Having spent the past two weeks listening to King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton, I’m happy to tell you that Chapter 3 of A History of Jazz Drumming is finished, and scheduled for delivery tomorrow.
It was a joy to work on, though I’m glad it’s done, coming in the midst of a busy period:
On Friday, July 17th, I was at CloseUp with long-time collaborators pianist Jacob Sacks and bassist Dave Ambrosio, plus special guest vibraphonist Steve Nelson. Mr. Nelson is a true original, an improviser and a treasure. The gig was an enormous success, and there will be more.
Last week, I was a visiting teacher at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where I spoke to high school and middle school students about Art Blakey. Thanks to Mr. Steve Lugerner for having me, and my deepest admiration for all the students who sat inside on a beautiful Palo Alto afternoon to learn about Mr. Blakey.
Earlier this month, guitarist and composer Anders Nillson took his group, Hesa Gun, featuring trombonist Sam Kulik, bassist Dave Ambrosio, and myself into the studio to record his compositions, a project we’ve worked on for years. Congratulations Anders!
And on July 14th, I even ran the Utica Boilermaker 15K, in a time that I deemed “acceptable”
Somewhere in mile 8. Photo by Marianne Conte.
This summer, I’ve seen Obsession, Backrooms, and Disclosure Day, and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I’m glad that each was so successful, and I don’t feel a need to ever read another Substack essay about them.
I’m getting ready for The Odyssey, and so far have successfully avoided all commentary about it, save for my brother Joe, who texted me that half of it was good, and the other half, not so good.
And I love the new Stones album, it’s so much fun. We are lucky to have it.
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