July 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 7
Articles in July 2020
Aaron Spears
After bursting onto the scene with pop/R&B superstar Usher during the artist’s Truth tour in 2004, Washington, D.C. native Aaron Spears has earned the admiration and respect of his peers and fans with a drumming style that is often described…
When in Doubt…
I have no idea why, but as I sat here staring at a blank Word document, contemplating which angle to take for this month’s overview, the title of progressive drumming great Bill Bruford’s out-of-print transcription book, When in Doubt, Roll!,…
Gerry Gibbs
His recent performance video may be untitled, but from a drummer’s standpoint, it’s saying a lot. Gerry Gibbs pays the bills playing various forms of jazz, and has swung his proverbial behind off with Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and other…
Dirk Verbeuren
An In-Depth Look at Extreme Metal’s Master Blaster In addition to his superhuman speed and power, Dirk Verbeuren has brought a wide spectrum of influences into extreme metal. He has expert execution of rudiments, as well as unique rhythmic phrasing,…
Liberty One Mount-All Rack
A simple, modular option for creating compact, custom auxiliary percussion stations. Liberty One is the in-house brand of top percussion retailer Steve Weiss that was created to provide quality products at affordable price points for students and professional drummers and…
Bill Lordan’s From the Basement to the Coliseum
Those of us drummers who were raised during the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s and who came up locally playing in multiple bands at a time were dubbed “journeymen.” We’d play with rock, funk, and blues bands, country singers, jazz players—and…
Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center
Wheaton, Maryland Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center has been in business longer than drum department manager Darren Zentek has been alive—this year marks the store’s sixty-second. Levin’s was initially located in the District proper, before moving just north of the…
Critique
RECORDINGS Photo by Rahav Segev Dayna Stephens Trio Liberty The leader/tenor saxophonist, bassist Ben Street, and MVP jazz drummer ERIC HARLAND succeed brilliantly in a challenging chord-less format. Eric Harland is frequently praised for his inventive orchestrations and interplay, among…
Neil Peart
“La Villa Strangiato” from Hemispheres We transcribed a ton of classic Neil Peart parts in our May 2020 tribute issue to Rush’s legendary drummer. One song we left out, however, was the instrumental tour de force “La Villa Strangiato” from…
Displaced Paradiddles
A Progressive, Grid-Based Approach to Developing Modern Licks from an Ancient Rudiment One of the most common ways to practice displacing rhythms so that they start on different partials of the beat is by applying them to the grid, which…
Kikagaku Moyo’s Go Kurosawa
The drummer and vocalist for the Japanese psychedelic band (rough translation: “geometric patterns”) is a modest person with an attitude towards music making that runs counter to the Japanese obsession with technique and “correct” playing. No matter—he’s getting the job…
Yussef Dayes
The U.K.-based drummer and producer is making a name for himself on the modern-jazz scene, and he’s fine being referred to as a jazz drummer. Just don’t box him in. Yussef Dayes’ father came from Jamaica to New York in…
Stick Technique Revisited
Part 1: Matched Grip Matched grip simply means that the hands hold the sticks in a mirror image of one another. There are important variations within matched grip, however, both in terms of the hand angles and fulcrums (pivot points)…
Making Simple Ideas Extraordinary
Modern Pop/R&B Great Aaron Spears on How to Milk the Most from Basic Quarter Notes “Drums are an extension of who you are,” says modern pop/R&B great Aaron Spears in a recent video lesson for DrumChannel.com. “The way you play…
Papa Jo Jones
The Father of Modern Jazz Drumming Papa Jo Jones was the epitome of swing, from his very early days with the Count Basie band in the ’30s until he passed away in 1985. His style, grace, and incredibly musical approach…
July Edition
TRX Cymbals CRX Rock II Series This new series includes a full range of medium-weight rides, hi-hats, crashes, crash-rides, and effects cymbals with a brilliant finish. They are available individually or in a box set composed of 14" hi-hats, a…
Lamb of God’s Art Cruz
Twenty-five years in, the iron-jawed Virginia metallers and their new drummer release their tenth, self-titled LP, a sonic exclamation point that poignantly and ferociously punctuates the present moment. In 2018, Art Cruz played his first shows with Lamb of God,…
Matt Chamberlain
I like the idea of being influenced by one thing while you’re playing something totally unrelated. Maybe on your drive to a session with a singer-songwriter, an N.W.A. song comes up on the radio and influences you to try some…
Ali Jackson Jr.: Groove du Jour
For ten-plus years he was the drummer for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the New York institution fronted by iconic trumpet player Wynton Marsalis. Recently he took the enormous well of experience he got from that gig and others,…
