A Perennial Groove with an Enlightened Perception For those of you who’ve never heard the coveted half-time shuffle, which is also commonly referred to as the Purdie shuffle, I’d encourage you to check out the timeless tracks “Babylon Sisters” and “Home at Last” by Steely Dan (with Bernard Purdie on drums), “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin (with John Bonham), and “Rosanna” by Toto (with Jeff Porcaro) to hear the incredible groove played by some of the best drummers who’ve tackled it. Dennis Chambers played a very slick variation of that groove on the song “Mother Tongues” on John McLaughlin’s album The Heart of Things: Live in Paris, which documents two 1998 performances. Chambers plays the groove in 5/4, which makes it sound quite different and fresh. Essentially, he adds one beat to the common 4/4 pattern. Exercise 1 demonstrates Chambers’ main groove. Filling in the Triplets I decided […]

October 2019 Issue