The first video I want to share is a one hour interview with Max Roach. It’s full of gold. He not only plays drums and piano, he also shares stories dating back to his days playing in parades as part of his church band.
1. Drum Solo N°1 2. Basics- Gadgets – Effects 3. Rudiments – Drum Roll, Flams, Single Stroke 4. Rim Shots – Tom Tom 5. Drummers That I Met – Baby Dodds 6. Josh 7. Unnamed Drummer From St Louis 8. A.G. Godley – Alvin Burroughs – Gene Krupa 9. Sid Catlett 10. Unnamed And Unplaced Drummer Walter Johnson 11. Sonny Greer 12. Billy Gladstone Manzy Campbell 13. Chick Webb 14. Baby Lovett 15. Dancers That I Met 16. Pete Nugent 17. Eddie Rector 18. Baby Laurence 19. Bill – Bojangles – Robinson 20. Colours 21. Drums Solo N°2 22. Sweet Sue By Willie The Lion Smith And Jo Jones
This item sometimes comes up used online and Amazon has a listing that I’ve been keeping my eye on.
Update: It appears that this is available again on CD as an import. Find it on Amazon.
I’ve been lucky to visit New Orleans a few times over the last year and since it’s Mardi Gras tomorrow, I wanted to give some love to Johnny Vidacovich.
Johnny is a legendary New Orleans musician and teacher, with students like Brian Blade and Stanton Moore. I was able to see him at the Maple Leaf over the holiday break and stand just a few feet from him while he grooved until 3am. He has a standing gig there every Thursday. Don’t miss it if you’re in New Orleans!
This is a classic instructional DVD that features Johnny, Herlin Riley, Earl Palmer and Herman Ernest. A streaming version is available to purchase.
If you’re stuck on finding the DVD, it’s worth seeking out, though the New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming book/cd is more affordable and contains a lot of the same info.
I will likely post more about Johnny in the future, but for now you should go check out his interview on Drummer’s Resource and then seek out the recordings he’s played on…and check him out live when you can.
I got a little obsessed with Pete LaRoca the other day after seeing this video of him with Art Farmer. I really dig his playing.
Eventually I made my way to his Wikipedia page and found this fascinating bit:
“In 1968 he stopped taking side-man gigs, and only accepted work as a band leader/drummer. La Roca began earning a living by driving a taxi cab in New York City, and later attended law school at New York University. When his second album as leader, Turkish Women at the Bath, was released under Chick Corea’s name without La Roca’s consent, La Roca filed and argued a lawsuit against Douglas Records, and the erroneously-labeled records were recalled.
He returned to jazz in 1979, and recorded one new album as a leader, Swing Time (Blue Note, 1997).”