More Frank Butler - intro and break

Another little solo break by Frank Butler, along with something very interesting. The tune is Bobblin'— a bright, somewhat Mingus-like waltz— from the Curtis Amy & Frank Butler album Groovin' Blue, recorded in 1960-61. The tune has an AAB form, with a 10 bar B section, and Butler solos on the last B before he head out, starting at 4:32. Like the last thing, it's a good example of simple, non-technical soloing, using similar language to the simple solo method we've been working with lately.

What's really interesting to me is what he plays on the intro and coda. The sticking here is RRL all the way through— with slight variations when he plays it at the end of the tune. He plays the 8th notes almost straight:

It's a simple thing that is actually very modern— it jumped out at me as being almost Tony Williams-like.

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Transcription: Frank Butler intro and fours

Maybe if I transcribe a bunch of drum intros and post them on the blog, I can guilt trip myself into finishing my Book of Intros. It's still hanging around 95% ready to release. I've been blocked on the damn thing. So here's an intro and solo fours played by Frank Butler on a fairly obscure album by Elmo Hope— Elmo Hope with Jimmy Bond and Frank Butler. The tune is “B's A Plenty.” Butler was a West Coast guy, and a unique sounding player. Here he's playing in a sort of less technical, less slick Philly Joe Jones mode.

I've only written five of the six solo breaks; the fourth one is messed up. I could try to figure it out, but I frankly don't have the patience. History will have to be denied that one. Don't screw up your fours. Butler attempts to correct it by playing very clearly on the next break, but the other players don't catch it, and the beat is still turned around when Hope comes in with the head at the end of the last break. Butler is on it, and nails the figure even though he was backwards from the other players. Clearly he knows the tune really well even if his soloing was a little rough for a moment.

There are also some notable tempo issues on this track; Butler's intro is played at around 255, but the band immediately settles to around 230 a few measures into the head. By the middle of the piano solo the tempo is 210, then settles further to around 204 during the bass solo, then picks up a bit to around 207 for the drum fours. A 40 bpm drop from the intro to the body of the tune seems egregious, but if we express those tempos as half notes they would be 127, 115, 105, 102, and 103— a 20 bpm drop in that easier-felt tempo range. Still significant, but not unheard of. Obviously they should have started the tune around 210, or 105.

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Grooves o' the day: two by Frank Butler

This week I'm hard at work on the new Book of Intros (a collection of transcribed jazz drum intros), and it's forming up nicely. If I don't get bogged down in the text part, it should be ready to go early next month. I know a lot of the transcriptions we do here are rather ridiculously hard, but this book should be quite playable— it should be largely gettable by anyone from advanced middle-school to college level, on up. It also includes very little that has been posted on the blog, and never will be, so you will have to buy thing if you want to get in on the fun. Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, here are a couple of unusual quasi-samba grooves (emphasis on the quasi!) from Frank Butler, a West Coast drummer active in the 50s and 60s. I haven't gotten too deep into his playing, but there are a few Portland musicians who played with him later in his career, and are big fans of his. First, from the tune Numbers Game, by Hampton Hawes, from Hawes's album For Real!:

And then Harold Land's One Down, from his album The Fox:

Written out, they're a little hard on the eyes, with all the drum activity, but they fall on the drums very naturally once you get the sticking. It should be easy to cop Butler's nice, light, relaxed touch.

There's audio after the break: