Orchestrations of a figure: Groove Elation

Today we'll do a little survey of ways of orchestrating on the drums a rhythmic figure— the bass line from the tune Groove Elation, by John Scofield. It's a bright New Orleans-influenced thing, with a light swing feel. There's nothing systematic about this; I just wrote up a series of largely groove-oriented things that work with the style and tempo of the tune. The orchestrations are similar to some common Reed interpretations, except I fill the space at the end of the second measure with some different, easy things.

You can play them with the 8th notes swinging, or straight; on the actual recording there's a light NOLA-style half-swing feel. Feel free to combine elements, of course— add hihat where it's not written, move the left hand to the toms, move the right hand to the toms where it's in unison with the left hand— numbers 5-7. These should be a jumping-off point for improvisation. When you get them up to speed, play them along with the recording. I'll have a practice loop of the vamp for you sometime— or you can just make your own.

Get the pdf

Listen to the actual track after the break: