Much more to do with 5/4

If you've been using the pages o' coordination we've been doing around here, you're going to like what Sam Nadel has been posting recently— a whole bunch of stuff on playing in 5/4. He doesn't have his labels going, so I can't send you to everything with one link (Sam!); but here's what he's got for us recently. You'll want to page through his archives, too, because there's a lot of good stuff in there. Hit the links to read his explanation and download the pages:

Rolling triplets in 5/4 — Accented triplets in 5/4, based on an exercise from Ted Reed. 

Reed converted to 5/4, with Dawson interpretations — Five pages, and just what it sounds like. 

Jazz ostinato in 5/4 — With left hand coordination. 

Paradiddle warm-up — Not in 5, but a nice daily-user: paradiddles in all inversions, with flams on each note of the pattern. 

Between this and all of the stuff we've been posting, your 5/4 should be pretty cooking by now. If you've been neglecting it, well, time to get on it, kids!

Now you're talking

Here's what I like to see— London drummer/blogger Sam Yadel has adapted Alan Dawson's “Rudimental Ritual” into 5/4:

I'm not much of a RR guy— it was just never a part of the drumming culture out here— but I heartily endorse this; go pay Sam a visit to get all five pages of it.

UPDATE: Part 2 is up.

The raggedy edge

Here's a great post by Sam Nadel, on a subject I think a lot about— which I alluded to in the recent African ritual music DBMITW— “the importance of being reckless”:

“Part of the problem about being reckless is that it can feel dangerously close to incompetence. By operating at the edge of our artistic ability and experimenting in waters untested we open ourselves up to whole realms of failure. Its really a question of ego. Despite appearances the innovator is often the least egotistical musician on the stage. By having a willingness to fail publicly and triumphantly they often end up making the kind of art we gravitate towards. Paradoxically the musician who doesn't take a risk is most guilty of hubris. By not being willing to make mistakes and clinging on to a projected self image of competence[...]” 

I need to write more about this, but it's a large subject and will take some time. Be sure to follow the link and read the whole thing.

The painting, incidentally, is by Willem De Kooning, an extremely technically gifted artist who had his early training at the extremely traditional, rigorous, arts academy at Rotterdam. He spent his career subverting his technique, putting himself in the creative space Nadel is talking about.

Brian Blade transcription

Drummer/blogger Sam Nadel of London has given us a nice, heavy transcription of Brian Blade's solo on Jazz Crimes, along with a whole lot of other good stuff.

Give a listen to the audio after the break, then go download the complete transcription: