The Path to Jazz Drums

Growing up in Chicago I always loved percussion  and drums. It’s a very physical relationship to music and sprang naturally  from my involvement with dance as a youngster. I went to NYC in my late teens to study with a dance company.  For two years in NYC I got involved in hand percussion; Latin and African rhythms and learning technique. Drumming was a natural, social thing, so spontaneous.  But a drum line-up was serious  stuff. You had to know what the parts were to play well. It was a really exciting  cultural experience because drumming fit nicely with the jazz community, Latino and African communities, men, women, kids.  Everyone played.

I  took my first drum set lessons in my early 40’s. I loved live jazz in Philadelphia and was working in corporate marketing. I wanted to get into something engrossing from a creative standpoint  It was like this huge challenge.  I found a teacher in NJ, Billy, who was  doing his masters degree with Joe Morello as his adviser. Billy was a  wonderful, passionate teacher. There’s a lot to learn about stick technique, patterns and limb independence. So it’s funny, but a lot goes on before you even sit down at the drum set.

Every little step was full of pleasure. Billy gave me a wonderful introduction to the set. He was massively encouraging. My intimidation started to ease  up. I felt this kind of drumming was going to be the adult “flowering” of my earlier involvement in Latin percussion. And it was seriously fun!

Jazz  drumming is the most fluid, subtle kind of playing. There’s a breathtaking  range of dynamics with this form. To get those dynamics takes control.  And then  there’s  brushes. This is the style of drumming where brush work emerges as an art form on it’s own. It is just amazing to me. No other style of  drumming has that this special “tool” that relates so beautifully to the music. Sticks, mallets, brushes, so many colors.

I saw Roy Haynes perform on his 70th birthday. Was he suffering from arthritis? Did he have sore joints or problems with his hands and knees? Who knows. Whatever he experienced at 70 didn’t keep him from playing his heart out. I think the physical and the mental process are both important.

Jazz Drummer
Female, 53