Entries Tagged 'Drums' ↓

On a convenient whim, I took up my neighbor Roy’s offer to tag along with him and Mare up to the Rush gig at the Nokia Theatre last night. The Nokia’s a great place to see a show, and I figured the Rush/Nokia combination would be one I’d regret missing. I saw Tool there a few months ago.

Glad I did. Within about fifteen seconds of parting ways with Roy and Mare for the evening out in the Nokia courtyard, a guy who was upgrading to the box offered me a single ticket down in the thirteenth row on Alex’s side. Face value was $154.50. He took forty bucks with a smile and and a gracious knuckletap, wishing me a happy show. Score.

I got into Orchestra section and found my way down to a few empty seats in Row D, fourth row. The band opened with Limelight, and we were off. A few minutes later a couple enthusiastic dudes without tickets came rushing down, sneaking into Row D with me. They were standing there bouncing up and down, cheering the band on, particularly Neil Peart. It wasn’t entirely surprising to notice these two dudes were Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins.

Great show. The band went on at about 8PM, playing until 11:20 with an intermission. What I found inspiring was how you could tell that the reason these guys are touring right now is because of the simple reason that they want to jam. It was all for the love of the game, not out of obligation. They’re players. It’s who they are. It’s what they are. Playing is what they must do, even if they’re in their mid-fifties.

Rush. A drummer’s band. I ended up running into B-Load and Jerrence while I was in there, who each were on solo missions and stuck in Loge. With the help of Roy’s stub during the intermission, we all ended up down near the front. A couple good shots from B-Load. Click each for a larger version:

Three lame shots from my cell:

And speaking of Taylor Hawkins and Rush:

A short clip of Swiss drummer Jojo Mayer playing a typically steaming groove, followed by the same clip in slow motion. A clinic!

Jojo’s famous for his one-handed roll, which is arguably the fastest in the world.

Talking tubs and six-word memoirs with drummer Joel Taylor after the February 2nd jazz gig.

Danny Carey from Tool plays a bit of Lateralus and talks about his tasty custom kit from Paiste.

Source: Thomas Lang

Two different guys sent this to me this morning within a couple hours of each other. Wacky how fast things get around.

Groove on.

Tap that foot with a purpose! This convenient online metronome is a great way to channel that limb jittering habit into a useful practice session while you do other things on the droid.

Here’s a good program for your feet. Do each pattern for two minutes non-stop, for a twelve minute workout. Start slow; don’t continue if the notes aren’t tight.

1. RRLL RRLL RRLL RRLL
2. RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL
3. RRRR RRRR LLLL LLLL
4. RRRR RRRR RRRR LLLL LLLL LLLL
5. RRRR RRRR RRRR RRRR LLLL LLLL LLLL LLLL
6. RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL

Source: Thomas Lang

Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach has left us. He was 83.

Here’s a classic experimental piece he did in 1977, performing an improvisational drum solo over Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Jazz is a very democratic musical form. It comes out of a communal experience. We take our respective instruments and collectively create a thing of beauty.”
– Max Roach