STORY TIME w/ ?uestlove

Chris Dave - Medley (Pt. 2)

i'm sharing this just in case
there is still a drummer out there who has not seen this.

mulgrew miller on playing with art blakey & tony williams

i got to see mulgrew @ the upstairs jazz club in montréal
as well as a masterclass @ mcgill
he passed away shortly afte
big bless to you mulgrew

michael jackson making beats & dancing

a mentor of mine, trumpeter charles ellison
would share this quote with drummers
"a dancer, drums standing up &
a drummer, dances sitting down"

he would also say
"evevery musician is a drummer, a singer & a dancer"

GINGER BAKER, do you think nirvana is the new cream?

this just made cry.

eroll garner likes 'em soft…(or no drummer at all)

drummer offences (drummer joke)

these are from my first mentor, Lorne Kelly

the first choice for led zeppelin? not bonham.

"B.J. Wilson? there was nobody to touch him" - jimmy page

brian blade tribute to johnny vidacovich

"go to see Johnny V 
lay it down and lift me up 
you're the guardian of the flame 
you're the fire inside, 
my burning desire 
you're the beat in the ground 
that takes me downtown"
lyrics by brian blade from "second home" - mama rosa (2008)

photo by douglas mason

feathering too loud

having a discussion on feathering the bass drum
a teach of mine said "max roach feathers too loud"
here is where my imagination went;

what keith richards look for in a drummer

silence in your canvas - keith richards

george shearing on drummers

it takes
a really good drummer
to be better then
no drummer at all - george shearing 

questlove's advice for bands

idris muhammad (aka leo morris)

when he was 16, he played drums on
fats domino's bigguest hit
blueberry hill.

idris muhammad
November 13, 1939 - July 29, 2014

photo credits john ballon

jim keltner is makin' levon helm FEELIN' IT!

levon helm is best known as the drummer from the band.
in the video below he plays the mandolin with 
his group accompanied by one of his favourite drummer
jim keltner.

In his book "This Wheel's On Fire"
levon recalls magazine revues of The Band's glory days.
"for me, the killer was published by rolling stone magazine", he writes.
"Levon Helm, is the only drummer that can make you cry" (-Jim Carroll) 
he then adds "today, when i hear Jim Keltner or Steve Jordan play the drums,
i'm the one doing the crying." p. 202

levon fought throat cancer for the last fifteen years of his life
he was once told by a doctor that he would never speak again,
he did & took home 3 consecutive grammys for solo albums of which he sang lead vocals.
look at him go.

CHARLES MINGUS drum lesson

dannie richmond shares his first drum lesson, from charles mingus



excerpt from Charles Mingus Triumph of the Underdog by Don McGlynn 1998

how to know if your really good?

you knew how good you were
not by how many gigs you got,
but by how many gigs
you turned down. -hal blaine

"The Wrecking Crew Documentary" 2008 by Denny Tedesco

make it swing, whatever you do (or say)

buddy rich NEVER, did not swing,
feel the pocket of his speech.



Taken from the 1977 documentary series "All You Need is Love"
charting the history of popular music.

radically traditional (grip)

two radical opinion 

on traditional grip's

superiority.

i.

"you don hold a baby like this (match grip),

you hold a baby like this (trad grip)" 

- buddy rich (unsourced for now)

ii.

"not to play traditional grip for a drummer,

is the same for a pianist to never play a black note"

- tony williams (Drum Clinic 1985 Zildjian day)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x5bAyLvzoE 

jack (white) crash choke

art blakey crash cymbal zealot

the switch! - video

big sid catlett & papa jo jones
from Jammin' the Blues (1944)
short film by Gjon Mili

ygritte & jon snow - drum lesson

solvitur ambulando

"it is solved by walking" - latin proverb

from Game Of Thrones - "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" 

Season 03, Episode 07, 2013

Questlove geeking out on the jimmy fallon show

hip hop band the Roots (feat. questlove on drums)

are the house band on the jimmy fallon show.

the Roots' musical prowess is showcased 

in many shape and form on the late night show.

in this segment of the program,

The Roots are asked to freestyle music & lyrics

in the spirit of The Rolling Stones.

as they generate a mid-sixties stones knock-off,

questlove refines the parody by executing

charlie watts signature (and trivial) technic of

subtracting the hi-hat with the right hand, 

when he hits the snare with the left hand,

instead of playing both simultaneously.

notation

questlove doing charlie watts parody (slowmo)

johnny V, Stanton & MONEY

legitimate field

subtle racism (?)

in the form of music discrimination 

in the 1963 (renewed) publishing of
Louis Bellson's Modern Reading Text in 4/4
the following text, in the preface of the book is
suggesting that white western music be proper & sophisticated
and jazz to be vernacular and simple.

thelonious monk's advice

hand written advice from jazz pianist thelonious monk.
every musician can learn something here.
in the red boxes are things mostly concerning
the drummers (except for the first box)

the switch!

big sid catlett & papa jo jones
from Jammin' the Blues (1944)
short film by Gjon Mili

trapping yourself to be a great drummer

i decided to get full sleeve tattoos so that
i wouldn't be able to get a 9-5 job and then
i wouldn't have a choice to become a great drummer.
- travis barker (my paraphrasing)

https://www.facebook.com/travisbarkerofficial

jojo the illusionist

courtesy of Ariel Latingua

conjuring & magic

i started studying conjuring & magic,
as well as i started drumming and at some point,
i discovered a lot of similarities.  - jojo mayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1jvseiWiw4

some say

some say "solid time feel, is a gift"
some say "you either have it, or you don't"
i say "i can't hear it anymore, let us prove them wrong."
look, if it is a gift, if you have it or you don't, well honestly
i didn't have it.    -benny greb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8nDObAoK7eI
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bennygreb

stick drop... on tape

whenever i record, i spin my sticks
just like when i play onstage.
this used to drive bob ezrin and
studio engineer brian christian crazy.
On session, it finaly happened….
i was spinning my drumstick,
and it flew out of my hand and landed right
on the shell of the bass drum and trickled down
through the hardware to the floor.
you can hear it in this song. 

- neal smith (on alice cooper's "Be My Lover")

sometimes a good take is a good take.

the real "i'm" in, "da ya think i'm sexy?"

"Carmine Appice set the foundation for heavy drumming ... before Bonham,
before Ian Paice... before anyone else." - Rick Van Horn, 1999 Modern
Drummer magazine.

that guy, co-wrote
"da ya think i'm sexy ?"
by rod stewart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Ya_Think_I'm_Sexy%3F