I can't believe I've never transcribed this one before. This is a very famous drum solo by Max Roach, on the tune Blue Seven from the album Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins.
The tune is a blues, which is a twelve bar form, composed of three four-measure phrases. The drum solo starts four measures into the form; Max completes that first chorus and plays six more. It's very hands-oriented playing, maintaining quarter notes on the bass drum, lightly, and the 2 and 4 on the hihat all the way through. When he plays the cymbal, it doesn't vary from the usual ride pattern, except to make an accent or set up the next thing. There's a passage in the middle where he pretty clearly uses paradiddle and double paradiddle stickings; I'll let you figure out stickings that work for you on the last chorus. You can find similar solo ideas in Joe Cusatis's Roach-influenced book Rudimental Patterns. Note that the execution can be a little rough-- the left hand does not always sync precisely with the other limbs, for example.
Get the pdf
YouTube audio after the break:
The solo starts after 4:00:
1 comment:
Mr. Bishop, the link to the pdf doesn't seem to be working. Again, thanks so much for the ongoing inspiration! Best, David Hurd
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