Journal #10 – Billy Drummond, Doug Hammond, Bill Stewart, Kenny Washington

I’ve been working on scheduling guests for the podcast and should have a new episode out around the end of September if all goes as planned.

Here are a few things I’ve been enjoying over the last couple of weeks.

Billy Drummond is on Instagram!

Billy Drummond is finally on Instagram. There’s a great video of him playing in his basement to an audience of legends that you should go check out. I still pinch myself that I got to interview him way back on episode 3 of the podcast.

https://www.instagram.com/billydrummonddrums/

Doug Hammond – Spaces

This is my first real exposure to Doug Hammond and it feels like a whole new world has been unlocked. My friend and mentor, drummer Phil Hey, had me check out Spaces from 1982 as an introduction to Doug. It’s just great and features a trio with Steve Coleman on alto and Muneer Abdul Fataah on cello, plus Byard Lancaster and Kirk Lightsey.

I’ve had it on repeat all week and was excited to find a documentary and a couple of drum books he’s written, so a full post is coming once I’ve had time to digest some of it. His playing, writing, and life are all very inspiring!

It’s also on Bandcamp: https://doughammond.bandcamp.com/album/spaces

Bill Stewart with Gilad Hekselman and Ben Street

Here’s a great new clip of Bill Stewart playing “Evidence,” posted a couple of weeks ago on YouTube. It’s a direct shot of Bill the whole time, and the soloing is amazing, as always.

A Young Kenny Washington!

From The Jazz Life series, filmed at the Vanguard: Johnny Griffin with Ronnie Mathews, Ray Drummond, and a very young Kenny Washington on drums—he was in his early twenties! This is so fun to watch and it’s awesome to see Kenny as a young man.

Have a great weekend.

Journal #9 – Kweku Sumbry, Philly Joe, Tain, Chop Busters

Florence, Italy

It’s been a lot longer than I planned on between journal entries. The summer has flown by, partially thanks to an incredible trip to Italy.

I’m working on some new podcast episodes and am planning to be back here posting at least once every couple of weeks.

Here are some things from the last few weeks.

Ron Fink – Chop Busters

I got this recently and honestly can’t remember where I heard about it. It’s a snare book of individual technique exercises and it’s become my morning warm-up this summer. Very fun and just challenging enough.

Ron Fink Chop Busters

Chop Busters at Steve Weiss Music

New Philly Joe Jones videos!

Billy Drummond shared these two recently and they’re incredible. It’s always great to see new footage of him.

The Pace Report – Jeff “Tain” Watts

The Pace Report has been showing up in my YouTube feed lately. Brian Pace has been doing these interviews out of Harlem for years and there’s a deep archive there. This new one with Tain is great.

Kweku Sumbry

Kweku has quickly become one of my favorite drummers. I mostly know him through his work with Immanuel Wilkins (check out the live albums from the Village Vanguard), but here’s a concert he played with Charles Lloyd. There are two incredibly musical drum solos. The first is at 47:26 and the second at 67:57.

Bonus: Go-Go

I’ve been going down a go-go rabbit hole lately and this video is mesmerizing. I first heard about go-go from some D.C. drummers when I was at Berklee in the 90s.

Have a great weekend.

Journal #8

I’m editing another podcast episode that I’ll put out in the next week or so and have a few more interviews lined up. In the meantime, here are a few things to check out.

JK Kim Online Course!

I’m a BIG fan of JK Kim and couldn’t believe it when this course preview popped up in my feed. It’s not expensive and the content is excellent. Highly recommended!

You can get it here: https://www.noweatmusic.com/p/jkkim

John Scofield Trio at DC Jazzfest 2025

Here’s a video that recently appeared on YouTube that features the great Bill Stewart on drums.

Tyshawn Sorey Live in Germany

Kweku Sumbry with Immanuel Wilkins

Check out my Instagram for a couple of videos I put up of Kweku Sumbry from a few weeks ago. Such an incredible drummer.

Have a great week.