody and groove.

Analysis paralysis is a disease that affects too many musicians, particularly bandleaders and producers who are married to the idea of machine like time and then complain that it doesn't feel right. Well Duh? Analysis is great for musicologists but not for performing musicians. Rhythm is a natural force that can't be specifically defined it has to be heard and felt.


                                            The Groove continues...