Tag Archives: Drummer

What Drummers Haven’t I Heard?

SKF NOTE: For a moment last week — a brief moment — I wondered, “Have I exhausted my lifelong study of drummers and drumming?” This was one of my rare “What drummers haven’t I heard?” moments. I was scanning 1973 … Continue reading

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Filling the Instrument with the Breath of Life

SKF NOTE: Here is a favorite universal description of the relationship of living musicians to their lifeless musical instruments. In James Baldwin‘s story, Sonny’s Blues, Mr. Baldwin’s character, Sonny, is an aspiring jazz pianist. Baldwin’s musician/instrument description is written through … Continue reading

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Harvey Mason on ‘Chameleon’

SKF NOTE: Listening to Chameleon by Herbie Hancock‘s Headhunters when the song was first released in 1973 was an experience today’s listeners missed. Cutting edge music in 1973, the best of Chameleon — the music, the sounds, the rhythm — … Continue reading

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Syncopation: What if You Can’t Hear It?

SKF NOTE: Robert Palmer was a writer I could always count on for insightful interviews with musicians. Mr. Palmer knew his subjects, asked great questions, and always — from where I stood — treated his interviews as peer-to-peer musician conversations. … Continue reading

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Clifford Brown: You’ve Got to Hear Things Before You Can Do Them

SKF NOTE: At some point, serious music students — jazz students, at least — will meet Clifford Brown. A brilliant trumpet player, the world is blessed to have Clifford Brown’s impressive recorded legacy to listen to. Clifford Brown was 26-years … Continue reading

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