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.

Billy Drummond

Happy birthday to the great Billy Drummond! Anyone who has listened to my podcast knows that I am a huge fan. I’ve been fortunate to see him play many times.

Here’s a link to my interview with Billy Drummond, which is available just about anywhere that you find podcasts. Below are some of my favorite videos of him. There are a lot more to explore on YouTube!

Happy birthday, Billy!

Continue reading “Billy Drummond”

Podcast S1 E3 – Billy Drummond

This episode is available in most places that you listen to podcasts.

Season 1 Episode 3 Billy Drummond Practicing Drummer Podcast

Recorded April 2023

Podcast interview with drummer Billy Drummond.

Billy Drummond is a jazz drummer based out of New York who has played with Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, J J Johnson, Sonny Rollins, and countless others. He’s also a great band leader with several wonderful records  under his own name. His most recent album as a leader, Valse Sinistre,  was a Downbeat Best Album of 2022.

Links:

Other podcast interviews with Billy Drummond:

After the interview Billy sent over a video of albums he’s been listening to recently. Here’s the list.

The song featured in this episode is Frankenstein by Billy Drummond & Freedom of Ideas from the album Valse Sinistre.

The drum intro is from Charles Ruggiero’s Loop Loft sample pack.