Groove o' the day: Soul Makossa

This is the groove from a track regarded as the first Disco song— Soul Makossa, by Cameroonian performer Manu Dibango. The drummer is Joby Jobs, and he has a bad right hand— he is apparently playing these running 16ths at quarter note = 114.

The tenuto marks indicate half-open hihat. It sounds like there is a second hihat on the recording, playing quarter notes, so it's possible the 16th notes are overdubbed, but let's credit him with being a badass.

He does this little variation around the breakdown at 3:15:

This is the one fill I hear, which happens in an odd spot in the middle of the track, after 2:00. The hihat part is interactive with the fill, which suggests that Jobs is playing the 16th notes live with the drums, and not overdubbing:

After around 2:30 there is another little variation, where he plays the snare drum on all four beats intermittently. Time to go practice our running 16ths...

Groove o' the day: Bernard Purdie — Funk Down

Here's a bright proto-disco groove from Bernard Purdie, on the tune Funk Down, from Mongo Santamaria's Afro-Indio record:

The snare drum filler notes on the es happen more regularly, and more emphatically, than notes on the as, which are more random. Phrase transitions happen with a crash on the & of 4— mostly with cymbal and bass drum, occasionally with cymbal and snare.

Drat, I thought this one was on YouTube, but there's nothing but a technoid remix, with a mutilated Purdie track. This dance guy will tell you what's a funky drum part, so shut up, Purdie! I guess you'll just have to buy the record.

Groove o' the day: Bill Withers — Lovely Night For Dancing

This is by 70's session drummer Alvin Taylor, who's fairly little-known, but is on a lot of stuff. Here he's with Bill Withers, on the album Menagerie. The song, Lovely Night For Dancing, is kind of a high-70's, feel-good, throwaway number— Ain't No Sunshine it ain't— but I appreciate it on its own terms, and for the craft of it. Here's the groove Taylor holds for the whole tune almost without variation:

Like a lot of our recent GsOTD, there's not a lot of drummery interest here, but this is almost our whole job. Laying down time is exciting. It's exciting to listen to someone do it well.

Audio after the break: