Welcome to the second installment of articles based on my new book, Groove Freedom. I wrote this book for myself as much as I did for my students. There is nothing quite like the feeling of having one hundred percent freedom inside a particular groove. It’s a beautiful thing to know that it’s completely up to you to decide where the kick drum gets placed, where the accents show up, and what the overall feel should be. In the first lesson (June 2014), I recalled a situation where a music director wanted me to play Clyde Stubblefield’s famous groove from James Brown’s “Funky Drummer.” He didn’t want “Funky Drummer” note for note, though. Instead, he wanted a groove that was based on the tune and had a similar feel. The problem was that I knew only how to play Stubblefield’s pattern verbatim. I had never truly fellowshipped with the groove; […]

August 2014 Issue