Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Keeping my mind lean and my quarter-notes clean

I've been playing drums for over thirty years, mostly backbeat music. I started earning a living through music right after high school and never looked back. I work in another business now but have continued to play a lot. I  have recorded and played live with a lot of great people, I never took the opportunity to really study music and jazz and I've always said, "If I win the lottery, I'll go to music school." Still no lottery, but I am studying with a talented young musician and teacher, Kevin Sommerville. Kevin is a University of Toronto graduate in Jazz Performance and has studied with some of the greats, including Bob McLaren and Terry Clark.

Aside from practicing a lot and working on fundamentals of jazz drumming, I  spent the last couple of months listening to great jazz, learning about what makes a great jazz cymbal and listening to a lot of cymbal demos. Old K and A Zildjians, Kerope, pre-serial Paiste 602s, Sound Creation Dark, Istanbul and smaller Turkish brands, Matt Bettis and other custom cymbals, different sizes, different weights, flat rides, etc.


I had fresh insight and entered a new chapter after seeing and hearing my teacher's teacher - the great Bob McClaren play drums at the Rex. Bob is one of the best jazz drummers in Canada. Bob could have been playing on ashtrays and it still would have been amazing. As a baddass of the highest order, he doesn't care that much about gear.


After a great conversation with Kevin about focusing on the learning instead of relying on external things, (there are interesting parallels in my spiritual life), I had to put all my nice cymbals away for the summer and find the cheapest, brassiest, entry line cymbals possible. Play on those all summer and make them sound GREAT. Borrowed some Sabian SBRs (entry line) from a good friend. They sound like a beginner drummer.  (To quote Kevin, "I don't want you to be the guy who has the nicest cymbals in town, but can't swing from a tree.") I'm playing them... They are sounding better.


Then, discussions about first year music school and what goes down with music theory, ear training, chords, intervals, keys, and how jazz drummers must know piano... How this thing called "Rhythm Changes" has to to be internalized. Check it out on Wiki, very cool. Mind again started to blow. Learned how important piano (or another melodic instrument) is to a drummer and how I should split up time over the summer 70/30 or more on learning piano. Rented an electric piano, got a great book called  'The Jazz Piano Book' by Mark Levine  and started practicing. I also downloaded 'Rhythm Changes in all Keys' by Jamie Abersold and am in the process of "burning those chord changes into my brain" as advised.


And yeah, I go listen to live jazz at least once a week. I've seen some great drummers so far, Anthony Michelli, Jeff Halischuk, Adam Nussbaum, Terry Clarke - and Vito Rezza is coming up. One thing for sure, the Rex Hotel kicks serious ass. Bird Lives!