The only reason you should choose Boz Scaggs - Lowdown

Oiiissu! At the beginning of an educational program for young children, cast members greet like Oiiissu! But I think it's a little rude and I wonder how this greeting is allowed to repeat every time on the educational show. 

みいつけた！うたってあそんで★オイース！ ([バラエティ])

But I digress, back on topic. This time we are going to see Boz Scaggs probably is best known for We're all alone, but in order to get into the spirit of the drummer Jeff Porcaro, check out the performance in Lowdown. Lowdown was first released on the album Silk Degrees and later was also recorded on this album HITS! which some refer to as the Magician album due to his bright pink jacket appearance.

Hits (Gate) (Ltd) (Ogv) [12 inch Analog]

Now then, throughout the entire song, two separate drum tracks are recorded and are nicely separated right and left. You can see it by panning right & left, or just by hearing only one side of your earphones and switching to the other. Here's how the intro part goes:

(0:00-) 

It is not surprising that he was awarded as "Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 greatest drummers of history". Although 2 tracks are two separate recordings, the 2 are almost completely aligned in time not only in the intro but throughout the end of the song. It's amazing that the 2 separate tracks give this superb groove and very few listeners would find the 2 separate tracks.

To be more specific, ghost notes on the snare drum right after the back beat recorded on the right side is pretty amazing. He shots a back beat on the left hand and instantly reduces the volume to tap a ghost note right after the back beat, and in addition all those notes firmly stick to 16th note beats. Proficient dynamics control indeed. All the notes, including 16th note kicks are abnormally stable in his precision machine control. As you drummers know, how hard is it to be in perfect synchronization with a separately recorded track! When you try to overdub two tracks, you would record snare back beats on one track and would avoid back beats on the other. Jeff Porcaro recorded both 2 tracks with back beats and went through with it.

Come to think of it, Japanese people easily make a mistake to write Boz Scaggs (ボズ・スキャッグス) in Japanese character because of the Japanese language character system. For example, Boz Sgaggs (ボズ・スギャッグス), Boz Scackz (ボズ・スキャックズ), Bos Zcaggs (ボス・ズキャッグス), and so forth. The following examples always happen: Sandback (Sandbag), Drackstore (Drugstore), Avogado (Avocado), Biggs (Higgs boson), David Card (Debit card), and iPot (iPod). Believe it or not.

We're here to talk about James Brown - Sweet Soul Music !

Hi! How do you have fun this summer? When you are having very sunny days, you will be much more cheerful by listening to James Brown's music that you can't leave out when talking about groove!!  

Live at the Apollo Vol.2 [12 inch Analog]

From the James Brown's live show recording "Live at the Apollo, Vol. II", "Sweet Soul Music" is the best groove for sunny summer days. This song is originally released by Arthur Conley which you can listen to his version on YouTube. The original version is of course one of the best soul music, but James Brown's band in this album performs it with much more funk grooves.

(0:00-) 

The song joyfully begins with horns. 2/4 is inserted just before the verse, maybe because the lyric "Do you like good music" doesn't fit into 4/4. The drum fill in the 2/4 is very good. Just one single strike of a snare drum! Don't be unnecessarily fancy, and give over space to the vocal. I often play one-shot fill like that because I love this kind of simplicity.

(1:48-) 

Next, a dialogue among vocal, drums, and percussion from the 3rd bar of the above transcription. When the vocal goes randomly like "gotta gotta feelin'", the snare back beat changes its position accordingly. The slip beat, which is familiar in JB's music, unfolds in the groove. The "RATTLE RATTLE" snare taps are light and crispy. You can probably see that the Bongo really supports this gotta gotta feelin' groove. If you listen carefully, the faint Bongo notes contribute a lot to this 16th rapid groove instead of snare drum's ghost notes. That is a secret ingredient. 

James Brown has a lot to listen to. All musicians must listen to especially this live show version "Live at the Apollo, Volume II". Along with its music structure, ensemble and technique, it is indeed telling you what entertainment is. If you listen to the next song of the introduction "Think", you will regret not being able to participate in this show and your own destiny that you could not live in this good old times.

Episode 1: Attack of YouTube Drum Performance Showcase

This time I try a variation of this blog. Let me showcase 6 drum performances on YouTube deserving of special mention. You should officially watch all of them for your life as a drummer.

1. Aric Improta upsets conventional wisdom on a drum solo. Out-of-the-box is when even before the drum solo starts. Just by seeing the aerobic 0:06-0:10, it is clear that common sense has already been overturned. 

2. This explains some styles of stick tricks/twirling that famous drummers perform occasionally. The John Blackwell's stick trick is useful.

3. I can't believe they don't seem to be well-known super drummers. Is this blazing fast speed average among them!? The musicians are playing without much surprise, but the groove and especially the speed of the drummers are of the highest level in the world.

4. A footage of Buddy Rich's performance two months before he died. I'm very surprised that his performance does not show any decline throughout his life.

5. A Jojo Mayer's drum solo. In the first half, he expresses very variously using only the snare drum. Especially this incredible brush is a must-see. I learned a lot because I had no idea how to make changes or to express something with brushes.

6. The legendary session with Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, and Vinnie Colaiuta. Some of the comments on YouTube are about who won or lost. Do you think Vinnie won, sure? It reminds me that there are various criteria or evaluation scales such as speed, musicality, presence.

I can't stop watching YouTube. After one movie ends, thumbnail images look interesting show up to attract me. I just click on one of. That's to be expected. In the meantime, 3 hours just slip away before I know it. This is extremely dangerous. Watching movies on YouTube is an exercise to develop moderation and self-control.