One of the most influential albums in Herbie Hancock’s career to date is Headhunters. I didn’t find this one until a few years ago. I was into Herbie’s more traditionally oriented jazz records, but this CD is full of deep down, gritty funk. Harvey Mason is masterful on the kit. Great percussion from [...]
What do you get when you morph Dennis Chambers with a twelve year old? Check out Tony Royster Jr. ripping it up at a drum festival. That’s what you get. It is almost unbelievable. He dedicates his performance to the great Tony Williams by throwing in a few Tony Williams signature tom/snare combinations to [...]
Want to learn funk licks from the masters? This is the DVD. Clyde Stubblefield and John “Jab’o” Starks… period! That’s all you need to say. Clyde and Jab’o take you through the funkiest of James Brown’s most sampled grooves… “Funky Drummer”, “I Got the Feelin’”, “Mother Popcorn” and the list goes on. [...]
One of the most inspirational DVDs I have come across is definately Steve Jordan’s ‘The Groove is Here’. Set in New York City, it documents Steve’s thoughts on groove, timing, and playing music. There are excellent in-studio performances with Danny Kortchmar and Bernie Worrell, plus interviews with Steve and friends he has worked with. [...]
Although I mostly use and endorse Yamaha Drums and Grover Pro Drums, I recently picked up a silver sparkle Drum Workshop Mini Pro kit. I think it was intended to be a kid’s drum set, but when I heard it in the shop I was blown away. Out of the box… 16″ kick, 12″ [...]
What can I say about Sly & the Family Stone but ‘Fresh’! It’s a funk masterpiece. Though Larry Graham and Greg Errico are not on this one… Andy Newmark is. And, he is masterfully funky. The grooves have a loose, street feel but are pretty sharp in their execution. The opening track, [...]
Happy New Year… hope you are all doing well. I figured I would start things off with a slamming band called Lettuce. The drummer is from NYC… Adam Deitch. He is probably one of the nastiest drummers out there. You may know Adam from his stints with Average White Band or John [...]
