April 2014 Issue – Volume 39 • Number 4

Ronald Shannon Jackson

Photo by Bob Shamis “As you know, this is only about having fun,” Ronald Shannon Jackson told the audience in his warm Texas drawl at the 1991 Skopje Jazz Festival, a performance archived on YouTube. “We’re here to have a…

Sandy Gennaro

For decades the journeyman drummer has had one rock ’n’ roll adventure after another, from Cyndi Lauper to Joan Jett to Pat Travers to Johnny Winter to the Monkees. Now he’s ready for another challenge—bringing his famous New York swagger…

Stella Mozgawa

Her thoughtful yet exuberant playing with Flea, Kurt Vile, Tom Jones, and especially L.A.’s dreamy groovers Warpaint reveals a sophisticated attitude toward songcraft—and an ability to just plain rip. Even without knowing whether Stella Mozgawa is a fan of the…

Travis Orbin

The tech-metal phenom has made tsunami-like waves on YouTube and continues to lay down mind-bending tracks for artists the world over. Now, with the extreme-metal goliath Darkest Hour's upcoming album, his artful drum science is about to blow away anyone…

Drums Don't Lie

Photo by Kirby Campbell The former Kyuss and Fu Manchu drummer, who’s currently with Vista Chino, tells it like it is, was, and always will be.   Drummers have to understand the sound the way a surfer has to understand…

A 5-Step Workout for Building Coordination Over a Pulse

Complete independence is something that we all strive for, but it can be very confusing and frustrating to practice. This workout/challenge will focus on what I would consider to be “practical independence.” In other words, it’s designed to build the…

April 2014 Issue – Volume 39 • Number 4

Rhythm And Timing Part 2: Two-Note 16th Groupings

This month we’re going to focus on the six different two-note 16th-note groupings. We’ll begin with “1-e,” and then we’ll move it to “e-&,” then “&-a,” and finally “1-a.” After those first four variations, we’ll do a separate exercise for…