does anybody have any tips on how to learn jazz...i wanna learn but i have no idea where to start...any tips would be appreciated

Listening and practicing.  Not all teachers are well rounded so youd want a teacher that can teach jazz well.  Id recommend seeing local performers and talking to them about whether they teach (many do) or if they can recommend someone.

And did I mention listening and practicing?  

I agree that listening to only albums that feature the drummer is not the way to go. I think it is too intimidating to think that you need to do what the star drummer is doing. I recomment that you listen to some piano players albums, like Eric Reed, who really swings to get what a drummer is most often asked to do in a combo situation.
Mostly watch all the live jazz drummers you can to see how they are responding to the soloists and what they play in certain types of songs.

You see how many people say "listen"? That 's the big thing, you've got to listen to people speaking the language, hear what stuff is supposed to sound like.

But the thing about playing jazz that's different from a lot of other kinds of music is conception and approach, you have to have an idea of what each composition sounds like in your head but you have to remain open to your immediate musical environment and be able to respond with some agility and flexibility. almost every drummer I play with up here also plays piano to some degree.

Cindy Blackman sounds great, but I would recommend approaching it from a more historical perspective. Rather than listening to what Cindy sounds like after listening to Roy and Tony and Elvin and Philly Joe and Papa Joe and Chick Webb it might be better to get to what YOU sound like after listening to the same influences.

Studying with someone who has a deeper understanding than you is always a good idea.

duggy-

I think of jazz as something you identify with more than something you learn.  

The basic mechanics of playing jazz drums are simple - there are many books which will teach you the elements of the "jazz ride".  

But once you've learned the mechanics, putting it all together is a matter of how much you identify with the feel of jazz.  I don't think anyone can teach you how to feel it - it comes from inside and is basically either a part of or not a part of your inner ear.  

I mentioned the 'jazz ride' because that seems to be the most identifiable aspect of jazz drums.

Learn it slowly and make it a part of you.  Learn it so slowly that the triplet becomes as natural to you as breathing.  Spend time with it - a lot of time - and  be patient. A few lessons with a solid teacher can last a lifetime.

There's an enormous amount of recorded material to get you on your way.  Some of it can be frightening but it all came from the same place - a simple jazz ride.  Tune in to Miles Davis "So What", to name one.

Take your time and be honest with it.  Everybody started out like you.  

Good Luck,

John

There are gazillions of good jazz albums virtually all of which would increase ones understanding of "jazz ride" playing. Jazz is a very broad term. But if your looking for a CD (previously "album") that perfectly illustrates "swinging/grooving/in-the-pocket" playing in a small group/straight ahead context I would recommend "The Oscar Petersen Trio + One". This features Oscar on piano, Ray Brown on Bass (one of the all-time great jazz bassist), Ed Thigpen on drums (excellent jazz drummer) and Clark Terry on trumpet (great player who played in all the best groups at the time).

Everything on this album is basically blues based and it SWINGS LIKE CRAZY!! When I was in HS (MANY years ago) and developing by jazz skills and learning to play in a true jazz groove...this was my favorite album to play along with by far. Check it out. Its available on CD and most larger outlets will have it (as well as on line).

I picked this up again last week on CD (for $9.00 on sale) (after not having heard it for about 25 years)and immediately took it home and had one very happy evening playing along with these great grooves.

Lots more options... but this is a good one. I would also echo the comments that "in order to learn jazz you have to listen to jazz (not just the drummer either) and you need to find opportunities to play it live".

My $.02.

BigBill

As for what to listen to, Id start with small bop combos.  There tends to be more improvisation once you get to the bop era, which in turn can give you a better idea about what we're talking about when we say things about communication between the instruments.  And its easier to discern what the drums are doing.  Up until the 60's (and into the 60's) a lot of recordings were done with the band in a room and a mic in the middle.   Mixes werent always quite so clear.

Players Id recommend (you can AMG them to pick albums):

Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones ... thatll give you a good history lesson  

In jazz, everything you play on the kit is an extension of your right hand.


The jazz ride is the door to communication. Without it you can't bring anything to the conversation.

Duggy needs to establish the basic vocabulary of jazz before he can hope to relate to and translate full-set concepts before laying the foundation.  There is no magic involved.

In jazz, everything you play on the kit is an extension of your right hand.
I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. All the drummers I play with approach playing from a musical perspective rather than one of technique ie what do I want it to sound like not where should I put my ride pattern. Again, you gotta start from the point of having something to say rather than just throwing vocabulary out there.

The jazz ride is the door to communication. Without it you can't bring anything to the conversation. ?
Your conception of how you want something to sound is the door to communication. Your technique and equipment is how you execute that intent. You don't have to have a ride cymbal (nor play a "ride" pattern elsewhere on the kit) to play jazz.

But I will say, that if you want to learn the fundamentals, if you want to learn the trad approach (whether or not you choose to use it) then the ride pattern is a good place to start.

OK. One of the reasons I moved to NYC was to get away from folks who played patterns and licks and a whole repertoire of things they had pulled off of records, but had no conception of how to actually play the music that was happening on the stand with the musicians who were playing while it was actually happening.

I think Ed's input is valid and is worth reading. He may be coming from a jazz bass players point of view, but as he is an experienced musician playing with the pros in New York, I would think about what he is saying and, if I didn't agree totally, put my own spin on it for duggy and try to avoid arguing about it and being insulting.
He has an idea what he is talking about.