DRUM SETS OF

THE STARS
Matt Wilson
Page 64

Peter Erskine
Page 68

Kendrick Scott
Page 72

MASTER CLASS
By Henry Cole
Page 76

TRANSCRIPTION
Jack DeJohnette Solo
Page 78

TOOLSHED
Page 80

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 63

Matt Wilson (Photo: John Abbott)
 By Bill Milkowski
Photo by John Abbott

A self-described “gear nerd,” drummer-composer-bandleader

Matt Wilson can talk for hours about the tools of his trade.

H
is acute awareness of the sounds he has to come over the house to get his
produced by endless combina- cymbals back. So, there’s Desi Jr.’s set
tions of cymbals and drums is as there at home and Buddy sits down and
comprehensive as his exuberance for plays. That was my first imagery of seeing
the subject is boundless. A historian at the drum set, other than maybe on The
heart, he can expound on the compara- Lawrence Welk Show.”
tive choices of cymbals and snares, sticks Shortly after that TV encounter with
and brushes and assorted toms made Rich, Wilson began emulating drum-
by all of his drum heroes, from Buddy ming movements on pillows by using
Rich and Max Roach to Mel Lewis, Louie two cardboard cylinders that come on
Bellson, Billy Higgins, Roy Haynes, Elvin pants hangers from the dry cleaners.
Jones, Philly Joe Jones and Jo Jones. He later got his first pair of Ludwig 9A
Attention to detail of sound has been a sticks before graduating to a pair of Roy
hallmark of Wilson’s approach since he Haynes model Ludwig drum sticks. “It’s
began studying with Ed Soph in the sum- funny, because Roy lives right near me
mer of 1984, just shy of his 20th birthday. now,” laughed Wilson. “That’s kind of
But his visual reference for the drum kit like using a Mickey Mantle glove in Little
goes back much further than that. “For League and ending up being his friend
me, it was probably seeing Buddy Rich and neighbor.”
on The Lucy Show in the early ’70s [the By the time he started third grade,
episode in question, ‘Lucy and the Drum Wilson’s family moved from his birth-
Contest,’ originally aired on Oct. 5, 1970]. place in Knoxville, Illinois, out to the
I think I was in second grade. The epi- country. It was around this time that he
sode was basically that Desi Arnaz Jr. got his first snare drum, which he bought
was going to be in this drum contest and used from a childhood friend. “It’s still
somehow Lucy had this idea to go see here,” he proudly said of that snare, now
Buddy Rich to ask him if he’d give les- a just a part of his burgeoning collection
sons to Desi Jr. And after meeting with of drums and cymbals that occupies his
him, she accidentally grabs his cymbal basement music room and spills out to
bag, which looks like her purse. They get his adjoining garage. “Orange sparkle,
home and find Buddy Rich’s cymbals, so some Japanese model, maybe a Kent.”

64 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

 With Matt on snare and older brother Tip Fat Cat nylon brushes. “I’m one of the few

JOHN ABBOTT
Mark on saxophone, the Wilson boys began people who like both wire and plastic brushes,”
playing duets at home on Saturday nights and he said. “That came from seeing Billy Higgins,
eventually honed an act at 4H and PTA meet- Paul Motian, Al Foster and Joey Baron, who
ings. Matt also began hanging out at a drum all play plastic. Motian’s plastic brush with his
shop in Galesburg, Illinois, where he started trio is an iconic sound to my ear. It’s part of
learning about equipment. “I had the Ludwig, my sound. But I’ve been experimenting lately
Slingerland and Rogers catalogs, and I also had with Jeff Hamilton Regal Tip thick-gauge wire
all the books on the Zildjian cymbals setups of brushes, just to try different things. I also like
various people. Max Roach signed one of those Zildjian brushes.”
books for me. So did Buddy Rich.” Wilson augments his kit with assorted
By 7th grade, Wilson got his first full- instruments, including a Brazilian tamborim,
fledged drum set, a used green sparkle pan flute, wooden flutes and harmonica. “I’m
Slingerland set his father bought him for $200. also using cowbell again,” he said. “I used to
Wilson with his custom- “It was a double-bass-drum set and had two use two, a high and a low, which is something I
designed Craviotto snare drum
20-inch cymbals. I never used the two; I could got from seeing Al Foster live. And I occasion-

GETTING
barely play the one,” he recalled. “It had 12-, 13- ally will play a wood block, too, which is going
and 16-inch toms. I used that for a long time all the way back to Baby Dodds. I’ll go through
before I got a CB 700 set, which my dad put dif- periods where I use that stuff again, and then

SNARED ferent tom mounts on.”

