Groove o' the day: Tombo in 7/4

More from Airto's great record Fingers. I got burned last time crediting the drumming to Airto when it was really another great drummer da América do Sul, Osvaldo Fattoruso; this time I think it really is Airto on this track, but I was pretty sure last time, too, so... I guess I have to seek out a lot more of Fattoruso's playing and learn to recognize him.

These are the grooves for the major sections from Tombo in 7/4. It's a samba in 7, which in principle sounds like an insane and wrong concept, but it's not— Brazilian musicians have only been playing them for 50-60 years. Once you get the hang of it it's just a slightly different flavor of samba. The tune is in one of the major fake books, so odds are fairly good you'll have to play it some day.

The grooves are played pretty repetitively; variations are usually pretty subtle, and it's obvious when the player breaks from that to fill or improvise briefly. Pay attention to the timbres of the snare drum— the major rimshot accents sound almost like repique. On the first groove the tenuto/staccato markings indicate half-open and closed hihat notes.

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Groove o' the day PLUS : Airto - Fingers

UPDATE: Correction from the comments, it is Fattoruso on drums! I'll put the correct credit in the 2018 Book of the Blog. Until then, you'll have to pencil it in onto your printout. 

Here is a SUPER-ENHANCED groove o' the day— it includes not only the groove for this tune, but the intro, and a couple of brief shout choruses with a lot of fills happening. It's from the album Fingers by Airto, and it's an early fusion samba played either by Airto, or by the Uruguayan drummer Osvaldo Fattoruso, who passed away a few years ago. They both have drum credits on the album, and since I don't have the LP, I don't know if there is a personnel listing for each track. It sounds like Airto; it could be Fatturuso.

...no excuse for not having the LP, by the way; Airto's stuff is massively available used. I've heard this record my whole life, but just never owned it. CTI must have really papered the radio stations with promo copies...

The ensemble figure from the intro happens a few times throughout the tune, and the drummer always plays the same set part behind it, with very minor variations. He cuts loose more on the drum breaks on the shout choruses at the bottom of the page. The main groove for the tune is in the fourth line. You can see that the right hand is very busy with the running 16th notes, in typical Brazilian style. There's also a fast left hand move required— a small tom hit right before a rim click. I can do that move pretty fast, but I haven't tried it with this groove at this tempo. It may be that there's something else happening there— just get the sounds right. The small tom is the main left hand voice through out this tune.

Something has happened with music in the last 30 years— people have gotten really fascinated with subdivisions. You shouldn't sound like you're fascinated by subdivisions. If you listen to a lot of music from the early to mid 70s, there's an overwhelming energy and enthusiasm. I think people should try to sound like that.

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