Gatekeepers and their opposites…...

How many of us have had a similar experience to Homer (from 0:43 - 0:53)? 

 ….In the late 80s, I auditioned for the Jazz program at the Banff School for the Arts. I wasn't very good, was supremely unconfident in my musical abilities and myself in general, and I really didn't know that much about Jazz or how to play it. Nonetheless, I played for Dave Holland in Montreal and he was kind enough to let me attend. I am still thankful for that. The drum prof in the program was a very well known player at the time, with MASSIVE amounts of technique, and I was super intimidated. Despite this, I learned a lot from him, but at the same time, he was very distant from the students. He also never let us forget that he was the voice of authority, and that we really didn't know anything. ( And thinking back on it, he was absolutely correct!) When his time at the school was up (it was a month long program, but most of the faculty were only there for part of the time) he said something to the effect of, "When I got here, you all really sucked, but now you suck a little less, and that's because of me!" 

That was my first experience with a gatekeeper.

I'm not actually putting down the gatekeepers, as I think they have important roles to play. The gatekeepers keep us humble, they help us to gain strength and resilience, and they help us to learn to believe in ourselves.

That said, for a young, mediocre drummer who was scared of his own shadow, it wasn't much fun! I desperately wanted this person to like me, to like my playing, to acknowledge me as one of "the cats". As someone who was the product of a broken marriage and who's father lived in a different city than me, I'm sure there were some "daddy issues" in there as well. So, in other words, I wanted this person who had just met me, didn't like my playing, probably thought I hadn't done any work to learn the drums or the music it was involved in; I wanted him to sooth my bruised, fragile ego, and self-image problems. That was an impossible task, believe me! 

But here's the thing. As soon as I stopped looking at others for approval, I was better able to follow my own path and really get to work. A great saying I heard in therapy circles is, "What you think of me is none of my business"! As long as we care about what gatekeepers think, we will always be in our own way. A lot of the "clubs" these people run that won't have you as a member have nothing to do with music. They will reject you because of the place you come from, your gender, your sexual preferences and identity, even your skin hue.(And please note I'm not accusing anyone in particular of this.)  Even when you're not barred from entry by these things it might be what gigs you play, what grip you use, the amount of flashy technique you do or don't have etc…..

So, by all means, learn everything you can from everyone. Just realize you're not going to be able to hang with all of them, and that's okay. From every report I've heard, Tony Williams was the ultimate gatekeeper.  Mr. Williams was and will continue to be a beacon of everything I love in drums and music, but we were never going to be bowling buddies or anything. :) I would also gently advise people to try and leave one's ego out of interactions with other musicians when you meet them. Case in point, I've heard the great Lewis Nash  live a few times in recent years, and I've told him how much I enjoy his wonderful playing. Since I wasn't taking a lesson, or playing a gig with him, it didn't matter if I told him whether I played drums, kazoo, or the radio! Me shoehorning that into the conversation would just be my ego, and therefore useless, so I didn't mention it.

So, as the waffle people say, Lego your ego!!!

Have fun and be good to yourselves.

More Slashing Flams and Dead Stroke ideas

 ….I really need to come up with catchier titles for some of these posts!

The first video is more ideas based on using my RH to hit 2 surfaces almost simultaneously with sort of a scooping/slashing motion, in 2 very contrasting beats. I also think this camera angle helps you see it better….

Next, is an idea using 2:3 clave LF/Tumbao RF with a two hands on h.h. with some of the LH on snare as dead strokes….

Okay, full disclosure. I'm not sure how many people actually see these, much less work on them , but I also am posting them as sort of a diary and reminder of things I've worked on…. Regardless, love the music and yourselves, ALWAYS! 

Triple Stroke Groove

Inspiration is such a cool thing. If one is open to ideas, and work with them, they lead to more ideas, and at times it seems endless what we can discover. (Note I said at times. Ha!)

Anyway, I was watching a cool IG post Dan Weiss had done about alternating Ruffs and Swiss triplets and then stumbled on to this sticking in triplets, accenting each downbeat….

