DRUMMER CAFE

Michael,

I think you did a fine job of keeping it together. Wish I could have heard the bass a little more.
If possible, I would suggest getting some cymbals that have more of a darker wash to the sound; less high-end ping and ring.

Ride time in general ... work on opening up more, swinging the pattern with triplets rather than sixteenths for medium swing tunes. This will make the groove swing better overall.

When playing the head of the tune, you did a good job of catching some of the accented lines in the melody. I would suggest thinking of the melody more when playing through the head of the tune. Let your Ride cymbal follow more of the melody; you can still add the Snare and Kick like you did. To restate this ... basically YOU play the head of the tune on the drums with the other instrumentalists (ie. saxophone).

During your solo, be sure to keep your place in the form of the tune. It would probably be wise to outline the sections in your solo as well. Parker's "Ornithology" is based off another jazz standard, "How High The Moon". Both have the same chord changes. Find recordings of both of these tunes and listen to what other players are doing. You may find creative ways to implement some of this in your solo(s). It is not uncommon for the entire band to combine these two tunes in the performance. Even the Miles Davis tune "Solar" is based on part of the chord structure.

Keep up the good work. Spend as much time listening to jazz, if not more, as you do playing it.

I use a Sabian 22 inch Manhattan jazz ride... very dark...

my suggestion is play more ride cymbal & HH on 2&4 and less on bass and snare.

Hand-hammered cymbals tend to work best for Jazz styles because of their dark soundng nature. It tends to blend and compliment the instrumentation typically used in Jazz. Examples would be the Sabian HH or HHX, K. Zildjian, etc. I think using cymbals as I mentioned would help you blend more with your sound.



I don't understand this suggestion and don't hear any reasons why he would need to do that, thus can't agree. Perhaps you can explain why you think Michael should play more Ride cymbal and HiHat on 2 & 4.

Michael, I think your tempo and timing is pretty good. I don't see any reason for you to play more Ride and HiHat than you already are. Perhaps if you In a combo setting, especially a trio where there is no chordal instruments, you've got a lot of room to stretch out. "Ornithology"  is a BeBop tune typically played in a combo setting.

In Jazz music, the time does come from up top, meaning the cymbals, but that doesn't mean you don't play Snare and Kick drum. This isn't Big Band, this a Jazz combo. You can stretch out a lot more, using your Snare, Kick, Ride and HiHat to outline the melody (the head of the tune), while the Saxophone is playing it.

When you solo, keep the form of the tune in your head. "Ornithology" is a 16-bar tune. You can break the phrases of the head into sections if you want, not that you have to do this, but it may help with getting you started in phrasing your solos. In the head of the tune, you could play the first 6 bars as one thought, the next 4 bars as another thought, then the last 6 bars as another thought. This is just A place to start with coming up with solo phrasing and by no means is THE way to approach.

One thing I noticed is that the saxophonist never played the full first and second endings. More specifically she never played the triplet figures found in bars 12 & 14 of the head's first ending, and bars 12, 14 & 15 of the second ending. If she's not going to play those ... YOU SHOULD! That could be very cool for you to cover the head like that. Also, originally in the second ending of the head, there's a Call & Response ... the "response" is in bar 13 ... echoing bar 12. If the Saxophone plays the triplets, you could/should try playing the "response".

If you haven't done so, you all need to listen to original recordings of Ornithology, both individually and collectively. Listen to other artists play this tune, not just Charlie Parker. Also, to help with your overall playing of the tune, you should know the tune so well that you can sing the melody all by yourself. Once you can do that, sing along (for practice) while  all of you are playing ... singing with the Saxophone playing the head. Then, when you solo, see if you can sing the head during your solo. Doing this is a great place to start and will allow you to "quote the head" of the tune during your solo ... if you want ... plus it will help you keep the form of the tune.

thanks a ton for all the suggestions-and cymbal recommendations. I'll definitely use these ideas. Particularly about the soloing- i've always been a bit lost when I solo in jazz, and haven't really been sure what to play.  I have been sitting at my kit tryin to work the melody into my solo- along with the other ideas about the phrasing- and i think I'm improving.

Thanks a lot guys, don't hesitate to give your .02 c.
Michael

Nicely done!  Far better than I could have done as a teen.  I'm sure you already do this, and Bart mentioned it earlier, but listen to as many of the jazz greats as you can get your hands on A LOT.  It really helps you understand and internalize the art of jazz.  Bart has a good list on the site.  There's tons more than what's listed too...

Listen to the Boomka Jedi Master.   

http://www.jazzwise.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=7851

Must have CD for a jazz drumming student.  I'm really enjoying it.

I hesitated ordering from jazzwise because I didn't want to wait a month for
something to cross the pond, but it actually arrived very quickly.

Bart's nailed this; if I may take it a bit further, learn -- be able to sing -- everyone's part.    We're playing music, right?  Ergo it follows that we should know everything else going on around us, so we may best understand  why and how the various parts work -- or don't - together.  Then you'll understand why someone did a given thing, and you'll be able to make better musical choices in your own situations.

This doesn't apply just to jazz playing, BTW.

Great job, mapexdrummer. You supported the group well and did a fine job overall.

As far as criticisms, things that jumped out at me were the tempo starting to drag after awhile. The bass player shares that responsibility with you so keep good eye contact with him (and everyone).

Your ride cymbal time is still developing, and with practice you will get it more relaxed and swinging. Don't use too much arm and really let the stick rebound for that skip note. It looked a little like you were working too hard to play that skip note with a stroke.

Experiment using different cymbals/textures to support different sections of the tune or different soloists. You made an effort towards this in the tune when the bass player was up. Good work, so keep at that. Other good moments to differentiate texture are B sections of the head etc.

Help build the soloist with your comping. Try to stay away from chatter that doesn't have purpose. It's often effective to start simple and build over the course of the solo increasing your comping as the soloist (hopefully) builds a narrative. Drop your dynamics down when the soloist passes it off to the next soloist to give them a chance at a nice quiet start. You can still respond quickly if they come in full bore.

Keep it up!

Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate this.
I'm planning on gettin some new cymbals at some point within the next year or two, so by college i'll have a nice collection for jazz.
        I'm starting to focus a lot more on my cymbal stuff, since that seems collectively like my weaker area. So if anyone has any more tips for cymbal (particularly ride pattern, time, etc.) please share 'em, I'd love the help.   

Yeah, i'm savin up for a K 22 (or 21 if they have it) dry ride, and probably a 20/21 inch manhattan jazz ride for my left side. I may buy a super super dry ride as well, but two is good for now.
Yea, i missed the shots... im not really sure what happened, i usually do pretty good with them.
          Yea, we are gonna have a practice tommorrow, and i've been sheddin the jazz works, so ill see if they notice any improvement in my playing. Hopefully