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.

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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.

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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

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Shelly Manne: My Best Drum Solo (1974)

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Shelly Manne in 1974 names his “best” drum solo. An bit of history I saved from Harvey Siders’s column in the short-lived Different Drummer magazine.

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Harvey Siders: Of all the recordings you’ve made, which stands out in your mind as being your best, or most unusual, or your worst?

Shelly Manne: That’s easy. Un Poco Loco from the Swinging Sounds album on Contemporary. That’s definitely my best solo.

My first important solo was on the Kenton recording of Artistry in Percussion, but Un Poco Loco is my longest drum solo, my best, and in a sense really an invention. I’m particularly happy with the way it was constructed. It made sense in relation to what the rest of the guys were playing.”

Source: In-siders Groove, by Harvery Siders, Different Drummer, March 1974

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Tony Williams Blue Note Reissues Fill in My Library Gaps

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Scott K Fish

Every so often I look online to see if I can remove any albums on my When-Are-They-Going-To-Release-This-On-MP3? list. This week, I am happy to report I removed two Tony Williams Blue Note albums: Tokyo Live, and The Story of Neptune.

Paul T. Riddle gave me his Tokyo Live CD when it was first released in 1993. But Tokyo Live was unavailable very soon and for a long time. I mailed back Paul T.’s CD to cure his Tokyo Live withdrawal symptoms.

The Story of Neptune, released before Tokyo Live, is all new to me.

I long stopped writing album reviews (i.e. I like this, I don’t like that.) Listeners will make up their own minds. (See music samples below). I will say I find it interesting that with this band, Tony’s arrangements and drumming remind me very much of Art Blakey with the Jazz Messengers.

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Emily Dolan Davies: Remote Recording is Really a Great Thing

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Scott K Fish

emily_dolan_daviesSKF NOTE: Finding new ways to create music, to work with and learn from other musicians, and to earn a living through music — these are timeless traits of successful musicians and music industry pros. They love to experiment.

Take Emily Dolan Davies for example. When a Twitter update showed me Emily Dolan Davies “liked” my recent post about Willie Nelson’s drummer, Paul English — I wanted to write Emily a thank you. Jumping to her Twitter page for a way to contact Ms. Davies, I was intrigued by her “online drum recordings” business, and said so in my reply.

This morning, Emily’s answer arrived. Here, in part, is what she tells me about online drum recordings:

Yea the remote recording is a really great thing that I’m having so much fun with! The way it works is, anyone in the world that needs drums recorded on their track can email me over their song, I go away, record the drums in my studio and send back the stems or a stereo mix down for them to use. It’s been so fascinating and wonderful having conversations (verbal and musical) with people from all over the globe (Australia, South Africa, Sweden, America). I’ve been having a blast!

Gotta love it! Check out Emily’s web site for complete info on what she’s doing. I’m looking forward to seeing — and hearing — what happens next.

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