DBMITW: with a big hat tip to Chip Stern

I just got a couple of nice notes from drummer and writer Chip Stern  (Modern Drummer, Jazz Times)- he's made a bunch of big contributions to the literature of drumming, including an interview with Papa Jo Jones, and some things I've excerpted here- like the piece on Billy Higgins' gear,  and the Ronald Shannon Jackson interview. He actually forwarded that to Jackson, and Jackson's response to me and I had to check fast to make sure I didn't write anything especially stupid that day. Phew.

He sent me this video of Papa Jo Jones playing with Coleman Hawkins and Sweets Edison. He said the ride cymbal used here ("A 20" A. Zildjian, pitched in A up to Bb.") is in a Connecticut drummer's collection. As you can see from his bio above, he's been around a lot of great musicians, and will hopefully be sharing some of that history with us via his own blog soon- I'll link to it here as soon as it's available.