Two huge gifts from youtube and it's not even Christmas. Two Joe Morello DVDs, "The natural approach to technique" and "Around the kit" in full length. That's a gift. For those who don't know, Joe Morello was the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet and one of the greatest drummers that graced us with their musicality and their existence. Great technique, generous hand motions that should be taught at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, huge sound, really delicate groove etc. If you wonder why Joe Morello constantly wore sunglasses, bear in mind that he was partially blind since birth.
One of Joe Morello's greatest virtues was his approach to drum soloing. Here we have a drummer, that had studied with George Lawrence Stone (yep the Stick Control guy himself) and he, inspired by Joe's ideas dedicated him his next book, "Accents and Rebounds". He also studied with Billy Gladstone who was the pioneer of the finger technique in drums. That means using the fingers to control the rebound of the stick. Although he could easily impress the audience only by using his incredible chops, Joe Morello always played from the heart. Constantly hunting phrases that floated around in his head and could be sung by anybody and always incorporating a really clever build-up. Bear also in mind that many of his solos were in odd meters 3s, 5s etc, meters that during the 50s and 60s were really radical, groundbreaking and unexplored.
Here is his recorded solo on "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck. Listen how smooth he is. He takes his time and plays with the listener. And the most important, he makes the listener feel comfortable with the 5/4 time signature, rather than puzzling him. Enjoy...
Yours, Serafeim
Ps. Take your time and study these DVDs and don't forget to take a look at Joe's "Rudimental Jazz" book too.
Ps1. Take a youtube walk and watch his solos from back in the days.
Ps2. Joe Morello R.I.P
Posts