Missing from Wilson’s collection is his first
Zildjian cymbal, a used 18-inch he bought
I don’t.”
With uncanny acuteness, Wilson is able to
pinpoint precise sounds coming from cym-
from a kid in high school. “Though I do still bals and drums. “I think I was really conscious
When Matt Wilson works with drum
students, he stresses the importance of
have the first new Zildjian that I ever bought, of sound right from the get-go,” he said while
knowing their sound. which is a 16-inch,” he said. demonstrating the different characteristics of a
“I ask them, ‘What is your sound?’ The acclaimed drummer has been playing variety of Zildjian K cymbals spread out on his
Tell me five snare drum sounds that you Zildjian cymbals for 26 years. His current setup living room floor. “I always really cared about
like,’” he said. includes 13-inch K Constantinople hi-hats (he the sound. My attitude was never, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll
Wilson then proceeded to list and prefers two tops that are slightly mismatched just play it.’ For instance, I could never figure
describe several of the snare drum in weight, with the heavier one—about 200 out why my fellow students weren’t tuning their
sounds he favors: grams more—on the bottom), a 20-inch K drums. It’s like they didn’t care, you know?
“I love Roy Haynes’ snare drum sound Constantinople Hi-Bell Low Ride (on his left), a But I would get new heads and on Thursday
on Out Of The Afternoon [Impulse, 1962].
20-inch K Dry Complex 2 prototype ride with night I’d start tuning them for a weekend gig,
I love Charlie Watts’ snare drum sound on
[the Rolling Stones’] ‘Beast Of Burden.’
three rivets (on his right) and a 22-inch A Swish because I cared. So, I try to impress upon my
I love Dennis Davis’ snare drum sound Knocker with six rivets (on his far right). students today that they have to develop a rela-
on David Bowie’s ‘Fame.’ I love Sonny Wilson strictly has played Craviotto drums tionship with their sound. Everybody has a
Payne’s snare drum sound on Sinatra– since 2007. His current kit includes an 8- by sonic story to tell.”
Basie: An Historic Musical First [Reprise, 12-inch tom, 14- by 14-inch floor tom, 14- by Wilson’s ear-training began in his bed-
1962]. I love Art Blakey’s cross-stick- 18-inch bass drum and a 6.5- by 14-inch snare room, listening to and trying to emulate what
ing on Hank Mobley’s Soul Station [Blue with eight lugs and custom wood-burned he heard on Rich Vs. Roach and various other
Note, 1960], Bob Moses’ snare drum design by company founder Johnny Craviotto. jazz records he grew up with. But seeing drum-
sound on Pat Metheny’s Bright Size He prefers Remo heads (clear Emperors on the mers perform live was a real revelation to him.
Life [ECM, 1976] … there’s nothing like
bass drum, Ambassadors on snare and toms) “When I heard Mr. Bellson as a kid, that sound
it. Roy Haynes’ flat ride sound that he
got with Chick Corea on Now He Sings,
and also uses Zildjian John Riley model sticks, of that snare drum made such a big impres-
Now He Sobs [Solid State, 1968] was a preferring the in-between weight and its hicko- sion on me,” he recalled. “And I remember see-
big influence on me. I love Max Roach’s ry makeup as opposed to maple. ing Rusty Jones, a left-handed drummer who
snare drum sound on Drums Unlimited “I also like the teardrop-shaped bead, played with George Shearing and Marian
[Atlantic, 1966]. And I love Jo Jones’ because when it hits the cymbal surface it McPartland. He came in for a workshop, and it
sound on anything. To me, he’s it as far as opens that point which starts the sound up, as was the first time I had ever seen anyone play-
sound, artistry, attitude, showmanship. opposed to a rounder bead,” he said. “The stick ing an 18-inch bass drum. It was also the first
He’s the greatest of all time. Max Roach hitting that surface starts the sound, and then time that I saw a flat ride cymbal, and he also
said, ‘For every four beats a drummer the spread that coming off that is like the rock used a cowbell in a really cool way. Funnily
plays, three of them are because of Jo
hitting the pond and the water rippling out enough, I was playing in Chicago with Denny
Jones.’ And he’s right.”
from there. So, you have to know that spread. Zeitlin about 10 to 12 years ago, and Rusty
“Then there’s Bernard Purdie’s snare
sound, Steve Gadd’s snare drum sound And there’s a third element, which is space. Jones came to the gig. After the set, he came up
on certain Steely Dan songs, Rick I try to hear the space after the spread dies to the side of the stage and introduced himself,
Marotta’s sound, Jim Keltner’s sound, down and before the point starts again. I talk and I say, ‘Sir, I definitely know who you are.
Ringo’s sound—especially from that to my students about the importance of ‘Point– You see that flat ride? The reason I have a flat
certain era where he has the muffled Spread–Space.’ Point starts the sound, spread ride is because of you! See that cowbell I have
tom stuff. We could go on all day. So is the resulting sound, like the rock hitting the mounted there? That’s because of you!’ He was
many players are identifiable like that lake, and then you’ve got the space in-between really the one who dressed up beats for me—
because their personality is coming before you start the point again.” playing a bossa nova beat with a brush in one
through the instrument.”—Bill Milkowski
He uses Regal Tip wire brushes and Regal hand or playing the cowbell with a marimba

66 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

mallet. He was a real influence, sonically.” beginning Wilson’s career-long infatuation music camps and they were muffled up and
The summer of 1984, between semesters at with that lower-pitched, warmer-sounding everything, but he really got them to speak. It
Wichita State University (where he graduated cymbal. As Wilson explained, “Tony Williams was about the stroke ... the ways that you can
as a percussion major in 1986), was a signifi- played K’s, so did Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and a play to get the sound. So, I realized then that
cant turning point for Wilson. He attended a lot of drummers from that classic era. So, you sound production was part of it, too.”
life-altering seminar in Boston with drummer get drawn to it by legacy. And this cymbal is Wilson lately has been enjoying the chal-
Bob Moses, studied with Ed Soph on a NEA part of my own story now.” lenge of playing provided drums on the gig,
jazz apprenticeship grant at his home in New He added, “I love Jeff Hamilton’s cymbal especially overseas. “I just did a trio gig in
Haven, Connecticut, and had an eye-open- sound (Sabian Crescent Hammertone cym- Italy with [pianist] Rita Marcotulli and [bass-
ing experience seeing Philly Joe Jones and bals). I love Jack DeJohnette’s Sound Creation ist] Martin Wind where I just brought three
Elvin Jones on the same night in New York cymbals from his ECM years, particular- drum sticks and a pair of brushes, and I put
City. That same enriching summer he also saw ly what he played on Album Album. I love them in a plastic laundry bag from the hotel
Billy Higgins perform for the first time at The Paul Motian’s Paiste cymbal sound with his room, brought that and played the concert. The
Willow jazz club in Boston. “He was playing trio with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell. But the cymbals that the promoter provided were real-
with James Williams and John Lockwood, and Zildjian sound is it for me.” ly great—a Custom Zildjian ride with six riv-
I was sitting 10 feet away, checking him out. He As far as his overall drum sound, Wilson ets. Maybe because it’s a new band and we don’t
had a Paiste 602 medium ride with six rivets said he’s adapted somewhat as he’s gotten really have a group sound established yet that
in it. The next day, I went out and got a cym- older. “I’ve started lowering things a little bit I’m willing to just play what’s there. But I’m
bal with rivets in it. I didn’t really associate that more, pitch-wise. I used to have stuff kind of doing more of that lately.”
sound he got with rivets until I saw him and cranked up. And I still like that sound for cer- In recent gigs with pianists Denny Zeitlin,
thought, ‘Oh, so that’s how he does it!’ And he tain things, but overall I like them to be a lit- Ethan Iverson, Frank Kimbrough and Art
had that great sounding set with this 8-inch tle looser.” Lande, Wilson has experimented with
snare drum. So I got one of those, too, after Wilson has taken note over the years of cer- using a flat ride cymbal and an old Zildjian
that gig. ” tain drummers’ seemingly magical ability to Constantinople 20-inch cymbal that he used
As far as a ride cymbal sound, he was more pull their signature sound out of any drums to play with the Charlie Haden Liberation
enamored by what he heard from Philly Joe they played. “I saw Ed Blackwell once with Orchestra. “I’m always searching for sounds,
Jones on a string of classic Miles Davis albums— Dewey Redman and Mark Helias in January of but I’m pretty settled,” he said. “Really, I’m
Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’ and Steamin’. He 1988 playing maybe one of the worst provid- more interested in the songs than the cymbals
started playing Zildjian A cymbals before his ed drum sets of all time. But he just made them at this point. I have a quote: ‘I don’t think you
teacher, the legendary Dr. J.C. Combs, gifted sound great. When I was a kid, Louie Bellson should love your instrument more than the
him with a Zildjian K upon his retirement, thus sat in on another kid’s drums at one of those music.’” DB

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 67

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 65
Matt Wilson
MAKING THE By Gary Fukushima

DRUM SET ‘SING’

Peter Erskine described his preferred remedy for the strained wrist he
suffered during some recent tours of Europe, various dates with the likes of
Dave Liebman and Kenny Werner.

“A
cortisone shot, some physical therapy, and we his suitcase on the road. “I love being able to get my ride
hope for the best,” he said. He was hurt not cymbal right next to the bass drum, and there’s not too
from playing, but from hauling his cymbal much mass—the stand’s not bulky or heavy.” He lamented
bag from city to city. the trend toward heavy-duty hardware. “It was driving me
“I was hand-carrying my cymbals because of the tight nuts. Just to lean over and reposition one stand two inches,
connections,” he explained. The injury was serious enough you risk giving yourself a hernia.”
to consider surgery, but Erskine ruled that out. Thankfully, The fact that Tama agreed to design these stands for
even one day after his doctor’s diagnosis, he was able to hold Erskine was a major factor in his ultimate endorsement of
a drum stick and gingerly demonstrate the sounds of his them. “Their drums remind me of the best that Rogers and
drums and cymbals. By all appearances, he wouldn’t be out Slingerland drums brought to the market in the ’60s,” he
of commission for too long. said. (Erskine has both of those vintage kits in his studio in
The incident underscores an inconvenient truth about addition to the Tama kit.)
playing the drums: They can be big, unwieldy and heavy. Erskine’s go-to kit these days is the Tama Star. “For
Yet, for many drummers, part of the fun of the instrument bebop, I use a 14- by 18-inch bass drum with 8- by 12-inch
is finding gear that makes their job simultaneously less and 14- by 14-inch toms. For big band and general jazz
strenuous and better sounding. playing, I’ll normally choose a 14- by 20-inch bass drum
“I’ll always be a bit of a gearhead,” Erskine said. “I love with the same tom configuration, plus a 16- by 16-inch floor
clever ideas in design, plus excellence in manufacturing tom, for two floors. Studio stuff, I’ll go with a 14- by 22-inch
execution. I don’t have much time or use these days for any- kick most of the time,” he said, noting his calls for general
thing that’s too complicated, inelegant or bulky.” film work or “anything that hints of pop or funk.” He stays
It’s not a stretch to say Erskine has spent more time than away from bass drums deeper than 14 inches.
most thinking about the finer sonic subtleties of his instru- For heads, he goes with a Remo Fiberskyn Diplomat
ments—and how much they should weigh. “Put your fin- Batter head on top, and either a matching head or Clear
ger under there and lift up,” he said, pointing to the locking Ambassador head on the bottom/resonant side.
screw on the telescoping mechanism of a cymbal stand, set “I also play the signature Mezzo snare drum that Tama
up in the middle of a tidy rehearsal and recording studio in designed and built for me,” Erskine added. “It’s a 6- by
Erskine’s Santa Monica, California, home. The stand com- 10-inch ash wood stave-constructed snare drum. I’ll admit,
plies willingly with the motion, rising off the ground as if the price tag on that thing is more than I had expected it to
tied to a hot-air balloon. The hardware is designed by Tama, be, but it is one excellent drum.”
based on the old Ludwig flush-base models, on the initia- He has, of course, collected many cymbals throughout
tion and approval of Erskine. It’s very light, yet still incredi- his career, but uses Zildjian cymbals. “Zildjian technical-
bly stable. But does it make the cymbal sound better? ly owns every cymbal they have sent to me over the years,”
“I think so,” Erskine remarked thoughtfully, going on Erskine said. “I’ve kept a few oldies/goodies: one from
to describe how the cymbal rides or “floats” on the stand. the Steps Ahead days [a 20-inch Zildjian K ride], a pair of
“There’s play in the cymbal, so you’re actually playing the 14-inch New Beat hi-hats from the Weather Report days.
cymbal. It’s not just a static thing that’s held in position. It’s To be honest, the new [Zildjian] Avedis and Kerope cym-
moving, and anything that can replicate the way and man- bals play and feel just like the best cymbals did from the old
ner the drummers were playing the drums, the drummers days. One of the reasons I depend so much on Zildjian is
whose playing we aspire to ... that helps.” that the cymbals not only sound great while playing them,
He loves that stand so much, he brings one with him in but they project and sound great to the audience. Most of

