Melness is defined in the drummers dictionary as sounds and feelings associated with Mel Lewis. It is a very interesting affliction since I and many other drummers have gotten these flashes while playing. Peter Erskine actually coined the term after playing with the Vanguard band using Mel's drums.

Mel needed music in order for his particular magic to emerge. His technical skills were nothing to write home about and you certainly wouldn't want to listen to him playing a solo snare drum etude or rudiments. His chops were internal and they were considerable once the music started.
   
I spoke earlier of flashes of "Melness" and I have had them from time to time. I   subbed with a great big band recently and I had the flash. As I played a Bill Holman chart. I began to hear more and more of his voice coming through me. I studied with him, but I never, except for these rare occasions, sounded like him. What I did have in me was the musical knowledge that he imparted and the many hours I spent listening to him.

Other drummers have reported these flashes as well especially when playing his drums as they subbed for him. I know that I did. He was one of those rare people  whose sound was in his instrument no matter who was playing and believe me, it was a broad group of players. Many people have tried to copy him and failed. You simply cannot copy response and inspiration.

I have always had a problem writing about him because he was so much more than the drums. I often got the sense that he was hearing music at a higher level. When I think about it that's what "Melness" is all about.

                                      The Groove Continues 


  

  

Old fart drummers like me are usually asked by younger players what's the toughest kind of gig to play? My answer is always the Jazz trio, it took me a long time to get a handle on a trio gig. The usual drummer response is to " brush it". Using brushes for the whole gig gives it one color,thats akin to the piano player playing one chord the whole night.

A trio gig should not be any less colorful or interactive than any another job, your approach to the instrument should not change. What you should do is "Adapt" to the circumstances. Trios are usually led by pianists or guitarists who know the idiom quite well and it can be a pleasant experience. On the other hand, There are trio leaders who exercise their ignorance by saying "just give me brushes the whole night" and we'll be fine, that immediately should tell you that they want a silent clock not a drummer.

Limiting a drummers response to the music is not a good thing. it's courting disaster when it's done in a trio. A trio gig can go just about anywhere and that requires a drummer who is an active participant and not just a timekeeper. In order to get a better idea of what I'm talking about you should listen to Jack DeJohnette with Keith Jarrett's trio or Ben Riley with just about everybody as well as many others too numerous to mention. 


Volume and Interaction can often be confused on any gig and drummers are often the victim of this confusion. What a lot of people don't understand is that the trio is the most exposed of any gig and that tasteful interaction on the drummers part can make the music better

​I know sometimes you are playing in a restaurant and the trio might be right on top of the diners. Then here is a spot to use your creativity and make the groove "eatable". You could use; for instance, your bare hands on a Latin tune or change to a stick for 8 bars or use mallets on certain parts of a tune

​Remember, a trio's sound and groove is everyone's responsibility not just yours.

​                                          The Groove Continues

When I got my first set of drums all those years ago, the first thing I did was try and play a roundhouse fill. My early musical life was filled with doing things ass-backwards. I didn't realize that a beat has to happen before you can play a fill. I also didn't understand the function of a fill.

A fill has a twofold purpose, It is a transition from one musical phrase to another and it is a drummers opportunity to make a statement on the music. It is not an opening for the drummer to make a musical fool of his or herself. 

Good fills are based on one thing alone. The drummers knowledge of the music being played or to coin a phrase "context fills". Ringo Starr was particularly good at this, so were many of the drummers for James Brown and Motown.

The idea of filling through the groove is not new. It's just not emphasized. Playing fills in context is more a matter of playing experience than solo practicing. The idea of a musical fill is a combination of what you play but where you play it.

The word fill implies space in the music where you connect one musical idea with another. The end of a phrase is usually the spot where you can insert a fill, there are other gaps in the music where you can fill as well. Don't play a fill if there is no hole. Filling in the wrong spot will disrupt the groove and the flow of the music.

I am not advocating "less is more or more is more", what I am advocating is hearing and listening is more. If you can "hear" the music then you will play a fill connected to that sound. It's really that simple.

                                   The groove continues

"The guy who invented brushes must have really hated drummers". Tony Williams said that many years ago. I would modify it by stating that most musicians don't understand what brushes are for. Brushes are tools of color not mutes for the drums.

When you think about it you can't discuss brushes without discussing ignorant bandleaders who think the only way to achieve a softer dynamic is to demand that the drummer play brushes. Thats not what they are for.

Brushes provide a range of colors,everything from Brazilian to Rock. The one thing about brushes is that there is really no accepted technique for playing them. It's all ear, feel and imagination.

The best thing to do is to listen to the great brush masters like Papa Jo Jones (Jazz), Don Um Romao (Brazilian) and Russ Kunkel (Rock). There are  many others, of course, but you have to do the research.

Jimmy Cobb once stated that Elvin Jones can be easily identified playing brushes because he plays the whole cymbal beat on the snare. Thats a good a place to start. Play the cymbal beat with one hand and a smooth sweep in the other. What you will get is your first lesson in swinging with brushes and layering your sound.

Once you get the groove down then you can start changing pressure on the head and decorating your groove with accents and sweeps. Remember the sky and your ears are the limit.

                                      The groove continues...

 

I just watched a video Buddy Rich being interviewed. The interview was unusual in that Buddy was reflective about his life and career which caused me to reflect on what made him great. Once you get past all the accolades about his technical prowess and his fire. you find a musician who owned everything he played.

Owning the music you play is at the foundation of every great musician. We all sit around thinking, why is this guy so much better than me? I truly believe its a commitment, not only to music, but to owning your performance.

Buddy never sat behind the drums without knowing every note of an arrangement. The real core of his art is that he played every note as if he had written it, that is real music making. Buddy's legendary confidence comes from that knowledge.

Two recent gigs I played bring this into sharper focus. One was a large band and the other small. The leaders of both these groups didn't know their own music. They came to the gig with the feeling that the musicians can make it work no matter how unprepared they themselves were.

Buddy's band was always aware that he knew the music inside/out. That awareness made them play with an assurance that turns a standard performance into a great one.

Buddy Rich was in many ways the definition of "Owning It", Music would be better if we practiced what he preached.


                                    The groove continues.

 

Hearing John Coltrane was always exciting. It became thrilling when he added McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. Trane and his band have been studied and analyzed to death, but one aspect hasn't received as much attention and that is the group's special feel for Trane's rhythmic ideas.

John Coltrane practiced for hours, using every conceivable rhythmic concept, including some that did not exist until that time. What he needed was a rhythm section that was both firm and adventurous. The  "section" of Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Elvin Jones had worked with some of the most significant musicians in Jazz.  

Jimmy Garrison was known for his big sound and a rock solid groove, but he was not viewed as forward looking, There were suggestions from other musicians that better known bass players would fill the bill, but Trane knew what he wanted. Garrison would be the pole at the center of the musical tent.

Elvin Jones was at a transition point when he was approached for the group. He was seen by many as forward looking, but lacking the control necessary for his  polyrhythmic approach to work. He was transforming Jazz drumming, bringing it to a level that is still the standard today. He would support the band in the usual sense and he would play around the groove or leave it entirely if Trane went off into uncharted musical territory.

 Coltrane's signature recording of "My Favorite Things" is a masterpiece of rhythm section playing. Simple as the tune is, it presented the rhythm section with a challenge. The song had only two chords, so Steve Davis (Garrison joined later)  held the bottom down and and Pianist McCoy Tyner set up an insistent motif that never varied and Elvin played a lightly swinging waltz that became hypnotic as the song progressed through Coltrane's long solo. 

The hypnotic groove became the essence of the quartet's sound. Much of his later work depended on the repetitive rhythms and drones of World Music. World Rhythms have their own internal swing that allowed the rhythm section to improvise, so long as one member kept the theme going.  

You can hear this on "Africa Brass" where Elvin, now fully in command of his poly rhythmic approach digs into rhythms that could be found within 4/4 and 6/8. None of this would have been possible without the strong center held by Jimmy Garrison. Africa Brass is my favorite recording that features the rhythm section with a large ensemble at its best.

I wanted to leave the rhythmic contributions of pianist McCoy Tyner till last. He was known as a brilliant and subtle accompanist but who also could raise musical Hell when needed. Tyner used his power and subtlety to create many different dynamics, rhythms and colors that were necessary since he was the bands other major soloist.

This band would last about five years before the end came. The ending was sad as the beginning was hopeful. Coltrane loaded the band with other musicians. The music become so loud and noisy that the original group left one by one with only Jimmy Garrison staying to the end.

Coltrane would continue to perform and record but with musicians who did not have the cohesiveness nor the musical sense to perform with such a legendary and visionary artist.

                                             The Groove continues 
                                              Stay Safe Everybody

There has much discussion, books and frankly too much analysis of how to swing. Frankly, the so-called theories are just that; theories. Developing a "real feel" requires two things, an approach and simplicity. I will attempt to provide you with one path to "swing". 

Drummers should always focus on the "1". That first note should equal the length of a triplet and set the table for the other triplets in the bar. The result is a groove that is felt in 12/8. Note the term "Felt" as opposed to "Think". Thinking in 12/8 creates too much clutter.

I've chosen not to include written examples of the ride rhythm in any form because it can be misleading. One of the advantages of the triplet feel is the evenness. The dotted 8/16 feel is too clunky and implies a staccato feeling. What you should aim for is a wide legato feeling. This is something that a triplet foundation can give you.

"Papa" Jo Jones was the model I always looked to. His groove was so wide and legato it was hard to discern which beat was which. The recordings with Basie and with Illinois Jacquet are lessons on how to swing. He achieved "flow" and that is the most elusive element of groove.

The triplet concept provides an approach to widen your beat and is a better foundation for building a cymbal legato. The first step in achieving this is to make all the notes of the bar even without any accent so that the backbeat is implied rather than stated. The next step is to play notes between the beats with your other limbs at the same or slightly higher volume to create a round rolling feel.

If your not sure of how any of this sounds, just listen to Elvin Jones or Jack DeJohnette. The triplet legato will the take the "drumness" out of your sound as you began to move the groove over the set. Music making should always be your goal and hopefully this approach will lead you to it.

                                         The Groove Continues....        

Ginger and Mitch ? Sounds like a movie but it isn't. It's a look back at the drummers who played in two of the greatest bands of the sixties; Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. 

Baker and Mitchell, not only exploded onto but dominated the 60's music scene. They brought a freedom that was more akin to Jazz and World Music than Rock and Roll.

Ginger Baker had an unusual approach and sound. His drumming was based on the rhythms of Africa. Cream's extended improvisations and his large drumkit offered him the opportunity to exploit those ideas.

Mitch Mitchell was simply a Rock and Roll Elvin Jones floating over the time rather than nailing it down. His freewheeling style supported by considerable chops was the best possible fit for Jimi Hendrix.

Ginger Baker 's performances in Cream had a unique feature. His feel for time was strongly rooted on the 1 and 3. This led to some legendary musical jousting matches with bassist Jack Bruce who occupied the same beats.

Mitchell like Baker was best in a live setting. Most of the Jimi Hendrix Experience recordings were done "live" in the studio. Mitch always dug deep inside a song playing contrasting but related rhythms. This left Bassist Noel Redding and later Billy Cox to handle the basic groove.

These two guys were largely responsible for expanding and freeing traditional rock drumming. They also reenforced the notion that groove was everybody's responsibility. This concept was unheard of in the Rock and Roll universe of the  sixties where the drummer was expected to "police" the groove.

Unfortunately, these two great players would disappear from the thoughts of the many drummers they influenced. Mitch played very little after the death of Jimi Hendrix. He would die of natural causes in 2008.

Ginger Baker would get lost in the "Supergroup" Frenzy of the seventies. His horrible personality also had a dampening effect on his career. He's had a resurrection of sorts playing in the Cream reunion and has returned to his first love of Jazz, playing with a number of artists.

When I think of these two men, their greatest accomplishment was giving the drums a greater voice in the music and all of us are better for it.

                                        The Groove Continues...  

I am often amused at the extremes some musicians will go to win a musical debate with regards to the metronome. I just read one on facebook between two high level musicians. They each commented on each others blogs on what seemed like pages of a legal brief with one trying to top the other.

They both had interesting and legitimate points of view, the length of their responses to one another are too long to address here. So, as my mother used to say," I'll add my two cents and its quite simple.

All musicians can benefit from using the metronome, what matters is how you use it. I'm also of the opinion that many musicians are never taught to use the metronome properly. The instrument is there to give you a time reference, It is not a master that you should become a slave to.

Musical extremism seems to be the problem. There are too many musicians with bad time who won't use a metronome at all to players who measure every thing to the last sixty fourth. Learning to hear the space between the notes is what metronome practice is all about. If you use a basic setting of quarter notes, it will set you on the course of what Peter Erskine calls " Time Awareness".

If you have time issues the quarter note will provide the foundation. you will also begin to hear where the subdivisions fall. This will give you the awareness  that you need. A metronome can't help you groove or swing. Thats up to the individual player and how he or she interprets the beat.

The issue of groove comes up often when discussing the metronome. A groove can't happen in a vacuum it can only occur with other musicians because it is a collective process. A musician can certainly aid the process by developing their time.

I've written a lot of this stuff in various posts before and I repeat it because the musical environment has changed and the metronome debate still continues. Musicians have to play with a click or a sequenced track on some gigs and you are going to have a rough time if you never worked with a metronome.

Good fundamentals work every time. Developing a solid rhythmic foundation will make you a better player and like it or not, the proper use of the metronome can get you there.

                                         The Groove continues...  

There are always people in music who are enigmatic. Charlie Watts of the Stones is such an enigma only for the wrong reasons. His long career has posed one singular question. How can someone be so lucky with so little ability or interest in what he's doing.

Charlie's long career doesn't exactly lend creedence to the "harder I work the luckier I get" theory. He doesn't play well because he doesn't really care and thats really the heart of the matter. The Stones will never be accused of high level musicianship, but at least the others try the best they can to put on a good performance. 

You may ask why am I picking on Charlie. He is often seen as the heart and soul of the band and that is a big responsibility. "It's good enough" is hardly the attitude that will inspire your band mates or an audience that pays a lot of money to hear you

When Charlie Watts is in the mood he can lay down a solid groove but his fills and song endings can try any musicians patience. His lack of the most basic technique causes him to lose what ever articulation or precision he has.

What is sad about this is the potential to be a good player is there. He chooses not to. Recordings and live performances are filled with sloppy playing. You can get away with that for a while but not when you've been playing for fifty years.

Charlie is from all accounts a very fine and generous man it's his lack of dedication thats in question. Charlie never grew, except for the period when Jimmy Miller was producing the band. Miller, an excellent drummer in his own right, got Charlie to up his game. When Miller left the growth stopped.

There are going to be many people who will disagree with me but when you have the same musical defeciencies in 2014 that you had in 1965 then something is wrong.

A good friend once told me that he'd rather be lucky than good. My buddy got lucky because he was good and got even better as the years went on. Charlie Watts was extremely lucky, unfortunately he failed to fulfill the talent that got him there.

                                         The Groove Continues...