RLL LRR RLL LRR

After playing for a minute I realized I was doing the triple stroke roll. This was an idea I worked on a lot when I first went to university in the Precambrian era, but haven't spent much time on it lately. It's super fun to voice on the instrument in different ways like RH cymbal/LH snare, a hand on each tom, or this, which is RH hi-hat/LH snare. First I'm playing quarters with the bass drum and then I'm playing Jazz (displaced by an 8th triplet) quarter note triplets with both feet, which creates a fun open and closed thing with the hats. :) Have fun.

Also, Happy Valentine's Day. Next year I'll come up with a beat that's more romantic! :) 

Jimmy Cobb brush idea

Certain players create endless rivers of ideas flowing past us every time we hear them. One of those is definitely Jimmy Cobb, so I lifted this little brush idea from him…..

It's nice to know we can still learn from master musicians, even after they have left the physical realm.

Once again, thank you Mr. Cobb.

Don't give up your sound…FOR ANYONE!!!!

As someone who generally plays Jazz, I play for small audiences in small venues (COVID lockdowns notwithstanding). One great part of this is that I am rarely mic'd, so the drums are exactly as one would hear them acoustically in the room. So, generally I have been able to do my own "mix" with very little sound reinforcement. I think this is an important skill to learn that perhaps people that only learn and play on electronic drums or only play through a sound system miss. The relationships between the volume of your cymbals and drums, the amount they ring etc. are YOUR CHOICE, and good sound engineers will understand this. Occasionally when playing a festival, I may get an individual doing sound that maybe hasn't heard a lot of the type of music I play, and in that case, diplomacy and positive communication are the key. (Unfortunately, I didn't have many of these chops when I was younger.)

Quick example, I was working at a  Jazz festival once, and the house sound reinforcement people were generally people that only understood doing sound for big Rock shows, and the results weren't that good, .This was true from both the listener's and performer's perspective. During this festival I got to see Brad Mehldau's wonderful trio with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy, and even though they were still dealing with the same sound people as everyone else, they sounded fantastic! Now, one factor is that they are all magnificent players, but another is that they played super quietly! There were lots of dynamics, but at a much lower level than most bands. When you play like that, the sound people aren't getting a ton of signal in their mics,  so it's very difficult for them to manipulate the tones they're getting, and all they can do is make them louder. :) A great lesson.

Okay, maybe this was a rant, but I'd call it a mini-rant! Work on your sound and I'll see you soon! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHIL COLLINS!

The FORM guys, the Form!

 The year was 1983. I was a (self-appointed) hot shot going to St. FX U in Nova Scotia, and I was attending a summer Jazz camp. Many great guest artists were there to teach, but none more anticipated than Saxophone master David Liebman. Now, to be honest, I didn't know Liebman's music super well at this point, just that he had played with Miles and Elvin and was seen as someone who was on the cutting edge of the music.

He was there for several days, giving a great concert with the faculty which concluded with Naima on solo piano! Heady stuff. He also played for the drummers and sounded like Elvin, but even looser, if such a thing is possible!

Well, it was with all this in my head that I found myself playing "Confirmation" with him at a jam. I'm not sure who else was playing but my very good friend and long time musical collaborator Mike Downes was on bass. I don't think I'm telling stories out of school to name Mike on this, as we have spoken of the experience since and he has helped me recall some of the details. 

So, anyway, we're playing, and for me I'm sure I was worried about being impressive and hip, and probably not listening very well. But even with my "green ears" I noticed that we were playing a lot of A sections in a row for an AABA tune. So, after the tune ended, Liebman looked at us, and in his classic NY style said this…..

And, Mike and I both hung our heads in shame and thought, "The Form".

But a cool thing happened, Mike and I both started take much more responsibility for song form and developed our strength and awareness of it. To this day, Mike's ability to concentrate and navigate song forms is second to none, and I would like to think that i have developed a similar skill set.

So, thanks so much Dave. I have been lucky to have performed with him a handful of times since, and I believe I've been a lot better equipped to contribute to the music. So folks, don't fret if you have a slightly embarrassing situation with a musician with more experience than you. It's the way you'll learn! :)