It occurred to me the other day that I have posted many clips of the simpler, more groove based side to my playing. Playing crazy fills, drum n bass beats, tricks and technique displays are great fun and very tempting but its the pocket that your audience are dancing to in most gigging situations. Ive earned more money playing pocket than I ever have showing off my skills.
I just set the click to quarter notes at 108BPM, plugged it into my Vic Firth Stereo Isolation Headphones (highly recommend these) and started playing.
This clip, like most of my playing, is inspired by my love of Gospel music and the Church. I have been a Christian most of my life and have been enjoying the wonder that is Gospel Music since I was 17. Thankfully, this gave me a head start in learning the Gospel Drumming style before the hugely deserved publicity it has received recently from great web sites like www.gospelchops.com
I mostly play a lot of Funk, Fusion, Jazz, Ska and Reggae be it with my main band, or in session work and you would be surprised just how many other musical genres this awesome style of drumming works with. I encourage drummers to not only take inspiration from the crazy fills that gospel drummers play but also from the solid and powerful pocket and technique they achieve when just playing grooves.
I thought I would add an audio clip of my band – New Groove Formation playing our song “Love Is Funky” over the end credits.
The kit I’m playing has sadly seen better days. Its the practice/teaching kit at work and its in dire need of some new skins. But hey, a bad workman blames his tools.
Please excuse the video quality. High quality videos coming soon...