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 69

 great, if it’s a bass drum with an open port or

COURTESY OF TAMA
Erskine’s Tama bass drum and
Shure SM7B microphone hole, especially for low-end funk.”
For overhead mics, Erskine has a pair of
Sony C-100s and a vintage pair of Sony C-35
FET condensers. “For bass drum and over-
heads, I like a bit of coloring, and the Sonys
have this silky kind of coloring sound,” he said.
“I really like it, and the Beta 52 has a little bit of
a bump, so I like it [for the bass drum].”
Beyond the standard drum set, Erskine’s
go-to device when doing percussion work is a
Meinl “Slap-Top” cajon. He also has Luis Conte
signature shakers, also by Meinl, in his arse-
nal. For woodblock, tambourine, triangle and
other orchestral percussion, he plays instru-
ments by Grover Percussion.
Erskine held up a black device with two
mics sticking out of one end, right-angled into
an X/Y configuration. “This is pretty much
an indispensable piece of gear, the Zoom H4n
[audio recorder],” he said, noting that he also
relies heavily upon the Zoom Q2n, a video
recorder, for rehearsals and teaching. “If you’re
recording, and nothing you do sounds good,
then it’s pretty discouraging. So, the Zoom
is the perfect balance of [being] accurate, yet
the ‘boutique’ cymbals I see drummers play- night run at L.A.’s Sam First jazz room. The somehow, it sounds good.” He likens it to the
ing might sound good from where the drum- live recording features Erskine’s long-standing quality and ease-of-use of an iPhone camera.
mer is sitting, but a lot of these cymbals do not association with bassist Derek Oles and pia- Erskine’s gear universe extends outward
project well.” nist Alan Pasqua, both of whom are colleagues even further to include things like the Samson
Erskine recently sold many of his older of his at University of Southern California’s Expedition family of Bluetooth-equipped
cymbals to create a scholarship fund in Thornton School of Music. Joining the band speakers (“terrific for play-alongs, audi-
the memory of one of his students, Victor was guest tenor saxophonist George Garzone. tions and juries,” he said), what he calls “a
McElhaney, who lost his life in a shooting close The drums were recorded using a pair of great musical instrument cart” by GruvGear,
to the USC campus earlier this year. “I had to Sony C-100 overhead mics, with a Shure SM7B HARDCASE drum boxes, Protection Racket
channel my energies into something positive, mic on the bass drum. The clarity of the drums bags, Roland V-Drums (used in the drum lab
because the anger and sorrow would have oth- is striking, in perfect balance with the other at the Thornton School of Music at USC) and
erwise eaten into my soul,” he lamented. “It instruments, not such an easy feat when play- the many digital sample libraries he has made
was a solemn joy to see the incredible instru- ing in a small room. “I didn’t want to mic the for Oberheim, ddrum, Yamaha, Sampleheads
ments go out into the world to be played and snare or toms,” Erskine said. “The engineer, and the “Virtually Erskine” library.
appreciated by other drummers.” Aaron Walk, was saying, ‘Well, it might be Regarding digital/electronic gear, Erskine
Erskine also has a stick endorsement with good for mixing.’ I said, ‘Not interested. Just confessed, “I have to be honest and say that
Vic Firth. “I prefer a stick with a tip that is not want overheads. What I hear is what the mics I’m not really drawn to that stuff so much any-
too big,” he said. “I like to hear more of the will hear, and that’s how I’m going to play.’” more. Samples can be useful when putting
cymbal than the wood. I also like a stick with a Erskine is one to view the larger context of music together within the confines of a com-
good ‘throw’ to it.” recording drums, having done numerous ses- puter environment, but I’m so bored by how
He has three signature sticks with compa- sions with the entire band all in one room. He’s I’m hearing this stuff being used.”
ny, the “Ride Stick” and the “Big Band Stick” not a fan of close-mics on the toms or the cym- In his studio, Erskine runs his mics into a
being his current favorites for almost every bals, noting that they never were meant to be Rupert 5211 Neve-design two-channel micro-
situation. He also had the company design a heard from that distance. phone preamp plus 12 channels of API 3124
wooden-shaft bass drum beater, the VKB5. “The instrument needs to sing, to project,” mic preamps by way of two Apollo interfac-
“I got the inspiration for this while touring he said. “That’s just basic physics. The miking es form Universal Audio, going out from the
the Vic Firth factory and seeing concert bass of a drum very close to the head, and getting all computer to a “very accurate” pair of JBL 305P
drum mallets being born, and I thought, ‘Why that ring, and you start muffling it ... it’s cool, it MkII powered studio monitors, explicitly
do we connect our bass drum mallet to the has a sound. But when you listen to most of the without a subwoofer.
pedal by means of a metal rod?’” he said. “We’d drums sounds from the ’70s, the drums don’t “I think the subwoofer is one of the worst
never choose [that] for playing a concert bass sing. Tone is the most important thing, and I developments to come along in sound rein-
drum. So, I hear and see the jazz bass drum as like my instruments to sing.” forcement, because it’s just too tempting to
a concert instrument, not just something that All that said, even for his own recording overuse,” he said with disdain. “It’s like hot
goes ‘boom’ or ‘thud’ or ‘boom-thud.’” sessions Erskine will sometimes close-mic sauce that you pour all over your food, and you
Erskine’s main setup can be heard on the for balance. “For certain recordings I will put think it’s great because it burns your ass. But
latest release from his Fuzzy Music label. The them on, and that’s the Shure SM98s. I love the you really can’t taste the food, you’re just get-
album, 3 Nights In L.A., documents a multi- SM7 for bass drum. The Shure Beta 52 is also ting off on the fact that it burns your ass.” DB

70 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

 COURTESY OF TAMA

68 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

Peter Erskine
 INSTRUMENTS OF

PEACE By Phillip Lutz | Photo by Adam McCollough

On a sultry afternoon in August, Kendrick Scott was displaying the looseness of

limb and sharpness of thought that have made him one of the most sought-after
drummers—and thinkers—on the scene.

T
he occasion, an interview and photo shoot focusing on By his own admission, Scott is “obsessive compulsive”
his drum set, gave Scott license to free-associate—off about making sure each pair of 7As is created equal. Before
and on the drums—to a largely empty Jazz Gallery, the committing to a pair of sticks, he makes sure they are
funky fifth-floor venue in Midtown Manhattan. And that is uniform.
what he did, offering comments that, like his playing, were “A lot of companies say their sticks are matched, and I do
both wide ranging and grounded in the essentials—in the believe they’re matched by pitch,” he said, “but there’s also
first instance, his sticks. being matched by density.” With a couple of taps on a cymbal,
“My main concept—of everything in my life, actually—I he demonstrated the difference in tone quality between simi-
have on my drum sticks,” he said, pointing to the inscription, larly labeled sticks from different pairs.
drawn from the Prayer of St. Francis, that adorns each of his If Scott is obsessed by pitch and density, he is at the very
15⅞-inch Vater Manhattan 7A drum sticks (measuring .550 least attentive to texture, as evidenced by a pair of Johnny
inches in diameter). It read: “Instrument Of Peace.” Rabb RhythmSaws he also carried. The sticks have ribbed
“Everything that I want to get to or play on the drums— teeth built into their middle. Scraping them together, he
everything I want to be able to activate in my body, all the demonstrated how he adds just the right bit of grit to the sonic
way from my toes through my hands—I’m trying to transfer mix when the urge strikes.
through this weird little thing we call a drum stick, a piece of When he is in a “meditative” mood, he said, he turns to
wood, and out into the audience,” he said. “And if you think Vater Poly Flex brushes: “These allow me to play lighter pas-
about it, that’s a long way to travel.” sages that I would play with [other] brushes but with more
Travel is second nature for Scott. In his 39 years, he has weight. The plastic has more weight, but it still has the light-
migrated from his native Houston (where his musical devel- ness and spread of brushes instead of a hot-rod [stick] or
opment began in church and continued at a performing arts something that would be, to me, overkill.” Should he feel the
high school) to Boston (where he earned a scholarship to the need to strike something, he is able to flip the brush and exe-
Berklee College of Music) and, finally, to New York (where he cute a rim shot with its nonretractable wood handle. He also
has been a first-call drummer since he arrived in 2003). uses retractable wire brushes from Vater.
Through it all, he has kept the faith musically—not least Scott takes cues from his two favorite brushwork practi-
in his choice of sticks. Since he was 8 years old, he has used the tioners: the late Jo Jones and Kenny Washington. Jones, he
Vater Manhattan 7As, the only change being the replacement said, “had a brush sound that is wide open; he wasn’t pushing
of wood tips with more resilient nylon ones. down on it as much.” Washington, by contrast, “has the per-
“These sticks feel weighted in a way where jazz players can fect closed brush sound, where you push into the head and it’s
still have some bulk to them,” he said, “whereas some lighter totally sweeping and beautiful.”
jazz sticks, when you want to dig in, they just don’t feel right. As for mallets, he likes the Vater T7 Generals—particu-
These are just on the edge of feeling where you can get a lot larly their heads’ fluffiness, which allows access to many
of sound without being overbearing or going toward the 5A pitches. “When I go to mallets, I want to think of the drum as
or 2B or really big sticks. So, for me, these are like the happy a timpani or as a taiko drum,” he said.
medium where my touch can be light or heavy as needed.” Though he possesses neither a timpani nor a taiko drum—

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 73

 said. “With this cymbal, if you play the chord

ADAM MCCOLLOUGH
E7#9 and you crash the cymbal, it’s like, ‘Oh,
I get it.’ Or you play a major-minor chord and
you hit the shank of the cymbal, it’s ‘OK, I see
what this cymbal sound is.’
“Most of my favorite drummers have a
specific clarity—Papa Jo Jones, Shadow
Wilson. But for me, the dryness of Tony’s
cymbal—the ones that were picked by Max
Roach and given to him—had a certain clar-
ity where he could carry a whole band. Tony
didn’t play many riveted cymbals. That’s why
this cymbal is unriveted. When I want the
music to have air and I want it to float, I’ll go
to this side. When I want it to be more ground-
ed and sizzling, when I think about Art Blakey
and somebody like that, then I’m going to go
to my riveted ride and dig in.”
A view of Scott’s setup from behind the kit
That riveted side is occupied by the 22-inch
the former is a future possibility, he said, cit- strange—Jo Jones’ elevation of the hi-hat, Zildjian bounce ride on his right. “I think of it
ing as precedent Duke Ellington drummer Kenny Clarke’s elevation of the ride cymbal— as my Billy Drummond left-side ride. He was
Sonny Greer’s ownership of one and his own and relaxed a bit. very influential to me when I was developing
desire to build the left side of his set (more on “The thing is,” Scott said, “I love Billy what my cymbal sound would be. His left-side
that later)—the drums he does own are mostly Cobham as much as I love Jimmy Cobb. If I ride has such a darkness and a dryness to it,
Yamaha Phoenix models. His setup at the Jazz want to have 30 drums, that’s fine, if I know but it has a very shimmering, riveted sound.”
Gallery included toms of 12 by 8 inches and, how to use them in a musical way. I’ve always Scott’s hi-hats—15- and 17-inch Zildjian K
on the floor, 14 by 14 inches; an 18- by 14-inch seen the drums as an orchestra, but I’m trying Customs on the left and right sides, respective-
bass drum; and a 14- by 5-inch custom hybrid to open myself up to seeing them as an orches- ly—have rivets, too, and are thus imbued with
maple snare, a favored alternate. tra that expands to the left. the same properties as the larger ride.
“They’re a hybrid of a lot of different “For me, it serves a musical purpose, to “As you can see, I’m very obsessive about
woods,” he said. “They have a great clarity, break the divide between the drummer that how I want my drums to be and their layer-
nice low tones and a range that I like in my plays more backbeat style and the jazz drum- ing. And I’m taking those things and trying to
tuning. I usually tune my drums to the same mer: ‘What if Buddy Miles but also Art Blakey see what kind of emotions I can create to make
pitches. Those really resonate with me. They were playing at the same time?’ So, I’ll play the you see something and make you feel what I
make me feel at home on my own drum set.” hi-hat with [the front of] my foot and then I’ll remember when I first heard music: that the
Scott’s arsenal includes up to a dozen play the 2 and 4 with the heel of my foot. My hairs on my body raised up when somebody
snares. But the snare he is most likely to haul hands are totally free to improvise, and my was singing. I want to make that happen to
to sessions is a crisp, yet resonant, 14- by 6.5- bass drum can play anything it wants.” somebody by just playing drums. That’s like
inch, titanium-shell custom Lang Gladstone/ Liberated though his bass drum might be, my life’s goal, to create that experience for oth-
Dunnett. it is the only drum that has not benefited from ers as they listen.”
Perhaps the most dramatic change in one of Scott’s sonic “secrets”—the attach- One way to deepen the listener experience
Scott’s kit has been the addition of a 14- by ment of faux leather and suede cutouts to the is to think cinematically, a concept Scott
10-inch custom Craviotto mahogany floor Remo Coated Ambassador X heads he favors. picked up from his film work with Blanchard.
snare. Tuned low—it is, he said, meant to Attaching the cutouts—he was clued in to To that end, he has begun to employ electron-
function as something of a cross between a them while working on Terence Blanchard’s ics like Sunhouse’s Sensory Percussion, soft-
snare and bass drum—the instrument rep- soundtrack for the 2008 film The Miracle of ware that translates drumming into electronic
resents what he hopes is the opening stage of St. Anna—immediately yielded the pitch and sound. While Scott noted that he wasn’t rush-
a personal project to build up the left side of dryness of taiko drums. That augurs well for ing into the world of electronics, he was upbeat
his set. their application to the bass drum, for which about its prospects for enhancing his storytell-
“I’ve started thinking about the whole left he is developing a proper mount. ing. “I can put 10 different samples on each of
side of the drum set in a different way,” he said. Scott’s cymbals long ago established their my drums, create all types of effects and sonic
“Most drummers play to the right of them- place in his setup. Case in point: the 21-inch things,” he said.
selves. But for me, the left side is underutilized, Spizzichino ride situated to his left. When asked what material best represents
especially the left foot. I can use it as a voice, “This cymbal has been on my side forever,” his drumming, Scott points to “Pendulum,”
not just a timekeeper.” he said, offering as proof the signatures of the first tune on his 2013 album Conviction
He began experimenting privately with mentors and colleagues on the cymbal’s (Concord Jazz). Propelled by the subtle swirl
the floor snare a long time ago, and, with some underside—among them Quincy Jones and a of Scott’s sticks, the track sways between rock
trepidation, has introduced it publicly in the multigenerational list of drummers from Roy and swing-inflected rhythms, even as it sus-
past three years. Haynes to Karriem Riggins. tains a steady through-line prefigured by the
“I was wondering what everybody was But when he thinks of the cymbal, a drum- tune’s opening—his spoken-word rendition of
going to say: ‘This looks weird—a snare drum mer whose name is not on it—Tony Williams— the prayer alluded to on the sticks:
with your foot,’” Scott said. But he thought comes to mind. “Lord, make me an instrument of your
about other innovations that once seemed “It’s the brash, Nefertiti-type cymbal,” he peace. ...” DB

74 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

 72 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019
Kendrick Scott
 MASTER CLASS
DRUM SCHOOL Woodshed BY HENRY COLE

teaching is fun all the time. And it’s a great

JAVIER ROMERO
way to keep discovering new ideas. 
Recently, while teaching at the Siena Jazz
Workshop in Italy, a student asked me why I
was practicing all the drum exercises and vari-
ations that I had written on the board—some
of them very challenging and unrelated to any
one particular genre. I paused for a moment,
and my answer was: “To train our bodies to
react to different musical situations using our
instrument.” Afterward, I continued to reflect
on the student’s question. As I mentioned ear-
lier, there are dozens of reasons I practice, but
what was the main reason, the musical reason?
A few days later—while practicing at my
drum studio in Puerto Rico, trying to play
phrases and express myself using the drum
set—I realized the main reason that I prac-
tice all these exercises: I want to be able to
talk through the drums with the same ease
and meaning as I have in conversation with
people. 
I want to express myself through the
drums fully. Just as the great martial artist and
philosopher Bruce Lee once said, “Honestly
expressing yourself … is very difficult to do.”
Perhaps this is why Lee is one of my main
influences. All he did and said, I could trans-
late to being a musician and to the drums.
If you want to have interesting conversa-
tions with other people, the more things you
can talk about, the better. The more knowl-
edge of different topics you know, the better.
The more languages you understand, the
Henry Cole more people you can talk to from different

Honest Expression
cultures. This is exactly how I see myself as a
musician. You have to train every part of your
body—I’m quoting Bruce Lee again—so you
can hear, adapt and execute effortlessly, with-

I
love to practice. I love practicing so much The best and craziest part of all this prac- out thinking, and express yourself freely and
that it goes beyond the usual reasons tice is that every day, I feel driven to do more. honestly through your instrument. 
we musicians spend thousands of hours There is so much to accomplish, to discover. The following exercise is an example of my
on our instruments—to get better, to stay in There are layers to peel, layers to add, cultures approach to practicing the drums and rhythm
shape, to learn new music, to play fast, etc. For and feels to explore, music to learn for my side- in general. If there is one “trick” to this exer-
me, practice is my meditation, my door to a man gigs and my own work as a bandleader. cise, it’s to tell the various parts of your
perfect world. It’s a way of life, and because I’m so amazed body to work together as a single unit. Unity
When I practice, I breathe. I feel, stretch at the things I find, I can do it all the time. My is the key—everything is coordinated. To
and decompress. I’m free, I’m specific and curiosity is endless. watch an online demonstration video, go to:
I’m transported to different cultures in differ- This need to practice is the backbone of my youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHHMXaEIno
ent periods of history. I’m a jazzer, a bombero, career as a musician. It informs all the things I Vf2k3o7MZzs-ZmvIzqDUrJf.
a rumbero, a rapper and a rocker. I’m Glenn do, including my compositions, which most of I first created this exercise/drill during a
Gould, Bob Marley, Cannonball Adderley, the time are the result of some of my medita- morning band workshop in Cologne,
Fela Kuti and Bad Bunny.  tive “travels” during practice. Germany. While trombonist Ryan Keberle
When I practice, I think of people I should When I teach, my drum lessons are usual- was talking to the audience, I wanted to warm
call to say “hello.” It forces me to eat better, to ly the same exercises I’m currently working up my hands and feet to be ready when it came
stay fit and to keep good posture. I become a on. Many times, a new exercise comes to mind time to perform. I started with a rudiment,
better person, and my days “groove” much during a workshop, and I’ll put myself on then added the hi-hat, and then some figures
better when I spend a few hours on my instru- the spot to try to play it without the students with the bass drum. It felt great. Later, during
ment, in meditation. knowing it’s my first time trying it. Therefore, a drum workshop when I saw how the stu-

76 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

dents reacted to the exercise, I decided to write
Example 1
it down and expanded on it.

The Rudiment
The rudiment shown in Example 1 is
called a “flam tap.” It’s a mixture of double
strokes with flams over 16th notes.

The Feel Example 2

As a rule, when I play any phrase over 16th
notes, I also play it over triplets. And when I
play a phrase over triplets, I also play it over
16ths. So, I started playing flam taps over trip-
lets and added the hi-hat on beats 2 and 4. (See
Example 2.) You get a nice swing feel, coordi-
nation and rudimental work. Example 3

The Bass Drum Melodies

For the bass drum, I started playing on
each partial of the triplet. This is a meth-
od I learned from studying the four-volume
Patterns series of method books by drummer
Gary Chaffee. I started playing the first six
melodies, then wrote a few more variations I
thought were important. (See Example 3.)

The Groove
The next step was to convert the exercise to
music. By moving the right hand to the ride
cymbal, I got a kind of broken-time swing feel, à
la Elvin Jones. (See Example 4.) I started to play
the groove over slow-tempo swing tunes until it
became transparent and part of the music itself.
The piece that felt most comfortable to start with
was John Coltrane’s “Blues To Bechet” (from the
album Coltrane Plays The Blues), which has a
great tempo and amazing feel. I use this same
piece when teaching this exercise to students. As
you increase the speed, you can try to play the
same thing over Coltrane’s “Crescent” (from his
album Crescent). As you get comfortable with
the groove, add any of the bass drum melodies
while playing along to the music.
Example 4

The Score
After you can play the groove to the music
with a nice feel, you can start to hear the mel-
odies of all the individual voices. Then, your
playing becomes harmonic. One day, I noticed
that all the individual voices were part of the
basic melodies. This means that we can com- Example 5
bine them as we want, create our new groove
and work our coordination by playing each of
The Bass Drum Melodies (see Example 5).
Using this approach to practice can be a
powerful tool. It’s a complete workout that will
benefit your muscles, coordination, sound, feel
and sensitivity to dynamics. DB

Grammy-winning drummer and arranger Henry Cole teaches

private lessons, workshops and master classes around the
world. He is an associate professor at Manhattan School of
Music, The New School, Sienna Jazz Academia Nazionale del
Jazz and Englesholm Jazz Camp in Denmark. Cole is also a
clinician for DW Drums. Visit him online at henrycolemusic.com.

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 77

 SOLO
DRUM SCHOOL Woodshed BY JEFFREY LIEN

masters of their craft can take complex con-

SANDRINE LEE
cepts and make them appear simple—and that
is exactly what each of these artists brings to
the table in the Standards Trio.
A perfect example of such seamless collab-
oration can be found in the trading of eights
between Jarrett and DeJohnette on Charlie
Parker’s “Scrapple From The Apple” from the
Standards Trio’s live album Yesterdays (ECM),
recorded in 2001 and released in 2009.
Technique never is used for the sake of
technique with DeJohnette. If an idea doesn’t
support the musical moment, he is not one
to throw in filler material. A trained pianist
from childhood, DeJohnette is bent on mak-
ing musical choices that serve the overall arc
of each performance, and in this case, com-
plementing the playing of the previous solo-
ist’s ideas. The nature of the trading between
Jarrett and DeJohnette is playful, and it builds
in complexity as they trade twice over the
song’s full 32-bar form.
Following Peacock’s bass solo, Jarrett
launches into the first eight bars of the
exchange, setting up DeJohnette, who remains
close to the ride cymbal as he explores inde-
pendence between snare, bass drum and
hi-hat (see solo excerpt #1). Bars 1 and 2 repeat
themselves, with a heavy emphasis on beat 1
of each measure, giving the feeling of a lop-
sided rock groove. Measure 3, the response,
utilizes upbeats on the snare drum before
returning to a heavy downbeat in the fourth
measure to end the sequence. In measure 5,
DeJohnette intentionally leaves the first beat
empty and flips the emphasis to beat 4 of each
measure for the remainder of the trading.
A special aspect of DeJohnette’s playing is
his unique approach to the ride cymbal.
Unlike other drummers who came before him
and Tony Williams, DeJohnette very rarely
Jack DeJohnette plays the standard jazz ride cymbal pattern.
Instead, DeJohnette continually varies his

Jack DeJohnette’s ride cymbal throughout each measure, adding

density and shape to the music. If you look at
the first two trades in this solo, for example,

Drum Solo on ‘Scrapple you will see there is quite a variety of rhythmic
context in the ride cymbal, but at no time does

From The Apple’

it upset the flow of time.
The second trade in this series builds upon
the first by adding texture through use of
the high tom and giving the hi-hat a more

N
ow six decades deep into his storied DeJohnette built his career, but his most con- singular voice (see solo excerpt #2). Much
career, 77-year-old jazz drumming sistent collaboration over the years has been of DeJohnette’s playing is linear by nature,
legend Jack DeJohnette is a living with pianist Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio. which also plays into how he approaches the
testament to the rewards of musical integrity Having released more than 21 albums in 25 ride cymbal as a singular voice. At any given
and elasticity. The Miles Davis albums Bitches years together, Jarrett, DeJohnette and bassist moment, an idea can start in one limb, only
Brew, Live-Evil and On The Corner are among Gary Peacock have deeply explored the canon to move to second, third and fourth limb to
the legendary performances upon which of American jazz. It has been said that the true complete the idea. Where some drummers

78 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019

might play a series of rhythms on just the the ride cymbal to break up the ideas (see
snare, DeJohnette spreads an idea across the solo excerpt #3). However, where he places
entirety of the kit. There are several exam- those cymbals, and later floor tom, is unpre-
ples of this throughout his solo, but observe dictable and jagged, adding to the illusion
the third and fourth measures of the second that the phrase is quickly going off the rails
trade in particular. If you look at the move- only to snap back together at the end.
ment of the bass drum, snare and hi-hat, DeJohnette’s fourth trade is the bookend
and see the shape of the line they are creat- of the solo that returns the group to a heavy
ing, you will understand that DeJohnette sense of swing (see solo excerpt #4). Like
is shaping phrases purposefully, and even many of the great jazz drummers, phrasing
dynamically, to add tension. From a drum- is everything with DeJohnette, as he accents
mer’s perspective, playing in a linear fash- the upbeats across a series of triplets in the
ion poses the risk of rushing or dragging final eight bars. You will also notice in the
a phrase based upon the technical ability final trade that he uses hi-hat sparingly, sub-
of each limb. DeJohnette, however, is fine- tracting from the rhythmic density to lead
ly tuned and conveys a sense of groove and into the melody. Sometimes it’s what you
time that makes even the most complex ideas take away that can add the most.
flow easily. DeJohnette is a treasured legend who has
Going into the third trade, Jarrett moves influenced countless numbers of musicians
into a double-time feel as he burns new throughout his career. Equal parts tech-
ideas across the piano. DeJohnette, in turn, nique, musicality and soul, he is a conduit of
responds with a rhythmic shift straightening masterful ideas and intention. DB
out the eighth notes into a rudimental dis- Jeffrey Lien is a professional drummer, writer and clinician
play of single and double strokes while using based in Nashville.

NOVEMBER 2019 DOWNBEAT 79