In my post about Smalls Jazz Club, I raved about seeing Marvin “Bugalu” Smith play drums with Teodross Avery. I’m still obsessed with his playing.
They have a new duo album out that is highly recommended. You can get it through Teodross’ online shop.
Here’s a video that was just posted of the two of them in the studio that I couldn’t resist sharing here.
While I still practice with a metronome every day, I like to mix it up, especially when practicing jazz independence and sticking exercises. Lately I’ve been using Meet the Bass Player by Allan Cox. It’s a staple of my practice routine.
This playalong is simple, just bass and rhythm guitar that doesn’t get in the way.
There are a good range of tempos from slow to fast that make it usable whether I’m working on something for the first time or trying to push myself.
I’m currently working a lot on feathering the bass drum (with a strong hi-hat on 2 & 4 and a standard cymbal beat). Meet the Bass Player has been invaluable.
I end each practice session by focusing on my feathering technique with the bass tracks at 180bpm, 220bpm, 260bpm and 300bpm. Just two weeks ago my max was 260bpm, so I’m encouraged.
Here’s a detail of the tracks and tempos:
The other thing this jazz bassline playalong is great for is when working on brush patterns. Having a clean bass line to focus on really helps to hear the brush rhythms and highlights any weaknesses that may need to be worked on.
This is very easy to recommend and a great value at around $10.
The Engine Room: The History of Jazz Drumming is a fantastic 4 CD box set released by Proper Records that covers the eras “from Storyville to 52nd Street” and includes 95 tracks recorded between 1923 and 1948.
I’m always surprised when I meet a jazz drummer who doesn’t know about this set of discs, so I decided it’s time to write a quick post about it.
I first heard about this set during an interview with Kenny Washington on the Drummer’s Resource Podcast (a fantastic interview worth checking out). Kenny mentioned that Engine Room is out of print, so I got obsessed with finding a copy. Luckily, it’s still pretty easy to find, though the price of used copies can vary a bit. I’ve purchased a couple of copies off of Amazon and I’ve seen them range from $30 to $200, though I paid about $50 for each of my copies.
The booklet included with the set is around 50 pages and includes wonderful liner notes by Joop Visser. This alone makes it worth finding a physical copy.
The eras represented:
Disc 1: New Orleans & Chicago styles
Disc 2: Swing
Disc 3: Big Band
Disc 4: Modernism
It’s worth noting that there are two different versions of the packaging. The differences are trivial, but here’s a list if you’re curious:
Finally, here are some photos of the two sets:
