[Dixielandjazz] The Greatest Music Lesson - was drums

[John Petters]

pj.ladd wrote:
> HI,
> It is nice to have my own rule reinforced.`Listen` has always been my 
> philosophy.
  Hi Pat
Absolutely correct - you must always listen.


> 
> I grrw up listening to th Big Bands. James, Miller, Dorsey etc., 
  Miller featured long drum solos with his band. Dorsey had both Krupa 
and Rich, who took solos - on sticks.

> I soon found however that I liked the brushes better than the sticks, 
> particularly after hearing Krupa`s `Wire Brush Stomp` and became 
> reasonably adept. I also found I could change the sound by switching 
> from wire brushes to nylon and by putting elasticbands round the 
> bristles to clump them together to get a solid `knock` without the 
> hardness of sticks.
Brushes are an important part of drumming - but avoiding the 'hardness' 
of sticks is a matter of control and I'm not sure why you would want to 
do it anyway.

The essence of jazz, whether New Orleans, Dixieland or Swing is that big 
beat. A big ingredient is the sound of the drums. From the earliest 
recordings of the wonderful Tony Sbarbaro on the ODJB sessions, that 
beat has been there, although you could be forgiven for thinking it 
isn't, because of the way the acoustic recordings on say, the Olivers 
and Beiderbeckes resticted the use of the kit.

Even early electric recordings deadened the drums or moved them so far 
away that an incorrect perception of how a jazz band sounded has 
coloured musicians and fans ears over the decades. How often have we 
read 'the drums were inobtrusive' in a review?

Compare the Victor studio recordings of the Goodman band to the Carnegie 
Hall concert and see what I mean.

Bill referred to Krupa as being an animal - a reasonable decription. 
Jazz is not polite music. The trouble with much of today's Dixieland is 
that it has become so polite it has thrown its core ingredient out.

Tentative drummers lighly tapping brushes or sticks on a top cymbal is 
no way to drive a dixieland band. It takes guts. If you don't believe 
me, dig out the Wild Bill Commodore recording of 'That's A Plenty' and 
hear how polite Wettling isn't.

> I always though that the drummer was there to support the rest of the 
> band and lay down a steady beat not to take the limelight..

Why? What is the precedent?

> 
> I was never a very good , `good` meaning flashy, drummer. I couldn`t do 
> a long solo  for nuts. I could mange a four bar break on the end of a 
> number and that was about it.
Why do you put yourself down. If you can manage a four bar break, you 
can manage a 32 bar solo - it takes a bit of technique - no more than 
you need for the break - and some ideas. If you have no ideas, pinch 
some from other people's solos and you will gradually find a sound of 
your own.

> BUT. I once, by accident, overheard my leader, a man of vast 
> professional experience reply to  another musician who had asked why I 
> always played with the band when there were many `better` drummers 
> around who would give their eye teeth for the chance. He said `I dont 
> like drummers, I would rather not have one at all but Pat is no trouble, 
> he always turns up for a gig, his playing never gets in the way, when he 
> plays the band swings, and he LISTENS to what everyone else is doing`
> Who says that eaves droppers never hear good of themselves. That really 
> made my day.
>
The ability to swing and good time are the main qualities you need as a 
drummer. I don't agree with the view of your bandleader. Saying he 
doesn't like drummers is as stupid as saying he doesn't like trombonists 
  or pianists and shows an ignorance of what jazz is really about.

> I also remember a visiting drummer of some reputation who sat in at one 
> gig. When the number ended the leader slowly turned round and said to 
> him. `Are you building a shed back there?`
  A fairly typical comment which may or may not be justified depending 
on what the drummer played.

BBC 4 ran an old Six-Five-Special from 1957 last night. It had the Chris 
Barber Band. The best thing about it was Ottilie Patterson's singing. I 
don't know who was on drums, but it missed the right sound by miles. The 
Deep River Boys came on and destroyed what had gone before, despite 
wooden accomaniment from the backing band.

I have also been listening to some Little Richard recordings today and 
they really swing and they are Rock'Roll records, yet they have more 
jazz and rhythm in them than anything heard on the show last night - bar 
the Deep River Boys.

The danger I see facing  musicians aqnd listeners to OKOM is that age 
dims the senses. We calm down. We compromise. We become bland. Allow 
that to creep into your music and you may as well give up.

Each gig should be a challenge to give a better performance. To improve 
your own playing. Not to accept you have got there. This applies to all 
instruments, but as drums are so physical, it doubly applies. Cozy Cole 
and Zutty ran out of steam. George Wettling to some degree coasted after 
the 40s. Krupa never gave up and even on the last recordings, when he 
was suffering from heart trouble and lukeamia, there was still the fire 
and the drive.
Keep swinging



John Petters
www.traditional-jazz.com
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