Miscellaneous Percussion Music - Mixed Levels

Inside the Big Band Drum Chart is a first of its kind drum method that usestraditional and contemporary arrangements performed by a 17 piece jazzensemble as the vehicle to study beats, musical form, ensemble phrasing, articulation, and interpretation. For each arrangement, there is 'talk through' information explaining how the composition is played as well as transcriptions of key beats and melodic information that connects the 'written drum part' to the music. The 248 page book includes a 2.5 hour audio available online and an hour long video demonstrating every exercise in the text. Also included areanecdotes and interviews with legendary big band drummers and arrangers such as Louie Bellson, Jake Hanna, Phil Wilson, Mark Taylor and Bob Curnow.Includes access to online audio/video

Improvisation is at the heart of jazz, but knowing how to play stylistically correct in a large jazz ensemble is also a necessity. How to Play Drums in a Big Band offers tips, suggestions, examples, and a play-along CD to help you put it all together. The repertoire covers many jazz styles, from Basie to Latin and African-influenced music to ECM and contemporary jazz (the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bob Brookmeyer, etc.).

The winner of the Drummies! 2014 Best Drumming Book Award, Big Band Drumming Fill-osophy, offers a comprehensive approach to playing and interpreting fills in a big band setting. With advice on how to interpret section and ensemble figures, Steve Fidyk and Dave Black give detailed information that will strengthen the drummer's ability to recognize one-, two-, and four-bar section/ensemble figures quickly and easily. The companion MP3 CD contains over 75 reference and play-along examples extracted from real drum charts. They have been looped or repeated for thorough study. Big Band Drumming Fill-osophy will prove to be an invaluable tool in helping to interpret and play big band drum fills.

Miscellaneous Percussion Music - Mixed Levels

With Big Band Drumming at First Sight, Steve Fidyk offers a comprehensive approach to improve sight-reading skills in a big band setting. With advice on how to accompany different musical forms and playing styles, Fidyk gives detailed information that will strengthen your ability to recognize band figures and beat patterns quickly and easily. The companion play-along recording features 10 arrangements of varying styles with beat and figure examples extracted from each score that are looped or repeated several times for thorough study. Big Band Drumming at First Sight will be an invaluable tool in helping you to become a better sight-reader! Read, listen, study, and learn through Steve's experience on what it takes to look at a drumset part once, and know how to deliver the musical goods with confidence! It was love at first sight when I first encountered this book. Here is a great resource that is focused on sight-reading big band charts correctly the first time. -Percussive Notes Rather than offering exercises in speedy note reading, the volume covers the fine art of chart interpretation with useful advice and clear illustrations. -Jeff Potter, Modern Drummer

Mel Lewis (1929-1990) was born Melvin Sokoloff to Jewish Russian immigrants in Buffalo, New York. He first picked up his father's drumsticks at the age of two and at 17 he was a full-time professional musician. The View from the Back of the Band is the first biography of this legendary jazz drummer. For over fifty years, Lewis provided the blueprint for how a drummer could subtly support any musical situation. While he made his name with Stan Kenton and Thad Jones, and with his band at the Village Vanguard, it was the hundreds of recordings that he made as a sideman and his ability to mentor young musicians that truly defined his career. Away from the drums, Lewis's passionate and outspoken personality made him one of jazz music's greatest characters. It is often through Lewis's own anecdotes, as well as many from the musicians who knew him best, that this book traces the career of one of the world's greatest drummers. Previously unpublished interviews, personal memoirs, photos, musical transcriptions, and a selected discography add to this comprehensive biography.