Remembering Mickey Roker

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Scott K Fish
Photo by Rene Speur http://bit.ly/2hrWEo8

Photo by Rene Speur http://bit.ly/2hrWEo8

SKF NOTE: Modern jazz first clicked for me at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island while I was listening to Charles Mingus‘s group. Included in that group was a skinny, long-haired saxophonist named Bobby Jones.

It was impossible at that time to find a Mingus album in the United States with Bobby Jones on it. A few years later, when Cobblestone records came out with The Arrival of Bobby Jones, I grabbed, loved it, and listened to it over and over.

This album was also my introduction to Mickey Roker whose playing on Track 1, Side A — Thanks to Trane — was frightening. The tempo seemed impossibly fast. How could I, an aspiring professional drummer, ever hope to play that well?

And a few years later still I saw Dizzy Gillespie in concert in Iowa. There was Mickey Roker in the drum chair. A nice surprise. He played superb.

Mr. Roker remains a favorite. I cannot recall hearing him not play very, very well.

And, as I said, this tune is where Mickey Roker and I first said hello.

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Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Newly Released ’66 Vanguard Recordings

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Listening this morning for the first time to the track, Big Dipper, from the newly released Thad Jones/Mel Lewis CD, All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Village Vanguard Recordings, I am reminded of how great is this big band, and how great are the individual players. And I find myself missing Mel Lewis all over again.

https://soundcloud.com/detroitfreepress/big-dipper-alternate-take

Thank you to Doug Ramsey’s blog, Rifftides, for bringing this new CD to my attention. And also, for pointing out Mark Stryker’s essay on Thad Jones and the band.

No point in saying anything more. Just listen. What a great way to start the day.

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Enthusiastic Kids Might Actually Know Something

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Scott K Fish
dave-weckl-10_large

Dave Weckl

SKF NOTE: I think his name is Chris. He was a young guy who called me from time-to-time, at Modern Drummer, full of enthusiasm about a local upstate New York drummer he said we should interview Chris was the only person in the world I heard talk about this local drummer.

This drummer’s only claim to fame was, Chris liked him and, according to Chris, this local drummer studied with Gary Chester. Oh, and the drummer consistently wowed patrons at a local club.

Long story short: It was not long before this local drummer had landed a gig touring with Simon and Garfunkel. His name was Dave Weckl.

I did, indeed, interview Dave but no one else at MD thought he warranted a feature interview at the time. So my Dave Weckl feature interview was published in a much shortened version as a profile.

For me, Chris’s enthusiasm and persistent phone calls were a good lesson. Gold is where you find it. And he was aware of Dave Weckl’s talent before lots of people – including the full Modern Drummer staff.

If Chris reads this, it would be great hearing from him.

Somewhere I have my Dave Weckl feature interview transcript. When I find it I will post it here. It might be fun to revisit what he had to say on the cusp of well-deserved fame.

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Max Roach: What Changes is Rhythm

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Scott K Fish

582003_max_roach_db_intvSKF NOTE: Here is something Max Roach told me in the early 1980s. I, of course, already had a high appreciation for drummers’ contributions to music. But Max’s words kicked my appreciation up several steps.

I don’t have Max’s exact words in front of me, but these words are very, very close to Max’s exact words:

An A major chord is played the same in jazz as it is in classical music. The makeup of chords doesn’t change from one music style to another.

What changes, what distinguishes one style of music from another, is rhythm.

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Drums? Who Cares?

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Scott K Fish
scottkfish_drumsticks

Scott K Fish in the obligatory drummer with cigarette pose

SKF NOTE: I enjoy listening to people tell me about their life passions. Maybe it’s what they do for a living, or may maybe it’s what they do for a hobby. That doesn’t matter. If a person is passionate about a subject, I enjoy conversing with them about it. I learn something from them.

But I rarely find people curious about drummers and drumming. Sometimes people ask me about drummers and drumming, and when I answer them, I see the veil fall over their eyes. Or their eyes dart about, looking for someone else to talk to.

I’m not a boring person. That much I know. And for the longest time I assumed most people have no interest in drummers and drumming.

But this morning I’m thinking anew. Maybe I’m confronting this challenge: Figure out a way to frame the conversation so non-drummers will want to know more about the instrument and the people who play it.

Also, I’m thinking maybe my experience isn’t unique to drummers. Maybe piano players and guitar players, bass players and cellists — maybe their world is full of people who could not care less about their respective instruments.

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