The Wonders of Drumming
Tarun Balani, Drummer and Artistic Director at Global Music Institute, New Delhi Mohit Kapil
01. Elvin Jones with Larry Young on Unity 02. Tony Williams with Miles Davis on Nefertiti 03. Art Taylor with John Coltrane on Giant Steps 04. Vernel Fornier with Ahmad Jamal on At the Pershing 05. Jack Dejohnette with Joe Henderson on Power to the People 06. Roy Haynes on We Three 07. Philly Joe on track Blues No. 2 with Miles Davis 08. Art Blakey on Free For Fall 09. Max Roach with Clifford Brown on Cherokee 10. Joe Chambers with Joe Henderson on A Shade of Jade
These are ten listening examples of some of my favorite drummers along with track names / album name and the artist. It’ s these very recordings that have had a profound impact on the development of my drumming and musicianship even today after 15 years of playing the drums. Each time I listen to them, there is something new to hear which inspires me to explore this music just a little bit more. Each of the drummers listed played a significant role in shaping the music for his bandleader or as a leader himself.
When I started out as a drummer, I didn’ t even know that there was a genre called“ jazz”. Later when I did start listening to a few jazz records, quite frankly I didn’ t really like it. It was during my first ever experience at a music school, a brief summer stint at Drummers
Collective in New York, in 2005, that I first really experienced this form of music. It was also by accident that I was placed into a Jazz elective course instead the Rock and Funk that I had applied for! Later during this trip was also my first ever-jazz concert at The Village Vanguard, where I heard the Roy Haynes quartet. I was absolutely blown away by the intensity of Haynes’ drumming and how he was leading his band so fearlessly. It was the raw energy, seamless improvisation and spontaneity, the acoustic instruments and the environment of the packed club that had me hooked. Peter Retzlaff, my teacher then at the Collective and later on Professor Ralph Peterson Jr. at Berklee College of Music introduced me to this style of playing without any books; we only listened to records and played along to them. Studying ear training and harmony along with other core music classes gave me a better understanding of form, melody, harmonic progressions and composition. It was just like solving a puzzle by analyzing, transcribing, imitating and emulating what the drummer was doing in relation to the composition, melody, harmony and the soloist. It was truly an amazing process to unravel the ever so mysterious questions that most young drummers have, which I certainly did as well, especially when it comes to this style i. e.,“ What do I play? What do I listen for?” and“ Should I follow the accompanying instruments or the soloist?”
I feel it is the over intellectualization of this form and style that makes it overwhelming and appear out of reach. I often find my students and young drummers struggling with and sometimes even avoiding the tradition and history of jazz drumming, and the impact it has had on modern drumming. So much of the modern drum set vocabulary and language is rooted in and derived from this very tradition. The drummers listed above, amongst many more greats, and many more modern drum heroes, you’ ll be surprised to find, share the same influences.
The Score Magazine
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