Newly Released Photo: Jaimoe & Butch 1982

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Scott K Fish

820012_jaimo_butch_md_endorse_pic-copy

SKF NOTE: Allman Brothers drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks said yes to being part of my idea to tweak Modern Drummer magazine’s Who Reads Modern Drummer? in-house ads. Noted drummers were asked to provide MD a photo and their statement about MD. The magazine would combine the photo and statement into a full-page MD ad.

No arms were ever twisted. No special promises were ever made. We were grateful for the public thumbs-up from the professional drummers. And it’s safe to assume those drummers would not have worked with us if they didn’t think well of Modern Drummer.

In December 1982, Butch and Jaimo sent me this snapshot of the two of them holding an MD with Elvin Jones on the cover. The flip side of the snapshot has the photographer’s credit. The handwriting, I believe, is Jaimoe’s. I love the photo, but snapshots rarely reproduced well in the magazine. We used snapshots only when we had no other choice.

When I find Butch and Jaimoe’s actual Who Reads Modern Drummer? ad I’ll add it to this post. But I know we did not use this photo.

820012_jaimo_butch_md_endorse_pic_0001-copy

— end—

Posted in SKF Blog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Newly Released Photo: Jaimoe & Butch 1982

Why a Snare Drum & Sticks, Little Drummer Boy?

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: From a drummer’s perspective: Why do most recordings and performances of The Little Drummer Boy (aka A Carol of the Drum) assume that 2,000 years ago, the little boy who played drums for Jesus in the manger, used a pair of drumsticks and a snare drum?

— end —

Posted in Audio, SKF Blog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Why a Snare Drum & Sticks, Little Drummer Boy?

Revisiting Chris Smith’s Bio of Mel Lewis

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Scott K Fish

51fjnztzhnl-_sx331_bo1204203200_SKF NOTE: Mel Lewis biographer Chris Smith has some new to me photos and music he’s sharing on Jon McCaslin’s Four On The Floor blog. I especially like the 7-minute live, unrehearsed duet between Mel Lewis and tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer. Mel’s spoken intro alone is worth a listen.

Jon’s photo of Mel having a conversation with Gene Krupa is also excellent.

In revisiting Chris Smith’s Mel Lewis bio, The View from the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis, I notice he writes in the book’s Preface:

Several informative interviews with Mel have previously been published in Modern Drummer, Crescendo, and DownBeat magazines. He also did a series of three lengthy interviews with Bob Rusch for Cadence magazine in 1989. These interviews are now out of print….”

I wanted Mel Lewis and Chris Smith fans to know my 1978 Modern Drummer Mel Lewis interview, referenced in Mr. Smith’s book, is available for reading right here on Life Beyond the Cymbals.

—end—

Posted in SKF Blog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Revisiting Chris Smith’s Bio of Mel Lewis

Frankie Dunlop: Monk’s Lesson on Slow vs Fast Playing

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: One of my favorite parts of my interviews with the great drummer Frankie Dunlop. Now, for the first time, listeners can hear Frankie describe his lesson from Thelonious Monk on playing fast vs playing slow — including Frankie’s great imitation of Monk’s voice. My Modern Drummer Frankie Dunlop feature has an edited version of this story, which is quoted in the book, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, by Robin D. G. Kelley.

Dunlop’s seven-part is available on this blog in its entirety. Here’s Part 1 of 7 segments.

Posted in Audio, SKF Blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Buddy Rich Gets Face Bashed In (1940)

Posted on November 24, 2016 by Scott K Fish

rich_buddy_1940SKF NOTE: Down Beat editors published in their July 15, 1976 issue, A Collection of Lunacy, Prophecy, Controversy, and Commentary From 42 Years of the Contemporary Music Magazine. Forty years ago, when I was starting my career as a music writer, DB‘s special “scrapbook,” loaded with jazz factoids otherwise unavailable, was a treasured resource. It’s still fun reading.

The pros-and-cons of Buddy Rich‘s personality, as far as I can remember, have always drifted in-and-out of discussions about the great drummer. DB‘s 1940 Buddy Rich news item precedes my birth by more than a decade.

=====

Buddy Rich Gets Face Bashed In
September 1, 1940

New York – Buddy Rich’s face looked as if it had been smashed in with a shovel last week as Buddy sat behind the drums in the Tom (sic) Dorsey band at the Astor Hotel. No one was real sure what happened, except that Buddy had met up with someone who could use his dukes better than Rich.

Members of the band — several of them apparently “tickled” about the whole thing — say that Buddy “went out and asked for it.”

It is no secret among musicians that Rich’s behavior at times has been open to criticism. Only a few weeks back Frank Sinatra, Tommy’s vocalist, belted Buddy around as if he were a punching bag. Sinatra is smaller than Rich. It was not Frank who gave Buddy his latest beating, however.

Source: Down Beat IN REVIEW, Down Beat, July 15, 1976
Photo credit for Buddy Rich with Tommy Dorsey

— end —

Posted in SKF Blog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Buddy Rich Gets Face Bashed In (1940)