Chronicles
Why I'm starting a Substack, and what I'll be writing about.
The Drumset
The defining characteristic of all modern music is the foregrounding of rhythm, specifically African rhythm. This would not have happened without the drumset. The drumset brought the rhythms and traditions of Africa to planet Earth at large, through the ingenuity of its practitioners.
The drumset is the emblematic instrument of modern music. Before electric guitars and electric basses, before the Hammond organ, and long before analog or digital synthesizers, the drumset, developed in the shadow of percussion traditions across the globe, was a technological breakthrough which made the modern rhythmic landscape possible.
Just as the piano is an expression of the deepest hopes and wishes of generations of musicians across Europe, the drumset, a combination of folk wisdom and corporate know-how, symbolizes the brightest possibilities of American culture. The story of drummers and the drumset is a story which parallels the musical changes (from Gene Krupa to Questlove) technological changes (from radio broadcasts to streaming music) and societal changes (from the the Swing Era to the social media era) the world has undergone since the drumset first quietly arrived, in New Orleans in the late 19th century.
A locus of expression and innovation, the drumset has allowed an individual drummer to imprint their identity on a performance in a way never possible before.
I’m a professional drummer. To me, the drumset is a treasure. But don’t take my word for it:
“I mean, the drumset is an American invention— it’s an American treasure- but it isn’t afforded the dignity that people afford, say, the harmonica….The whole concept of the drumset itself is unique— unique throughout the world. The drums of Africa, India, Japan— they’re not played with the feet and hands at the same time. What we have is a unique configuration in the musical history of the world. And it isn’t afforded the kind of dignity it really should have.”
-Tony Williams, interviewed by Bill Milkowski, Modern Drummer, August 1997
Jazz
If we want to afford the drums the dignity Tony Williams was talking about, we have to talk about jazz. Simply put, no jazz, no drumset, and no drumset, no jazz, at least not as we know it.
For a long time, studying the drumset meant studying jazz. So foundational is jazz to the drumset that the very make-up of a modern kit— the combination of snare drum, bass drum, tomtom, floor tom, two cymbals, and a hi-hat— dates only to the mid-1930’s and was designed and played by a jazz drummer, Gene Krupa. (Prior to Krupa, the drumset was as much a sound-effects instrument as a timekeeper. Cowbells, woodblocks, ratchets, and other devices were as much a part of the drumset as snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals. The mid-30’s ‘streamlined’ Krupa kit became standard almost immediately.)
I speak for many when I say that the music of the jazz greats of the past and the masters in our lives today is as rich and rewarding a music as has ever been made in human history. Jazz in late 2022 is alive and well, robust and healthy, a global, popular, living, and vital musical tradition that is large enough to encompass an absurdly wide range of performers and styles. Nicholas Payton, Craig Taborn, Cecille McLorin Salvant, Chad Taylor, Al Foster, John Zorn, esperanza spalding, Kamasi Washington- these are just American musicians alive today. All of this is jazz.
Of course, it’s a lot of other stuff too. The debates within and without and about jazz go on and on, with no sign of stopping. I’m all for the debate. However.
The lack of writing about current events in jazz— stretching current events back to say, 1969— is stunning. Nate Chinen has done his part with his invaluable Playing Changes (2018), the only overview of jazz from 1982 to 2018. But there’s so much more to be explored.
What Chronicles Is All About
So, to keep time, and honor the work of jazz musicians, and especially the under-valued jazz drummer, on this Substack, Chronicles, I’ll be sharing my writing, mostly about drummers. Above all, I want to keep time.
Even though time does, as Steve Miller noted, keep slipping into the future, I’ll do several deep dives into various micro-periods in jazz history. The posts I have planned right now are all about the past, but the ultimate goal is to be focussed on the work of my peers—my esteemed colleagues.
There are major gaps in recent history that need to be filled. For instance, Ralph Peterson made huge waves in the late 1980’s with a series of albums on Blue Note that are still spoken of in hushed tones by those who were there. These records were a creative peak of the ‘young lions’ movement, influenced by the avant-garde and contemporary composition as well as ‘the jazz tradition’, as it was called then. Ralph Peterson’s reputation as one of the most dynamic and uncompromising drummers in history, with help from Geri Allen, Don Byron, and Terence Blanchard, was sealed by these albums. Not one of them is streaming anywhere as of November 2022.
That’s just one example of the lacuna with which we live. My job as Chronicler will be to describe these events, shine a light on them, and then observe how they connect to today’s world.
I think music is fundamentally a unified, singular practice. My instrument, the drumset, tells me this is so. This doesn’t mean I have carte blanche to talk about any kind of music, to say anything I want about any music, or that the very real differences in music practices are immaterial. No, what I mean is that music can (not will, or does) speak to us all, and therefore praising one kind of music or one musician while condemning one musician or one kind of music is a bit absurd.
So, as Lead Chronicler, I guarantee that you won’t read ‘hot takes’ or dismissive condemnations of musical efforts.
What Chronicles Is
A look at music through the lens of the drummer. Eventually, I hope for frequent excursions outside the drummer’s perspective, but at the beginning, I’ll be focussed on drummers.
My interest and vocation is jazz, so naturally I’ll be talking about jazz. But all genres interest me, all genres are valid and meaningful. I'll be exploring them all, eventually.
All posts will feature an informed, fan-oriented, professional musician-based view of drums and music.
Above all, I’ll bring respect for all drummers, all musicians, all eras, all music. At first, my emphasis is on close listening to recent history, or at least semi-recent. In the future, I’ll be dealing with current jazz events and trips to ancient history.
That’s what I’m about. That’s what I’m trying to do. Here are some topics that I’m working on right now:
Sanctified Dreams: A look at the music and context of the four albums released in 1988 which featured Joey Baron, Tim Berne, Bill Frisell, and Hank Roberts, in at least two parts.
A Listener’s Guide To Lifetime: a complete guide to the music of Tony Williams from 1969-1980, with deep dives into the nine albums I think need to be heard to understand the achievements and limits of the fusion movement, probably in 4 parts.
Volition: Ralph Peterson On Record, 1984-1993.
Who Invented Free Jazz Drumming? It’s a surprisingly contentious issue with lots of differing ideas. I’ll sort it out as best I can.
Jim Black and Chris Speed, 1999-2010. An overview of the Yeah No/Alas No Axis bands that sent hundreds of young musicians and fans screaming into the woods in the early 21st century.
An in-depth look at Chano Pozo
Zutty Singleton and Baby Dodds: Early Jazz Piano Trio
Celebrating JMT Records
Instrumental Pop Hits, 1945-2000. There are a lot more than we realize!
So….as Substack says…sign up!
Super excited about this! Thank you!
Looking forward to this!