Hope everyone is having a good 2026 so far. In case you missed it, I put out a new podcast episode with Charles Goold a couple of weeks ago. Fun conversation.
Marcus Gilmore streaming tonight
If you see this on January 16, 2026 be sure to check out the livestream from Smoke Jazz Club tonight. Marcus Gilmore is playing with Brad Mehldau! I can hardly wait.
Get your streaming tickets here.
Billy Hart book: Jazz Drumming
I still can’t believe that I didn’t know about this book until reading about it in Billy’s autobiography. Just got it the other day and it’s great.
This book and CD set includes transcriptions of Billy Hart’s playing on 6 tunes with supportive commentary on each performance. The recording features two mixes of each composition, one mix for listening and one play-along track without drums. Sidemen include John Abercrombie (guitar), Richie Beirach or Bill Dobbins (piano), Jimmy Knepper (trombone), David Liebman (soprano & tenor saxophone), Ron McClure or Rufus Reid (bass), Louis Smith (flügelhorn), and Bobby Watson (alto saxophone).
Ari Hoenig on playing with records
I’ve been meaning to share this video of Ari talking about how to approach playing with records. I really like his idea about listening for a chorus, playing for a chorus, etc.
Frankie Dunlop on Hackensack
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been transcribing (by ear) and working on Frankie Dunlop’s solo on Hackensack from Monk’s live Tokyo recording.
I’ve loved Frankie’s playing for a long time but this is the first time I’ve worked any of it out. Even though I’m only 20 bars in, working on phrases at this medium-slow tempo is already helping my playing.
His solo starts around the 8:53 mark.
Have a good weekend.
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