I love Joe Morello's sound.  To get that "jazzy sound" from your drumkit, try using single-ply heads, tuned tight, with top & bottom heads tuned to same pitch.

IMHO, a set of Aquarian Jack DeJohnette heads rock for all things jazz.  Aquarian's Modern Vintage are incredible, too.

get 'em all at www.interstatemusic.com

There's a dramatic difference between Joe's studio sound and live sound. On the Carnegie Hall recording, the miking was ambient and took full advantage of the accoustics of the hardboards on that big open stage.
I think that recording came closest to any he's done to capture his REAL sound which is huge and technical at the same time. I especially like the Bohnam reference. Makes sense.

  I'll second that.

  I'll second that.

werd

Joe just turned 73 in July. It's funny about Joe not using the "bebop" kit. He doesn't believe in using a floor tom for a kick drum as he would put it.

I agree about the drum sound on the Carnegie Hall recordings. They are killer. BTW, Joe had the flu during those shows.

Studying with Joe is like studying with your great uncle. He is a kind soul, an absolute gentleman and one of the most humble people you will ever meet. He knows as much about drum gear and construction as he does about playing. He also knows about modern day drummers.

The two (out of the many) things I've learned from Joe is technique and playing musically. He stripped down my technique and we started essentially from scratch. Joe also emphasises playing musically in all types of situations whether it is rock, jazz, classical etc. Musicalilty always superceeds chops which many of us forget.

Joe also believes that speed is not essential, consistancy in your playing is much more important. The speed will always develop through practice. He would rather see you play evenly at slower tempos than play sloppily at faster tempos.

His imagination with exercises is endless, especially with pages 5, 6 and 7 of Stick Control. I'm on my second copy of this book because the first copy fell apart.  I have been exposed to so much, but there is so much more to learn.

Someone should write a biography on Joe because of his impact on the drumming community.

Joe is currently working on another book and video.

His web address www.joemorello.net

Pardon me for the mistake. I stand corrected. Guess I need a new calculator....

Oh, there's one in every crowd...LOL..

BTW, I saw Joe last night for a lesson and he informed me that he will be appearing at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, N.J. on November 5th. There are two shows - 7pm-8pm and 9pm-10pm. If anyone here if is from the N.Y./N.J./P.A. area make the trip to see him. It is well worth the effort.

The band smokes and he has a wicked sense of humor. Joe likes to talk in between songs. The last time my wife and I saw his quartet he had Buddy's old piano player playing with him.

BTW, DW just sent him a new kit in a silver sparkle broken glass wrap. The drums are absolutely gorgeous. They twinkle (yes like little stars in the night) under the lights.

I'd also like to add that I like the way he plays 4/4 with brushes; rather than play a pattern such as this:

Left hand:    whhhhiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssshh

Right hand:  PAT pat pat    PAT pat pat     PAT pat pat    PAT pat pat


he seems to go:

Left hand:    whiiishh  whiiiiishh  whiiiiishh  whiiiiishh  whiiiiishh

Right hand:     pat PAT     pat PAT    pat PAT     pat PAT


I know this is gratuitous use of onomatopoeia; the second example is easily audible in "Strange Meadow Lark" by Dave Brubeck.

shows some nice touch (with that close miking) on
"kathy's waltz"

and the brief solo (where he plays the melody line
on the toms) on "everybody's jumpin'"

always appreciated brubeck and morello (and the
overall feel of, not only the album, but of that time.
that period. where, it seemed like the music mattered. and every-little-thing wasn't contrived or
following a "formula").

cheers to those guys, AND the guys at columbia
records. (great re-issue, with the expanded notes).

goddard lieberson.  (in the notes, brubeck says the album was already out a year before lieberson
decided to release it to radio, and for jukebox play).

i won't re-cap the notes here (anybody interested
can read them), but i admire the project, and how
they jumped in and did something creatively different
(and did it well).

tell mr. morello we said "hey".

I played to Time Out, on LP, when I first started to get interested in jazz. I have always loved that album.
All the songs are either in an "odd" time signature or switch between time signatures. It probably helped my development alot.
I found myself playing "Take Five", the LP, to one of my students. He thought it was cool.

good use joe!

I saw Joe do a clinic when I was 14 back in the 60's. He believed in wide open tuning (yeah like Bonham) and said things like 'Get that pillow out of your bass drum!'

He was incredible and said 'ANYBODY can do stuff like this' and proceded to chop it up like Buddy. Well I certainly couldn't chop it up like that, but the point was is it's more cool to play interesting melodies, to make a musical statement.

Another that stuck with me was how he made fun of guys with lots of cymbals, called them 'Cymbal Simons'.

Joe is something else!

Plowboy—I was wondering if you know this; did Mr. Morello use calf heads when he recorded Take Five?  I ask because weren't Mylar heads introduced shortly before?