On the heels of posting the Geoff Clapp interview, I wanted to share something I just found on YouTube. It’s part of an old DCI Video series about New Orleans drumming that features Johnny Vidacovich and Herlin Riley.
There are a couple of other volumes featuring Earl Palmer and Herman Ernest, which are available from Alfred Music. I was lucky to find all of them on DVD several years ago while visiting New Orleans.
If you haven’t seen this before, do yourself a favor and watch all of it. Great information and great music!
Here’s another great video of Herlin Riley breaking down tambourine playing.
I’ll also take this time to share a wonderful quote by Brian Blade:
“New Orleans is its own country. It’s just where so many cultural crosses meet. That mixing and mingling and that beat on the street is what makes life have that joy. A different influx of spirit comes in and you step into it and you feel it immediately. It changes the way you look at things and feel things in a great way. The time that I spent there was a very special time in my life. I was just supposed to have been there. Now it’s in everything that I play and write.”
– Brian Blade