New Book Gives Readers the A to Z on Jazz Drumming
by Chris DiGirolamo
Books, books and more books! The drummer in today's world has access to a tremendous amount of written material to aid in the progress and idea development of the player. How many of them really get to the core? Drummer Sunny Jain's new book, The Total Jazz Drummer, is one of the most complete drum books I have come across in some time.
Jain is one of the top players on the scene right now. He performs with many of today's top jazz artists, as well as his own group, the Sunny Jain Collective, which is one of the most innovative ensembles out there today.
The Total Jazz Drummer comes complete with CD to demonstrate and give examples of the patterns included in the text. The book takes you through an A-Z on jazz drumming, from beginner to intermediate to advanced. Part 1 covers the basics, including grips, rhythm and rudiments. It then takes the reader through the drum set, tuning and setup. Keep in mind this is all done with the "so, you want to be a jazz drummer" approach. This moves on to the jazz rhythms and variations along with the various styles of jazz as a whole. The entire text is very well done and complete. There is nothing in the layout that is confusing to the reader.
Part 2 of the book, which is for the intermediate drummer, starts off with a topic that goes by the wayside all too often: practicing the drums. Jain gives a great overview, almost like a personal trainer, on how to increase the productivity of your practicing. This moves into brush work, tempo, coordination and soloing. The soloing section demonstrates the solo styles of Max Roach, Philly Joe, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. Again, it's very well done, and just plain fun as well.
Part 3 is for the advanced jazz drummer. Here Jain covers linear phrasing and accents. His lesson on linear phrasing with the ride cymbal is one of the best linear lesson layouts I have come across. This takes the reader into odd time meters. Jain shows examples of the 5/4 swing, 5/4 Latin, 7/4 swing and the 7/4 Latin. Remember that all of this is demonstrated on the included CD to check your performance of the patterns.
The Total Jazz Drummer closes with a section on rhythmic grouping and polyrhythms. Jain's appendix section talks about improvisation and professional advice, all thought out and delivered in a very basic yet fun manner.
Over the years, this column has included features on listening and recommended listening. Sunny Jain provides a listening guide in the book that is absolutely right on. It includes the artist, recording, label and drummer. This list is a treasure chest for the drummer to go out and find some of the best jazz drumming on record.
If you are looking to take a course on jazz drumming and really can dedicate time to each section of this book, you will be right on track to be the total jazz drummer!
For more information, or to contact Sunny Jain directly, visit his website at www.jainsounds.com.
Product Review
On the new stick front, Vater drumsticks has a new model. Korn's David Silveria has worked with Vater to design a new stick with his name on it (his second with Vater). The stick has a 16-inch length, but is a shorter and scaled-down version of his original stick for Vater. The shorter length offers a faster feel for that style of drumming. The stick has outstanding durability, and I had fun flying around the kit with them. Check them out!
