Uptempo Jazz 7: Fast Brushes Continued

Just a quick observation

I had to share today's video because you get to see one of my favorite contemporary drummers Greg Hutchinson playing some uptempo brushes with one of my all-time favorite versions of the Ray Brown trio featuring Benny Green.  If you go to around 1:23 you can see his pattern really clearly, and he seems to be following the Kenny Washington/Papa Jo style described in previous posts on the topic. Greg gets a really beautiful, clean, and swinging brush sound at this tempo.  Also check out the great drum breaks starting around 1:50, the slick stick-to-brush transition at 5:26,  as well as the superb dynamic sensitivity throughout.  Enjoy!

If you want to hear more of this amazing band check out the album "Live At Scullers".  Here is one more blazing version of the tune "Tanga" from the video above, this time with Jeff Hamilton on drums:

Karriem Riggins: Soul!

In a previous post I focused on Karriem's graceful uptempo playing, but today I want to highlight a different and more fundamental aspect of his playing, his soulfulness.  Ray Brown and Art Blakey were two jazz musicians who epitomized the ideal of soulful playing.  In this clip from the 2010 Detroit Jazzfest you can see Karriem, Christian McBride, and Benny Green tap into the spirit of these great musicians and bring the song "Buhaina, Buhaina", written by Ray Brown for Art Blakey, to life.

Soul

Soulfulness is not about flashy technique or abstract musical concepts, it is about selflessly connecting with your band and your audience in order to lift everyone's spirit.  Art Blakey put it best, "Music washes away the dust of everyday life".