First things first - grab your transcription here.
A few years ago I made a video called something like Six Crucial Jazz Solo Idioms From The Greats. In it, I chronicled some of my favorite “block and tackle” jazz licks. The type of stuff that if you play, people know you’re playing jazz drums.
The Philly Joe stuff. The Max stuff.
In subsequent years I actually coached a handful of jazz drum students, and realized what a monumental jump I’d be asking them to make if I simply handed them some transcriptions of famous licks of great players and expected them to come out in their playing.
To begin, we’re far-worse-equipped to synthesize other people’s vocabulary into our own than I think most novice drummers realize. But it’s basically memorizing a sentence in a foreign language. Sure, you can say it, but are you reeeeally speaking it?
But even proto that, I hadn’t realized that simply playing swung 8ths - let alone with the hats on “2” and “4”, is a complex task, even for a drummer who can play basic vocab in so-called “straight 8ths”.
So in this video, I set out to right my wrong. I want to supply all the missing “connective tissue” that will help you synthesize the licks of the greats, not just memorize them. The swing feel, the coordination.
Then, some basic vocabulary to “flow” in swung 8ths, into which we can then insert Philly Joe or Max licks. And that very act of joining them to the existing flow helps to synthesize them.
If you’ve ever wanted an overview of how you might go from total novice to sounding pretty good at jazz drum improvisation, this lesson is for you.
Hope you enjoy!